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Bede Academy is a 3–18
academy An academy ( Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy ...
in Blyth,
Northumberland Northumberland () is a county in Northern England, one of two counties in England which border with Scotland. Notable landmarks in the county include Alnwick Castle, Bamburgh Castle, Hadrian's Wall and Hexham Abbey. It is bordered by land on ...
,
England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
. Opened in September 2009, it is run by the
Emmanuel Schools Foundation The Emmanuel Schools Foundation (ESF) is a charitable trust which has been involved in education since 1989. ESF currently run six schools. The four original members of the ESF are: Emmanuel City Technology College in Gateshead (opened 1990), Th ...
. It was one of the first all-through academies to be set up in the United Kingdom, and the first in the North of England.


School performance and inspection judgements

The school's first full inspection by
Ofsted The Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (Ofsted) is a Non-ministerial government department, non-ministerial department of Government of the United Kingdom, His Majesty's government, reporting to Parliament of the U ...
was in 2012, with a judgement of Good. There was a second full inspection in 2017, also with a judgement of Good. In 2019, the school's
Progress 8 benchmark The Progress 8 benchmark is an accountability measure used by the government of the United Kingdom to measure the effectiveness of secondary schools in England. It bands pupils into groups based on their scores in English and mathematics during the ...
was below average. The proportion of children entered for the
English Baccalaureate The English Baccalaureate (EBacc) is a school performance indicator in England linked to the General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) results. It measures students' attainment by calculating an average score from specified subject grades. ...
was 61%, compared to 43% for the local authority overall. 36% of children at the school achieved at least grade 5 in
GCSE The General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) is an academic qualification in a particular subject, taken in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. State schools in Scotland use the Scottish Qualifications Certificate instead. Private sc ...
English and maths, compared to 43% for the local authority overall. At
A level The A-Level (Advanced Level) is a subject-based qualification conferred as part of the General Certificate of Education, as well as a school leaving qualification offered by the educational bodies in the United Kingdom and the educational aut ...
in 2019, the average grade achieved by students at the school was C, and the average points score 29.62, compared to C+ and 32.59 for the local authority overall. Of students from the school who go on to university, "Many are the first in their family to attend university".


Governance

The Emmanuel Schools Foundation (ESF), established by entrepreneur
Sir Peter Vardy Sir Peter Vardy DL (born 4 March 1947) is an English businessman. In the Sunday Times Rich List 2009 ranking of the wealthiest people in the United Kingdom, he placed 388th with an estimated fortune of £140 million. Vardy attended t ...
, had previously opened three other schools:
Emmanuel City Technology College Emmanuel College is a secondary school and sixth form college (years 7-13) based in Gateshead, England. It was founded in 1990 as a City Technology College, i.e. a secondary school which is partly funded by donations from business donors who re ...
in
Gateshead Gateshead () is a large town in northern England. It is on the River Tyne's southern bank, opposite Newcastle upon Tyne, Newcastle to which it is joined by seven bridges. The town contains the Gateshead Millennium Bridge, Millennium Bridge, Sage ...
(1990), The King's Academy in
Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area. Until the early 1800s, the a ...
(2003) and Trinity Academy in Thorne,
Doncaster Doncaster (, ) is a city in South Yorkshire, England. Named after the River Don, it is the administrative centre of the larger City of Doncaster. It is the second largest settlement in South Yorkshire after Sheffield. Doncaster is situated in ...
(2005). In October 2010, Vardy announced his retirement as sponsor of the group and its transition to the
United Learning Trust United Learning is a group of state-funded schools and fee-paying independent schools operating in England. United Learning is the trading name for United Church Schools Trust (UCST) and United Learning Trust (ULT). It is one of the largest 10 ch ...
. After exploring the integration of the ESF schools into the ULT, it was later announced in February 2012 that the
Department for Education The Department for Education (DfE) is a department of His Majesty's Government responsible for child protection, child services, education (compulsory, further and higher education), apprenticeships and wider skills in England. A Department ...
had agreed in principle to the four schools returning to their own independent governance, as a Multi-Academy Trust (MAT). Vardy had originally planned to establish seven schools, and in 2019, ESF adopted
Grace College Grace College & Seminary is a private evangelical Christian college in Winona Lake, Indiana. It has six schools: The School of Arts and Sciences, The School of Behavioral Sciences, The School of Business, The School of Education, The School of ...
, Gateshead, and Christ's College, Sunderland, into the MAT.


