Ponteland High School
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Ponteland High School is a
co-educational Mixed-sex education, also known as mixed-gender education, co-education, or coeducation (abbreviated to co-ed or coed), is a system of education where males and females are educated together. Whereas single-sex education was more common up to t ...
secondary school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' secondary education, lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) ...
and
sixth form In the education systems of England, Northern Ireland, Wales, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago and some other Commonwealth countries, sixth form represents the final two years of secondary education, ages 16 to 18. Pupils typically prepare for A-l ...
located in
Ponteland Ponteland ( ) is a large village and civil parish in Northumberland, England, north of Newcastle upon Tyne. The name means "island in the Pont", after the River Pont which flows from west to east and joins the River Blyth further downstream, be ...
,
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. It has been had
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 ...
status since 2019.


History

The school opened in purpose-built accommodation in September 1972. It was the first state school in the country to gain
Language College Language Colleges were introduced in 1995 as part of the specialist schools programme (SSP) in the United Kingdom. The system enabled secondary schools to specialise in certain fields, in this case, modern foreign languages. Schools that successf ...
status in 1995. In 2001, as a result of changes introduced in the
School Standards and Framework Act 1998 The School Standards and Framework Act 1998 was the major education legislation passed by the incoming Labour government led by Tony Blair. This Act: * imposed a limit of 30 on infant class sizes. * abolished grant-maintained schools, introducin ...
, the school changed from being a County High School to a Community High School offering courses and activities to the local community. Since 2000 there have been significant additions to and refurbishment of the school buildings including new science laboratories, a new sixth form centre and a four-classroom block added to the humanities area. The School intended to leave Local Authority control and become a
Foundation School In England and Wales, a foundation school is a state-funded school in which the governing body has greater freedom in the running of the school than in community schools. Foundation schools were set up under the School Standards and Framework A ...
with Trust status. The original plan was to effect this change by 1 January 2010 involving four local partners namely
Northumberland County Council Northumberland County Council is a unitary authority in North East England. The population of the non-metropolitan unitary authority at the 2011 census was 316,028. History It was formed in 1889 as the council for the administrative county of N ...
, the
Co-operative Group Co-operative Group Limited, trading as Co-op, is a British consumer cooperative, consumer co-operative with a group of retail businesses including food retail, wholesale, e-pharmacy, insurance and legal services, and funeral care. The Co-op ...
,
Newcastle Airport Newcastle or New Castle Airport may refer to: * Newcastle International Airport, an airport in Newcastle upon Tyne, England, UK ** Newcastle Airport metro station, the Tyne and Wear metro station serving the airport * Newcastle Airport (Nevis), no ...
and the Newcastle Business School at
Northumbria University , mottoeng = A lifetime of learning , established = 1877 - Rutherford College of Technology1969 - Newcastle Polytechnic1992 - gained university status , type = Public , budget = Â ...
. The plans were delayed after opposition from the local community and staff who submitted as petition against it containing 76 signatures. Following this a new implementation date of April 2010 was announced. However this was further delayed by the decision of two of the four potential partner organisations in the trust, Newcastle Airport and the Newcastle Business School, to pull out in January 2010. The school converted to academy status in 2019, and then expanded from being a
high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...
to a full secondary school educating pupils from the age of 11.


Academic and extracurricular activities

The school has high academic achievement. At
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 ...
Level its proportion of A*-C grades including English and Maths is 71%. 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 ...
, its pass rate is 98% with 57% of students receiving A or B grades. Eighty percent of the school's sixth form pupils go on to university. The school had its best ever
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 ...
results in 2017 in spite of the recent changes to introduce more difficult
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 ...
qualifications. 79% of students achieved at least a standard pass in both English and Maths, which is an increase on 2016 results (76%). 31% of students achieved 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. ...
, and 20% of students achieved 5 or more A*-A/7-9 grades, with 41% achieving 5 or more A*-B/6-9 grades. In the core subjects of English and Maths in 2017: * 89% of students gained a ‘standard pass’ (grade 4 or better) in English qualification * 70% of students achieved a ‘strong pass’ (grade 5 or better) * 81% of students gained a ‘standard pass’ (grade 4 or better) in Maths qualification * 64% of students achieved a ‘strong pass’ (grade 5 or better) At A level, results in 2017 were an improvement from 2016 with an increase in the average points score. In addition, 28% of all entries were awarded the top grades of A*-A or equivalent, with 49% A*-B and 69% A*-C. Over 40% of students gained A*-B grades in a wide range of courses. The school won the Bar National Mock Trial in 2002 and 2009. The school has a range of international activities in which pupils may participate, and for which the school was awarded
International School Award The International School Award is a British Council The British Council is a British organisation specialising in international cultural and educational opportunities. It works in over 100 countries: promoting a wider knowledge of the Un ...
for 1999–2001, 2002–2004, and 2013–14.


Notable former pupils

*
Helen Bailey Helen Elizabeth Bailey (22 August 1964 – Wiktionary:circa, c. 11 April 2016) was a British author who wrote the ''Electra Brown'' series of young adult fiction, books aimed at a teenage audience. Bailey was reported missing in April 2016; th ...
- Writer *
Neale McDermott Neale Terence McDermott (born 8 March 1985 in Newcastle upon Tyne) is an English former footballer who played as a midfielder. McDermott played in the Football League for Swindon Town, Darlington and Carlisle United. He last played for Gate ...
– Former footballer


References


External links


School ProfileOFSTED Profile
{{authority control Secondary schools in Northumberland Educational institutions established in 1972 1972 establishments in England Academies in Northumberland