For example, Emmanuel College, Gateshead, has been an Ofsted “Outstanding” school throughout its history. It is the North East’s leading state secondary school in several measures, including the benchmark five GCSEs at A*-C grade including English and mathematics, the percentage of students achieving the English Baccalaureate and students’ progress in mathematics.
The King’s Academy, Middlesbrough, marked its tenth anniversary with its best results to date and a £1.2m investment in Sixth Form and Performing Arts facilities. In its first decade, the Academy was placed among the top 10% of schools in England for added value and has been the “most improved” school in the North East. The Academy welcomes four times the average percentage of students with special needs and its provision for these young people has been described as “exemplary” and “outstanding”.
Trinity Academy in Thorne near Doncaster has won countless accolades since opening in 2005, including that of the “most improved” school in Yorkshire and in England for three consecutive years. There is widespread recognition that the Academy has had a profound and lasting impact on aspirations among young people, their attainment and the opportunities that are available to them; it was singled out as “a beacon of hope” by Lord Adonis in 2007.
With provision for young people from 3-18 years of age, Bede Academy in Blyth was one of the first all-through academies in England when it opened its new buildings on two sites in 2009. Within two years, it was raising the aspirations of its students and their families and significantly higher levels of overall standards and academic attainment were being reached. Examination results last year placed the Academy in the top 8% of state-funded schools in England for Progress 8 and for progress in mathematics.