Sunderland College
 | |
| Type | Further and Higher Education College |
|---|---|
| Principal | Ms Ellen Thinnesen |
| Location |
Durham Road (A690) City of Sunderland Tyne and Wear SR3 4AH England Coordinates: 54°53′34″N 1°24′31″W / 54.89276°N 1.40852°W |
| Local authority | Sunderland |
| DfE URN | 131347 Tables |
| Ofsted | Reports |
| Ages | 16+ |
| Website |
www |
Sunderland College, is a further education, higher education college based in Sunderland, North East England. The enrolment includes around 6,300 part-time learners and approximately 4,800 full-time students.[1] A report following a January 2010 Ofsted inspection awarded the school a Grade 2 (good) that included a Grade 1 (outstanding) on 3 inspection criteria.[1] The college is a member of the 157 Group of high performing schools.[2]
About
The college is a multi-centre establishment, with four campuses throughout North East England, these are Bede Campus, Hylton Campus, Washington Campus and St. Peter's Campus, which is located on the St Peter's campus of the University of Sunderland.
History
Statistically, Sunderland College has held the top position of colleges and sixth forms in Sunderland - achieving the best grades locally in comparison with St. Aidan's RC, St. Anthony's RC and St. Robert's of Newminster, in recent years.
Bede Campus
The college's Bede Campus, which is situated close to Sunderland City Centre on Durham Road (A690, is in the buildings of the former Bede School which began as a coeducational comprehensive in September 1967. The school, known briefly as Bede School closed in 1991, and was itself a combination of the Bede Collegiate Grammar School for Boys and Bede Grammar School for Girls, run by the County Borough of Sunderland Education Committee. The girls' school had around 500 girls in the 1950s, and by the 1960s the boys' school had 900 boys. Both of the original schools were referred to, locally, as Bede School or 'The Bede'.
In more recent years, after the closure of the Shiney Row campus in August 2014 Bede Campus is now the specialist centre for the sports and visual and performing arts courses. The campus's ethos is strong on creativity, encouraging students to pursue their talents within the use of two brand new state of the art buildings which open in September 2014.
The campus is equipped with language and science labs and large-scale computer sites and provides facilities to assist students with their studies, careers or with university progression.
The Bede Campus is home to both Bede Sixth Form and the Sports Academy and the Visual and Performing Arts building. The campus also includes a Goals Soccer Centre with all-weather 3G 5-a-side pitches.
Bede Sixth Form serves the Sixth Form needs of Sunderland South and currently has a partnership arrangement with Southmoor Academy, Farringdon Community Academy, Sandhill View Academy, Academy 360, Thornhill School and The Venerable Bede Church of England Academy. Headways Sixth Form currently has a partnership with Seaham School of Technology, Hetton School and Easington Academy.
Hylton Campus The Hylton Campus is the main centre on the north side of the River Wear in Sunderland. For students wishing to train for careers in numerous occupations it offers real life learning facilities, including a £1 million hospitality and catering wing with fully equipped training kitchens.
The centre is home to The Lounge Restaurant and Conference Centre. Also there is a hair and beauty salon, which offers hands-on experience over the range of vocational courses on offer.
A recent refurbishment has brought new teaching facilities, workshops and preparation areas for construction courses such as bricklaying, plumbing and joinery, as well as motor vehicle and electrical courses.
Hylton Campus will close in 2016 and be replaced by City Campus in Park Lane
St Peter's Campus The college's St Peter's Sixth Form campus serves the sixth form needs of Sunderland North, and is situated on Charles Street, next to the River Wear and the University of Sunderland. It currently has a partnership arrangement with Monkwearmouth, Hylton Red House and Castle View Schools. Whilst these partnerships are in operation, the attendance of the Sixth Form is not restricted to those areas. Anyone within range of the centre can attend. The campus was officially opened on 25 November 2008, by Steve Cram, Chancellor of the University of Sunderland.
The college also had a partnership arrangement with Hays Travel that allows it to host a travel agency, Citysun Travel, which helped students get work experience in a real working environment. Managed by an industry professional, Citysun Travel was open to the public and was ABTA bonded.
Washington Campus
In September 2006, Sunderland College opened its brand-new £10 million Washington campus on Stone Cellar Road in Washington, Tyne and Wear. The campus also won the award for Public Sector Building of the Year at The Journal Landmark Awards. It is on the site of the former Usworth School just off the A195 near the junction with the A194(M) in Usworth and Concord.
Shiney Row Campus
Shiney Row Campus closed in August 2014. As of April 2015, the college experienced a fire. The land is still intended to be used as a residential development however.
Facilities
Each of the college's centres has its own Independent Learning Centre or ILC in which the students can have access to networked computers, borrow books from the library, or even just find a quiet place to read. Refectories, cafes, shops and common rooms are all available at each of the campuses.
Campuses also include lecture theatres and/or performance stages.
There is also access to the media facilities and libraries of the University of Sunderland
Notable alumni
- George Clarke (architect) - Architect and television presenter
- Lauren Laverne - TV/radio personality and former presenter of the BBC's The Culture Show
- Gareth Pugh - fashion designer
Bede Grammar School for Boys
- Don Airey, Musician, Deep Purple, Whitesnake, Ozzy Osbourne..etc.
- Alan Brien, journalist
- Sir David Cairns, a former Lord Justice of Appeal from 1970–77
- Prof Alan Cowey, Professor of Physiological Psychology at the University of Oxford from 1981–2002, and President of the European Brain and Behaviour Society from 1986-8
- Sir Tom Cowie OBE, transport entrepreneur
- Rod Culbertson, Actor
- Prof Samuel Newby Curle FRSE, mathematician
- Derek Foster, Baron Foster of Bishop Auckland, Labour MP for Bishop Auckland from 1979–2005
- Rt Rev David George Galliford, Bishop of Bolton from 1984–91
- Sydney Goldstein, Mathematics professor at the Victoria University of Manchester and aerodynamicist
- Sir David Harrison CBE, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Exeter from 1984–94 and the University of Keele from 1979–84
- Marcus Lipton CBE, Labour MP for Brixton from 1945–74, then Lambeth Central from 1974-8
- Prof James McFarlane, Professor of European Literature from 1964-82 at the University of East Anglia
- David Parfitt, film producer
- David Rock, architect and President of RIBA from 1986-7 and 1995-7
- Dave Stewart, Musician, Eurythmics.
- Sir James Taylor MBE, physicist and President of the Institute of Physics from 1966-8
- Neville Thurlbeck, chief reporter for News of the World and reporter of the Beckham/Loos affair
- Prof Alan Woodruff CMG OBE, Wellcome Professor of Clinical Tropical Medicine from 1952-81 at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
References
- 1 2 Ofsted inspection report 2010 retrieved 29 July 2010
- ↑ 157 Group, members. Retrieved 29 July 2010
