St Thomas More RC
Encyclopedia
St Thomas More RC school is a voluntary aided Roman Catholic secondary school
in Blaydon
, Tyne and Wear
, England
, providing teaching to 11 - 19 year olds.
The current headteacher is Jonathan Parkinson, who took over after Michael Zarraga OBE retired in 2005. Its motto is "regis servus dei prius" which translates as, "I am the King's good servant, but God's first". This is a reference to St Thomas More, and his refusal to recognise Henry VIII
as the Supreme Head of the Church following the King's split from the Vatican
and Catholicism
.
The school runs with a headteacher Mr Jonathan Parkinson and a deputy head Mr Paul Wood as well as assistant heads
Mrs. Barbara Kamali,
Mr. Paul Wood,
Mr. Michael O'Connor &
Mr. Nicholas Wood.
The schools current head boy and head girl are Samuel Walker & Rebecca Callaghan with deputies as Michael Thursby & Chloe Syron.
It is a well-regarded and over-subscribed school, performing well both regionally and nationally. In its last OFSTED
inspection (2007) it was described as "an outstanding and inclusive school” and found to be outstanding in all major areas assessed. It is the 7th best school in England.
The school is divided into four houses which every pupil placed into one. Each of the houses are named after saints and are as follows:
Note: (Heads of houses)
The houses provide pastoral care
for each pupil, as well as being the focus of rivalry during inter-house competitions at the start of the year. During the inter-house competitions the houses compete against one another in activities such as football, basketball
, chess
and scrabble
. Catering at St Thomas More Catholic School is provided by Chartwells.
The majority of pupils eventually proceed to sixth form
, ran by Mr. J. Davis and Mrs. M. Storey and then higher education
, with a small minority of sixth form leavers achieving places at Oxbridge
most years.
Secondary school
Secondary school is a term used to describe an educational institution where the final stage of schooling, known as secondary education and usually compulsory up to a specified age, takes place...
in Blaydon
Blaydon
Blaydon-on-Tyne is a town in the North East of England in the Metropolitan Borough of Gateshead. The former urban district, however, extends much further, its fourteen and a half square miles constituting the largest administrative district, after Newcastle, on Tyneside...
, Tyne and Wear
Tyne and Wear
Tyne and Wear is a metropolitan county in north east England around the mouths of the Rivers Tyne and Wear. It came into existence as a metropolitan county in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, providing teaching to 11 - 19 year olds.
The current headteacher is Jonathan Parkinson, who took over after Michael Zarraga OBE retired in 2005. Its motto is "regis servus dei prius" which translates as, "I am the King's good servant, but God's first". This is a reference to St Thomas More, and his refusal to recognise Henry VIII
Henry VIII of England
Henry VIII was King of England from 21 April 1509 until his death. He was Lord, and later King, of Ireland, as well as continuing the nominal claim by the English monarchs to the Kingdom of France...
as the Supreme Head of the Church following the King's split from the Vatican
Holy See
The Holy See is the episcopal jurisdiction of the Catholic Church in Rome, in which its Bishop is commonly known as the Pope. It is the preeminent episcopal see of the Catholic Church, forming the central government of the Church. As such, diplomatically, and in other spheres the Holy See acts and...
and Catholicism
Catholicism
Catholicism is a broad term for the body of the Catholic faith, its theologies and doctrines, its liturgical, ethical, spiritual, and behavioral characteristics, as well as a religious people as a whole....
.
The school runs with a headteacher Mr Jonathan Parkinson and a deputy head Mr Paul Wood as well as assistant heads
Mrs. Barbara Kamali,
Mr. Paul Wood,
Mr. Michael O'Connor &
Mr. Nicholas Wood.
The schools current head boy and head girl are Samuel Walker & Rebecca Callaghan with deputies as Michael Thursby & Chloe Syron.
It is a well-regarded and over-subscribed school, performing well both regionally and nationally. In its last OFSTED
Ofsted
The Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills is the non-ministerial government department of Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Schools In England ....
inspection (2007) it was described as "an outstanding and inclusive school” and found to be outstanding in all major areas assessed. It is the 7th best school in England.
The school is divided into four houses which every pupil placed into one. Each of the houses are named after saints and are as follows:
- St Bernadette (Mr. Brian Prayle)
- St Therese (Mrs. Deborah Ashdown)
- St John Fisher (Mr. William Burden-Taylor)
- St Catherine LabouréCatherine LabouréSaint Catherine Labouré was a sister of the Daughters of Charity and a Marian visionary who relayed the request from the Blessed Virgin Mary to create the Miraculous Medal worn by millions of Catholics and even non-Catholics today.- Early life :She was born in the Burgundy region of France to...
(Mr. Frank Smith)
Note: (Heads of houses)
The houses provide pastoral care
Pastoral care
Pastoral care is the ministry of care and counseling provided by pastors, chaplains and other religious leaders to members of their church or congregation, or to persons of all faiths and none within institutional settings. This can range anywhere from home visitation to formal counseling provided...
for each pupil, as well as being the focus of rivalry during inter-house competitions at the start of the year. During the inter-house competitions the houses compete against one another in activities such as football, basketball
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
, chess
Chess
Chess is a two-player board game played on a chessboard, a square-checkered board with 64 squares arranged in an eight-by-eight grid. It is one of the world's most popular games, played by millions of people worldwide at home, in clubs, online, by correspondence, and in tournaments.Each player...
and scrabble
Scrabble
Scrabble is a word game in which two to four players score points by forming words from individual lettered tiles on a game board marked with a 15-by-15 grid. The words are formed across and down in crossword fashion and must appear in a standard dictionary. Official reference works provide a list...
. Catering at St Thomas More Catholic School is provided by Chartwells.
The majority of pupils eventually proceed to sixth form
Sixth form
In the education systems of England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, and of Commonwealth West Indian countries such as Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago, Belize, Jamaica and Malta, the sixth form is the final two years of secondary education, where students, usually sixteen to eighteen years of age,...
, ran by Mr. J. Davis and Mrs. M. Storey and then higher education
Higher education
Higher, post-secondary, tertiary, or third level education refers to the stage of learning that occurs at universities, academies, colleges, seminaries, and institutes of technology...
, with a small minority of sixth form leavers achieving places at Oxbridge
Oxbridge
Oxbridge is a portmanteau of the University of Oxford and the University of Cambridge in England, and the term is now used to refer to them collectively, often with implications of perceived superior social status...
most years.
Notable alumni
- Graham OnionsGraham OnionsGraham Onions is an English cricketer. He plays for Durham and England as a right arm fast-medium bowler and a right-hand tail-end batsman. After a successful start to the 2009 cricket season, Onions was selected to face the West Indies in Test cricket, and following success in the series, was...
, England and Durham cricketer - Rhys Quinn Mclaughlin Blaydon RFC