Wellfield Middle School
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Wellfield Middle School | |
 |
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| Established | 1972 |
|---|---|
| School type | Comprehensive school |
| Headteacher | Mr S Collinson (since 2005) |
| Location | Whitley Bay, Tyne and Wear, England |
| Students | 200 (approx) |
| Website | www.wellfieldmiddleschool.org.uk |
Wellfield Middle School is a middle school in Whitley Bay, North Tyneside serving the areas of Wellfield, Earsdon and West Monkseaton. It currently has about 230 pupils on its roll from the ages of 9 up to 13.
[edit] History
Prior to 1972 there was a primary school in Wellfield; with Northumberland's creation of a three-tier education system, the school was divided into a First School (South Wellfield First School) and a Middle school (originally called South Wellfield Middle School).
In 1993, South Wellfield Middle School (along with other schools) was threatened with closure by North Tyneside Council because the council said that it had too many surplus places. There followed a vigorous campaign by staff (led by Headteacher Jim Redhead), parents and pupils to keep the school open, which ended in 1994 when the school successfully applied to become one of the few grant-maintained schools in North East England.
Following this success, the school changed its name in September 1994 from South Wellfield Middle School to Wellfield Middle School (Grant-Maintained). When grant-maintained status was abolished, it became known simply as Wellfield Middle School.
[edit] Famous Former Pupils
- Laura Spence, the schoolgirl from Whitley Bay who became the centre of a major political row in 2000 when Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown criticised the decision made by Oxford University not to award her a place to study medicine.
