The Venerable Bede Church of England Academy (formerly Venerable Bede Church of England (Aided) Secondary School) is a

coeducational 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) ...

located in the Tunstall area of

Ryhope Ryhope ( ) is a coastal village along the southern boundary of the City of Sunderland, in Tyne and Wear, North East England. With a population of approximately 14,000, measured at 10.484 in the 2011 census, Ryhope is 2.9 miles to the centre of S ...

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...

Tyne and Wear Tyne and Wear () is a metropolitan county in North East England, situated around the mouths of the rivers Tyne and Wear. It was created in 1974, by the Local Government Act 1972, along with five metropolitan boroughs of Gateshead, Newcastl ...

, England. The school is named after

Saint Bede Bede ( ; ang, Bǣda , ; 672/326 May 735), also known as Saint Bede, The Venerable Bede, and Bede the Venerable ( la, Beda Venerabilis), was an English monk at the monastery of St Peter and its companion monastery of St Paul in the Kingdom o ...

, a monk, author and scholar who wrote ''

Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum The ''Ecclesiastical History of the English People'' ( la, Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum), written by Bede in about AD 731, is a history of the Christian Churches in England, and of England generally; its main focus is on the conflict be ...

''.

History

The Venerable Bede Church of England (Aided) Secondary School opened in 2002 on the former site of Ryhope Colliery and later Ryhope golf course. It was a

voluntary aided school A voluntary aided school (VA school) is a state-funded school in England and Wales in which a foundation or trust (usually a religious organisation), contributes to building costs and has a substantial influence in the running of the school. In mo ...

administered by

Sunderland City Council Sunderland City Council is the local authority of the City of Sunderland in Tyne and Wear, England. It is a metropolitan district council, one of five in Tyne and Wear and one of 36 in the metropolitan counties of England, and provides the major ...

and the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...

Diocese of Durham. This converted to academy status and was renamed The Venerable Bede Church of England Academy. While it is still administered by the diocese, the school is independent of the city council. It continues to coordinate with Sunderland City Council for admissions.

Description

The Venerable Bede CE Academy has 700-800 pupils, making it smaller than most secondary schools. Despite its Christian origins and ethos, the school welcomes pupils of all faiths and none. It has a number of purpose-built facilities, including a large professional sports hall. It offers a dynamic and broad curriculum and a wide range of extra-curricular activities. As a

school it has a

Christian ethos Christian culture generally includes all the cultural practices which have developed around the religion of Christianity. There are variations in the application of Christian beliefs in different cultures and traditions. Christian culture has i ...

, it conducts morning worship ceremonies and observes traditional Christian holidays and events.

Academics

Ofsted confirms that the outcomes for pupils is good. The school operates a two year,

Key Stage 3 Key Stage 3 (commonly abbreviated as KS3) is the legal term for the three years of schooling in maintained schools in England and Wales normally known as Year 7, Year 8 and Year 9, when pupils are aged between 11 and 14. In Northern Ireland the ...

where all the core National Curriculum subjects are taught. Year 7 start with six hours a fortnight of English, Maths and Science. There are Four hours of Religious Studies, Geography, History, Spanish and Physical Education, and two hours of Personal Development, Art, and Music. Four hours of Design Technology and Computer Science are taught using a half-termly carousel system, where pupils experience: Graphics, Resistant Materials, Food, Textiles and Computer Science. In Years 9, 10 and 11, that is in

Key Stage 4 Key Stage 4 (KS4) is the legal term for the two years of school education which incorporate GCSEs, and other examinations, in maintained schools in England normally known as Year 10 and Year 11, when pupils are aged between 14 and 16 by August 31. ...

students study a core of Maths, English, Science for 8 hours per fortnight and Humanities (Geography/History)Religious Education for 5. Core PE and PD / PSHE done for 2 hours each. They then have two optional subjects chosen from: Food, Resistant Materials, Music, Art, ICT, BTEC Business, Media Studies, Spanish, Textiles, GCSE/BTEC PE, BTEC Health & Social Care, BTEC Travel & Tourism which they study for 5 hours each. There are programmes in place to support pupils who enter the school with low levels of attainment so their reading skills develop quickly as a result, Generally disadvantaged pupils and those who have special educational needs or disability make as much progress as other pupils across a broad range of subjects. However the gap in attainment at the end of year 11 between disadvantaged pupils and other pupils in the school remain relatively wide.

References

External links

The Venerable Bede Church of England Academy official website

Archbishop Sentamu's visit March 2017

{{DEFAULTSORT:Venerable Bede Church of England Academy Secondary schools in the City of Sunderland Church of England secondary schools in the Diocese of Durham Educational institutions established in 2002 2002 establishments in England Academies in the City of Sunderland Sunderland