St Aidan's Church of England Academy 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 ...

secondary school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., b ...

with academy status, in

Darlington Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, County Durham, England. It lies on the River Skerne, west of Middlesbrough and south of Durham. Darlington had a population of 107,800 at the 2021 Census, making it a "large town" ...

County Durham County Durham, officially simply Durham, is a ceremonial county in North East England.UK General Acts 1997 c. 23Lieutenancies Act 1997 Schedule 1(3). From legislation.gov.uk, retrieved 6 April 2022. The county borders Northumberland and Tyne an ...

, England. Originally Eastbourne Comprehensive School, the school converted to academy status and was renamed Eastbourne Church of England Academy. The school was later renamed St Aidan's Church of England Academy. The new academy building was built on Hundens Park, to the north of the original school site. There are 550 pupils enrolled at the Academy for 2023.

Ofsted

In January 2020 the school was rated Good in all areas. "This is a school of great warmth. It feels almost possible to reach out and touch the school’s caring ethos. The pupils are proud of the school."

Notable former pupils

Eastbourne Comprehensive School

Tom Sawyer, Baron Sawyer Lawrence Sawyer, Baron Sawyer (born 12 May 1943), known as Tom Sawyer, is a British trade unionist and Labour Party politician. He was General Secretary of the Labour Party from 1994 to 1998. Early life Sawyer was educated at Dodmire School, ...

, trade unionist and Labour Party politician *

Vic Reeves James Roderick Moir (born 24 January 1959), commonly known by his stage name Vic Reeves, is an English comedian and artist. He has a double act with Bob Mortimer as Reeves & Mortimer. He is known for his surreal sense of humour. In 2003, Ree ...

, comedian * Andrew Fothergill, cricketer

St Aidan's Church of England Academy

* Alex Pattison, footballer

Leadership

In February 2015, principal Catherine McCoy and assistant principal Stephanie Francom stood down. Nicole Gibbon became principal and oversaw the Academy achieving an Ofsted "Good" rating. In December 2021, Nicole Gibbon stepped down, with Anthony Martin, former Deputy Principal, becoming Acting Principal until the end of the year. In July 2022, Dean Lythgoe was appointed Headteacher, the first time since the Academy's conversion from "Eastbourne" that the term was used, rather than Principal.

Honours

* 2018 Darlington 7-a-side Football Cup Winners * 2022 Year 7 Football Town Cup Winners * 2023 Year 8 Football Town Cup Winners

References

External links

St Aidan's CofE Academy Website

St Aidan's CE Academy Facebook Page

St Aidan's CE Academy Instagram

Academies in the Borough of Darlington Church of England secondary schools in the Diocese of Durham Secondary schools in the Borough of Darlington Schools in Darlington {{Tees-school-stub