Ethos and values

The academy has a non-denominational Christian ethos. Originally, it promoted the seven core values of ESF, namely:
Honour Honour (British English) or honor (American English; American and British English spelling differences#-our, -or, see spelling differences) is the idea of a bond between an individual and a society as a quality of a person that is both of socia ...
able Purpose,
Humility Humility is the quality of being humble. Dictionary definitions accentuate humility as a low self-regard and sense of unworthiness. In a religious context humility can mean a recognition of self in relation to a deity (i.e. God), and subsequent ...
,
Compassion Compassion motivates people to go out of their way to relieve the physical, mental or emotional pains of others and themselves. Compassion is often regarded as being sensitive to the emotional aspects of the suffering of others. When based on n ...
,
Integrity Integrity is the practice of being honest and showing a consistent and uncompromising adherence to strong moral and ethical principles and values. In ethics, integrity is regarded as the honesty and truthfulness or accuracy of one's actions. Inte ...
,
Accountability Accountability, in terms of ethics and governance, is equated with answerability, blameworthiness, liability, and the expectation of account-giving. As in an aspect of governance, it has been central to discussions related to problems in the publ ...
,
Courage Courage (also called bravery or valor) is the choice and willingness to confront agony, pain, danger, uncertainty, or intimidation. Valor is courage or bravery, especially in battle. Physical courage is bravery in the face of physical pain, h ...
and Determination. For children in the primary years, these were simplified to "Be Good", "Be Humble", "Be Kind", "Be Honest", "Be Responsible" and "Be Brave and Determined". Bede Academy gained a School of Sanctuary Award in 2022. In 2009 the primary section of the Academy was criticised for suggesting that children might be expelled if their parents repeatedly parked on parts of the school site where parking is not allowed; a local councillor said that this was not in line with the school's Christian values.


Facilities


Buildings

The academy buildings were purpose-built in 2009, designed by architects Howarth Litchfield Partnership with consulting engineers Cundall, and constructed by Surgo Construction. The "North" site housing the secondary school was built on the site of the former Ridley High School and the "South" primary school on the site of the former South Beach First School. Its secondary accommodation comprises over 50 classrooms, a main hall (seating 500), lecture theatre (seating 200), a large sports hall, a dance studio, fitness suite, learning resource centre, sixth form study area, drama studio, recording studio, specialist engineering rooms, restaurant and multi-use games area (MUGA). The building has natural air circulation systems augmented by air conditioning, and has a ground-source heat pump-based heating system with bores covering a large section of the car park. For the 2012 academic year, the former Sixth Form block of Ridley High School was redeveloped to house the Bede Academy Sixth Form.


Sports

In addition to the sports facilities on the North and South sites, the academy also owns the land of the former Delaval Middle School site which was developed into a cricket pitch with pavilion along with a number of other sports facilities.


Leadership

During the school's initial development, Nigel McQuoid, former Principal of Emmanuel College, Gateshead and subsequently ESF's Director of Schools, was the Executive Principal of Bede Academy. McQuoid left the organisation a few months before to the completion of the building and the school's opening. From 2009 to 2010 Liz Clubbs, formerly Headteacher at South Beach First School, was the founding Principal of the primary years with Gwyneth Evans, who was previously a Vice-Principal at Emmanuel College, Gateshead, leading the secondary years. Gwyneth Evans then became Principal with Irene Watson and subsequently Bethan Harding serving as the headteacher of the primary years site. Gwyneth Evans left in 2018 and Andrew Thelwell joined as the Principal (Secondary Years) in April 2019, Bethan Harding having been made Principal (Primary Years). In 2013, ESF reorganised its senior management structures with the result that Jonathan Winch, Principal of Emmanuel College, was appointed Executive Principal of Bede Academy. He subsequently left the organisation.


