Year 9 Options Evening Information.

The information about the forthcoming Options evening can be found here:

Year 9 to Year 10 Options Evening

New Videos online.

Two new videos have been added to our Videos section.

The first is a new Schools Question Time Q & A.

The second is the latest from of "Bay TV" News channel.

The video section can be accessed by clicking here.

Strike Action - 30/11/2011.

Dear Parents,

Further to my letter of 22nd of November I am now writing to inform you that the School will be entirely closed for students of all year groups on Wednesday, 30th November 2011.

That is due to industrial action in the form of a one day strike/withdrawal of labour taken by most of the teaching and support staff unions. This action is not against the school itself, but is part of national industrial action organised by these trade unions about proposed changes to the pension schemes of their members.

This website will carry up to date information in relation to this and I would ask you to check it.

Yours sincerley

Adam Chedburn
HEADTEACHER

What a difference a day makes

The nail-biting hours leading up to A Level and AS Level Results are finally over for students, parents and staff at Whitley Bay High School who are celebrating yet again as results have improved to a new high.

For this year group of students getting the right grades has been more important than ever- in order to secure a place at university before the dreaded fees increase next year … and the students have done themselves proud! The most significant increase this year is the improvement in the number of top grades with far more of the new A* grades than last year and a combined A*- B percentage of 53.8%

Adam Chedburn , Headteacher said: “These are remarkable results, especially in the context of the size of the cohort entered. There were 257 candidates at A2 which makes it one of the biggest school entries in the country and to have more than half of all grades achieved at the top end is wonderful.”

A high percentage of students have got straight into University and a clutch of students are going off to top universities. However, as always, some of the most outstanding achievements actually lie among the students achieving lower grades where the ‘value-added’ achieved through dedication and hard work has been exceptional.

Joe Taylder surmounted almost impossible grade requirements to secure a place at St John’s College Cambridge which counts the poet William Wordsworth, and the Nobel physicist John Cockcroft among its famous former students. Hannah Hubbard scored straight A* in 5 subjects and will go on to study Medicine at Newcastle University. Stephen Richardson will go to Regent’s Park College Oxford to read History and Anna Appleby has achieved her dream of studying at Oxford where she will read Music at St Hilda’s College.

Steve Wilson, Executive Head of Sixth Form said: “This has been an unbelievably busy morning at the end of fantastic year for Whitley Bay Sixth Form. The students are on a high and so are the staff! We should not forget that these students have also been fully involved in the life of the school through music, sport, drama, the arts and charity work alongside their studies. More than 200 students already know they will be going to university, a number will be doing gap years and some have gone straight into employment or advanced apprenticeships. To all of them we say congratulations on what you have achieved so far and we wish you every success in the future.”

In the top one hundred.

Whitley Bay High School is delighted to announce that it has been awarded teaching school designation. This is an exceptional achievement for the staff and students and will significantly enhance our provision in the coming years. It is really important that parents understand that our main priority here has been, and always will be, providing high quality learning opportunities and plenty of memorable moments for the children who come here. All the additional duties and responsibilities of teaching school status will be organised around our core purpose.

Please see below the press release we have issued today:

Whitley Bay High School received notification today that it has been successful in its application to become one of the first of the Coalition Government’s new TEACHING SCHOOLS.

In its first Education White Paper the government said it wanted to create a training model for schools based on the successful teaching hospitals model used in the NHS. They believe that teachers learn best from other teachers.

Schools nationally were invited to apply if they could fulfil 4 stringent criteria and then put together a robust bid for the much acclaimed status. Only 100 schools were selected in the first round from over 1,200 expressions of interest and the school is set to become one of the pathfinders in developing a new model of training and development for the teaching profession.

Whitley Bay High School fulfilled the 4 criteria because:

• the Headteacher, Adam Chedburn is a National Leader in Education able to provide strong visionary leadership for a new generation of trainees;

• the school achieved a virtually unheard of 31 grade 1s in its Ofsted (March 2010), but particularly it was its Grade 1 for teaching & learning which made it stand out, something achieved by only 4% of schools nationally

• the school achieves consistently high levels of results for students year on year at both GCSE and ‘A’ Level.

• leaders at every level have the proven capacity, skill and emotional intelligence to train and support both new entrants to the profession and more experienced teachers looking to build up their expertise.

