Newcastle upon Tyne Church High School (also known locally as "Church High") was a

private Private or privates may refer to: Music * " In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation'' * Private (band), a Denmark-based band * "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorde ...

day school for girls in

Jesmond Jesmond is a suburb of Newcastle upon Tyne, situated to the east of the Town Moor. Jesmond is considered to be one of the most affluent suburbs of Newcastle upon Tyne, with higher average house prices than most other areas of the city. H ...

, less than a mile north of the city of

Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne ( RP: , ), or simply Newcastle, is a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. The city is located on the River Tyne's northern bank and forms the largest part of the Tyneside built-up area. Newcastle is ...

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 ...

. Until 2014 it was the oldest continuously operating girls' school established in the city.

History

"Church High", as the school is commonly known, was founded in 1885 by th
Church Schools Company
(now known as the

United Church Schools Trust The United Church Schools Trust (UCST) is a large education charity in the United Kingdom which owns and operates a group of 12 independent schools. The charity is operating under the name United Learning as of 2012. History UCST was founded in ...

). It left the company in 1925 and was independent thereafter, but retained ties with the

Diocese of Newcastle The Diocese of Newcastle is a Church of England diocese based in Newcastle upon Tyne, covering the historic county of Northumberland (and therefore including the part of Tyne and Wear north of the River Tyne), as well as the area of Alston Moo ...

and

St Nicholas's Cathedral Newcastle Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of St Nicholas, is a Church of England cathedral in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, England. It is the seat of the Bishop of Newcastle and is the mother church of the Diocese of Newcastle. ...

. The school was the first female team to appear on

BBC Radio BBC Radio is an operational business division and service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a royal charter since 1927). The service provides national radio stations covering th ...

'' Top of the Form'', on Monday 3 October 1949; the first series in 1948 had been for only boys' schools (in London). The team won the first round against Taunton's School for Boys in

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

. It later progressed to the last round of the England section, where it faced a girls' grammar school team from

Crediton Crediton is a town and civil parish in the Mid Devon district of Devon in England. It stands on the A377 Exeter to Barnstaple road at the junction with the A3072 road to Tiverton, about north west of Exeter and around from the M5 motorway ...

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...

. Church High was one of the

North East The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each sepa ...

's top performing independent schools 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 ...

s and

A Levels 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 the 2010 GCSE league table, it was ranked joint third with

Central Newcastle High School Newcastle High School for Girls is an independent day school for girls aged 3–18 in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. The Junior School is at Sandyford Park and the Senior School is located in the neighbouring suburb of Jesmond. The school was f ...

out of 100 schools in the North East. 98% of its candidates scored 5 or more A*-C grades that year. On 29 January 2013 it was announced Church High would merge with the nearby Central Newcastle High School to form

Newcastle High School for Girls Newcastle High School for Girls is an independent day school for girls aged 3–18 in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. The Junior School is at Sandyford Park and the Senior School is located in the neighbouring suburb of Jesmond. The school was f ...

in 2014. The schools merged in 2014. On closure,
heritage website
was created to celebrate the history of this much loved school by former members of its staff.

Notable former pupils

Lucy Akhurst Lucy Akhurst (born 18 November 1970) is an English actress, writer and director who has been working mainly in television since the 1990s. She starred alongside Neil Morrissey in ''The Vanishing Man'' and then came to prominence in a lead role in ...

(born 1975), actress, writer and director. * Ruth Caleb (born 1942), film and television producer. *

Angela Milner Angela Cheryl Milner (3 October 1947 – 13 August 2021) was a British Paleontology, paleontologist who, in 1986 alongside Alan Charig, described the dinosaur ''Baryonyx''. Early life Milner was born Angela Girven in Gosforth, daughter of ...

, (died 2021) Assistant Keeper of Paleontology, Natural History Museum, London *

Ursula Dronke __NOTOC__ Ursula Miriam Dronke (née Brown, 3 November 1920 – 8 March 2012Heather O'Donoghue"Ursula Dronke obituary: Inspirational teacher of Old Norse literature specialising in the sagas and poetry of medieval Iceland" ''The Guardian'' 25 M ...

(1920–2012), Medievalist and Professor of Old Norse Studies. *

Andrea Riseborough Andrea Louise Riseborough (born 20 November 1981) is an English actress and producer. She made her film debut with a small part in ''Venus'' (2006), and has since appeared in more prominent roles in '' Happy-Go-Lucky'' (2008), '' Never Let Me Go ...

(born 1981), actress. * Dame

Irene Ward Irene Mary Bewick Ward, Baroness Ward of North Tyneside, (23 February 1895 – 26 April 1980) was a British Conservative Party politician. She was a long-serving female Member of Parliament (MP), the longest serving female Conservative MP in his ...

, (1895–1980), British politician. *

Ann McMullan Ann McMullan (12 May 1923 9 March 2006), was Director of the Electrical Association for Women as well as an officer of the Women's Auxiliary Air Force. Biography Ann McMullan was born in Newcastle upon Tyne on 12 May 1923 to Garth Glendenning ...

MBE (1923–2006), director of the

Electrical Association for Women The Electrical Association for Women (EAW) was a feminist and educational organisation founded in Great Britain in 1924 to promote the benefits of electricity in the home. History The Electrical Association for Women developed in 1924 from a p ...

References

{{authority control 1885 establishments in England Girls' schools in Tyne and Wear Defunct schools in Newcastle upon Tyne Defunct Church of England schools Educational institutions established in 1885 2014 disestablishments in England Educational institutions disestablished in 2014