Admissions

In 2017, the Office of the Schools Adjudicator found that the school's admission arrangements were unclear and unfair, and required the school to revise them. The school was criticised for prioritising siblings of current pupils in its admission process.


School Life


Curriculum

The academy follows the
National Curriculum A national curriculum is a common programme of study in schools that is designed to ensure nationwide uniformity of content and standards in education. It is usually legislated by the national government, possibly in consultation with Federated stat ...
and has academic specialists grouped into Mathematics, English, Science (including physics, chemistry and biology specialists), Engineering, Sport, Modern Foreign Languages (French and German), History, Geography, Music, Drama and Philosophy, Theology and Ethics (encompassing religious, personal and social education) departments.


Publications

The academy publishes a newsletter, ''Bede Chronicle'', once per term and an annual Year Book each autumn.


Events and Performing Arts

The academy holds events, including student concerts, as well as the
Reg Vardy Band The Reg Vardy Band is a brass band based in North East England. Since 1958 the band has been nationally graded as a Championship Section band and has won the North of England Brass Band Championships 36 times since that time. In August 2016 i ...
and pianist
Francesco Attesti Francesco Attesti (born 6 June 1975, in Cortona) is an Italian classical pianist. Biography He began practicing the piano at the age of 6 and gave his first concert at 11. In 1998, studying with Maestro Luigi Tanganelli at the Luigi Cherubini ...
, talent shows, quizzes, cookery competitions and tea parties for local residents.


Sport

The academy has teams for a number of different sports, many of which have won local and regional titles. It competes in
rugby Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby league: 13 players per side *** Masters Rugby League *** Mod league *** Rugby league nines *** Rugby league sevens *** Touch (sport) *** Wheelchair rugby league ** Rugby union: 1 ...
,
hockey Hockey is a term used to denote a family of various types of both summer and winter team sports which originated on either an outdoor field, sheet of ice, or dry floor such as in a gymnasium. While these sports vary in specific rules, numbers o ...
,
netball Netball is a ball sport played on a court by two teams of seven players. It is among a rare number of sports which have been created exclusively for female competitors. The sport is played on indoor and outdoor netball courts and is specifical ...
,
cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...
,
rowing Rowing is the act of propelling a human-powered watercraft using the sweeping motions of oars to displace water and generate reactional propulsion. Rowing is functionally similar to paddling, but rowing requires oars to be mechanically atta ...
,
fencing Fencing is a group of three related combat sports. The three disciplines in modern fencing are the foil, the épée, and the sabre (also ''saber''); winning points are made through the weapon's contact with an opponent. A fourth discipline, s ...
, and
tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...
. The schools of the Emmanuel Schools Foundation also hold the annual ESF Olympics, in which students participate against other schools in the group.


Houses

The academy operates a
house system The house system is a traditional feature of schools in the United Kingdom. The practice has since spread to Commonwealth countries and the United States. The school is divided into subunits called "houses" and each student is allocated to o ...
, a key for pastoral organisation, as well as inter-school competitions and sports matches.House system informatio
"House competitions page"
Bede Academy website. Retrieved 2 December 2019
The three houses are named after Christian saints with a connection to the North East of England: * Aidan * Cuthbert * Oswald The houses compete for the House Cup, awarded at the annual Presentation Day each summer.


Other Emmanuel Schools


References


External links


Bede Academy website
* {{authority control Academies in Northumberland Educational institutions established in 2009 2009 establishments in England Primary schools in Northumberland Secondary schools in Northumberland Emmanuel Schools Foundation