Whitley Bay High will be responsible for leading a group of schools, working with other partners including Newcastle, Northumbria, Durham & Sunderland Universities to deliver high quality support for teachers and leaders at all stages in their career.

The National College has responsibility for the designation and quality of the teaching schools programme, working closely with the Department for Education (DfE) and Training and Development Agency for Schools (TDA) as the national network grows to 500 teaching schools by 2014.

Steve Munby, Chief Executive of the National College, said: “To take on this role, teaching schools like Whitley Bay High School need to be among the best in the country - outstanding in their own performance and have a track record of raising standards through school-to-school support.”
“Over time teaching schools will harness the finest teaching talent in the profession to drive school improvement, and bring real benefits to pupils. Trainees will learn from the best teachers in action and those who want to step up to more senior leadership positions will be exposed to excellent practice within and beyond their immediate school.”

Headteacher Adam Chedburn said:

“This is very good news for the local community and for North Tyneside Local Authority. The leadership of Teaching and Learning has been our highest priority throughout my years of Headship here, and this is a wonderful affirmation of the quality of work which goes on in classrooms every day, and also of the high quality training on Teaching and Learning which has gained the School regular national attention. I would also, however, want to reassure parents that this will not in any way divert our energy from our core purpose which is to educate and look after their children to the highest possible standard.”

I would like to thank the Governors, the Leadership Team, the staff and students who have helped us achieve this new status and of course, the parent body for their support in all that we do.

Students show they’ve got the X Factor!

Whitley Bay High School staged its own version of the TV Show The X Factor on Wednesday July 13th in order to raise money for its partner school Pala High in Ndhiwa , western Kenya, as supported by a local charity, Team Kenya.

Led by the ‘Kenya Group’ – a group of student fundraisers, a talented series of performers were assembled following a gruelling auditions process. 

Expertly hosted by Sixth Formers Katy Ames and Robbie Chedburn the evening saw a highly excitable audience of over 200 students, teachers, parents and friends give tremendous support and encouragement to those brave enough to face the judges panel made up of Miss Welch (Cheryl Cole), Mr Rule (Louis Walsh), Mrs Mays (Sharon Osborne) and the dreaded JEB or Mr Brettell (Simon Cowell).

The three finalists were Connor Sutherland, Adam Simpson and Olivia Morley and eventually the show was won by Connor with some wonderful dancing that wowed the crowd.

One parent who attended the show gave us this comment:” I’m not surprised kids are excited and happy to go to school nowadays if this is what you give them! It’s been fantastic! I’ve never laughed so much for ages. What a brilliant evening and what brilliant students. You must be very proud.”

Deputy Headteacher Rachel Mays who acted as a judge said: “Yes we are proud! The Kenya Group have inspired students and staff alike to want to raise funds for the children of Pala in Kenya. Watching the film clip of the Kenya Trip last summer was so moving, I hope it made all the audience realise just how important this relationship between the two schools is for both partners.”

One highlight of the evening was the Under 35s category in which four members of the school staff performed a variety of different songs. Miss Tyley, Mr Mys , Miss Lindsey Dunn and Mr Hodgkins received warm applause for their performances

In total the evening raised an impressive £1,100.

Anyone interested in helping the school raise more money for Pala please contact Andy Clark Assistant Headteacher at the school or visit the Team Kenya website.

Literature Festival 2011

The week of the 23rd May saw the start of the Literature Fesitval at WBHS. You can read all about it in the festival magazine by clicking here

Please note this is a lage document and may take a few minutes to load.

Teaching & Learning Conference

On Tuesday 22nd March 2011, Whitley Bay High School held its second "Teaching & Learning Conference" following the success of the first conference held in October 2010.

Please click here to download the conference booklet

Higher Education Evening

You can now log into your My Documents at school by using the online link.

Higher Education Evening

Parents can find the video & PowerPoints from the Higher Education Evening on 1st March 2011 by clicking here

Russian City Breaks

Parents can find information about the Russian trip by visiting this website: www.russiancitybreaks.co.uk

Bay TV "Question Time" now online.

Latest Bay TV production now available to view.

Sixth Form Prospectus video

The new Sixth Form Prospectus is now available to view online.

Click the link below to watch this videos and others.