La Sagesse
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| La Sagesse | |
| Type | Private school |
| Religious affiliation | Catholic |
| Headteacher | Linda Clark |
| Location | The Towers Jesmond Newcastle upon Tyne Tyne & Wear NE2 3RJ England |
| Gender | Coeducational |
| Website | La Sagesse official website |
La Sagesse is a Catholic private school set in the suburb of Jesmond, Newcastle upon Tyne, England. Although founded as a Roman Catholic school, the school accommodates a range of religions and cultures.
It is now coeducational.
Contents |
[edit] History
Like a man driven, Montfort traveled the west of France, preaching and giving himself to the service of the poor in hospitals. With the same urgency, he produced an important written work of which two treatises of spirituality are well known: Love of Divine Wisdom and the Treaty of the True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin. Called in the depths of his being by the crying needs of his fellow citizens, he decided to found a Congregation of ‘daughters* whom he would dedicate to Wisdom, the Word incarnate, to confound false wisdom… establishing among them the folly of the Gospel’. (From Oeuvres completes de Saint Louis-Marie Grignion de Montfort, Seuil, 1966, Page 728).
In 1703, in Poitiers, France, a young girl named Maire-Louise Trichet made vows to serve God as a nun and went on to found the Sisters of La Sagesse. Trichet was the first in line, captive of the same passion that Montfort had for ‘those whom the world neglects’. A woman both tender and strong, a visionary and a realist, humble and audacious, she will take her full place as co-foundress in giving form and impetus to the Congregation of the Daughters of Wisdom which, after a rather rapid expansion, is now 300 years old (1703 – 2003) dispersed among 21 countries. The Sisters of La Sagesse travelled the world and founded many schools. They travelled from France to England and made their home in the Towers.
[edit] Closure
The school has announced it will close on 31 August 2008. The school rented the building and the surrounding land from the Daughters of Wisdom but, after their departure in September 2008, the relationship became distant and they trebled the rent and decided to increase the rent every five years. On top of the increased rent the school would have to insure the site and contents. Increasing competition from local public schools and the Royal Grammar School, Newcastle, becoming fully co-educational meant the untimely closure of a high achieving school. Forty-four members of staff were made redundant and two hundred pupils have lost a school. The headmistress, Linda Clark, spent the Thursday after the parents were informed consoling distraught students, many of whom had attended the school since the age of three. The Newcastle upon Tyne Church High School has offered to continue the GCSE courses and the A-Level courses for the Year Tens and Lower Sixth, they have also offered to consider as many other pupils as possible. Newcastle School For Boys has offered places for the twenty boys.
[edit] The Towers
Built for Sir Charles Mitchell in around 1870 the Towers is a large gothic looking building. Unlike many buildings of the period, the Assembly Hall, originally built as a lounge, made the building unsymmetrical. The lounge was home to many great paintings which were collected by Mitchell's son who was great art enthusiast. The Convent became a home away from home for the Mitchells' brother-in-law. Mitchell's wife, Elizabeth Swan (Swan of Swan-Hunters Ship Yards), sold the Convent to the Sisters of La Sagesse and later, after Mitchell's death, the Towers. Elizabeth Swan's sister, who was left broken-hearted by her lover dying at sea threw herself from the battlements of the Towers and is said to haunt the school to this very day. She is called the Pink Lady.
[edit] The school
Originally a Convent school run by the Sisters of La Sagesse, the school is now one of the top independent schools in Newcastle upon Tyne and ranked 350th on [The Times Parent Power List][http://www.timesonline.co.uk/parentpower/league_tables.php?t=independent_secondary_schools&page=18. There are a total of 251 pupils, on average 16.7 pupils in a year and it is a non-selective school. Year after year results are good, in 2007:
A-level A/B 59.6%
GCSE A*/A47.3%
In 2007, boys were first admitted to the high school starting in Years 7 and progressing upwards.
[edit] GCSEs
There are a variety of GCSE subjects available:
Core Subjects
- English Language and Literature
- Maths
- Core and Additional Science OR Separate Sciences (A GCSE in Biology, Chemistry AND Physics)
- Modern Foreign Language (either French or Spanish)
- ICT (either Short Course [half GCSE] OR Full Course)
- Religious Studies- Short Course
Optional
- Art
- Business Studies
- Drama
- Geography
- Home Economics- Food Based
- History- Schools History Project (Medicine Through Time and The American West)
- Music
- Physical Education
- Second Modern Foreign Language
[edit] A-Levels
Most students take four AS (Advanced Subsidiaries) then drop one subject for A- Level. Life skills and Games are compulsory. There is a Sixth Form Common Room where the students can spend their free lessons ("Frees") and do work. The Common Room also has a small kitchen for preparing drinks and lunches.
Subjects':
- Accounts
- Art
- Business Studies
- Biology
- Chemistry
- English Language
- English Literature
- French
- Spanish
- Physics
- History- Henry VIII and Spain
- Geography
- Home Economics (AS only)
- Music.
[edit] House System
In the past there were four houses named after monasteries in the North of England and each house had a colour,
- Lindisfarne-Red
- Iona- Blue
- Dunelm- Green
- Melrose- Yellow
Now the houses are named after the mythological goddesses of wisdom in Roman, Greek and Egyptian culture:
A "House system" plays a vital role in enabling pupils to develop a range of skills. The school also has numerous inter-house activities, including swimming galas, netball and hockey tournaments and drama and poetry competitions.
[edit] Junior School
The National Curriculum is broadly followed at the school. In the Junior Department French and dance are taught from Nursery. Younger children also benefit from specialist teachers in many areas. Across the school, music and drama enhance the curriculum and specialist instrumentalist lessons including violin, piano, flute, drums and guitar, as well as singing, are available. "Throughout the Junior Department, pupils of all abilities, including those requiring special provision, make very good progress ... At every stage of the Senior Department, pupils make very good, sometimes substantial progress" (Independent Schools Inspectorate Report January 2004)
[edit] Notable alumni
- Linden Travers
- Kirsty Tranter
- Denise Welch TV Actress
