English Martyrs School and Sixth Form College

Updated on Oct 27, 2023

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Established 1973 Headteacher Mr S Hammond BA (Hons) Address Hartlepool TS25 4HA, UK Number of students 1,637		Religion Roman Catholic Chair of Governors M Mekins Cert Ed Phone +44 1429 273790 Colors Black, White, Red, Gold
Type Academy with faith designation Deputy Headteachers Mr D Stewart BEd BEd (Hons) Motto Per Unitatem Virtus; (Latin for Strength Through Unity) Similar Hartlepool Sixth Form College, Brinkburn Youth Centre, High Tunstall College o, SRC Bede Sixth Form, Fens Primary School Profiles Facebook Twitter

The English Martyrs School and Sixth Form College is a secondary school and sixth form college located in Hartlepool, County Durham with academy status. English Martyrs (referred to locally as "EMS" and "Martyrs") is the only Catholic secondary school in Hartlepool. The school and college are both located on the same site on Catcote Road, however, a newly built specialist sixth form block provides the majority of A-Level classes, as well as some 11–16 school lessons.

In the summer 2013 examinations the school achieved record results - 83% of students achieved 5 or more GCSE grades at C or higher, including English and Maths.

History

St Joseph's Convent School was founded in 1885, and became a direct grant grammar school following the Education Act of 1944. St Francis RC Grammar School was opened in 1956, and two new secondary schools, St Bede's for boys and St Anne's for girls, were opened in 1963.

St Peter's secondary modern school opened in King Oswy Drive in 1960 replacing St Bega's school. The school had approximately 200 students and the headmasters were Mr Timothy McCarthy, followed by Mr Robert Garraghan.

In 1973, the national policy of Comprehensive education led to all the Catholic secondary schools in the town being merged as the English Martyrs' Comprehensive School. These were St Anne's, St Bede's, St Francis', St Joseph's and St Peter's schools, each of which is represented by a star on the school badge. The new site was the buildings of St Bede's and St Anne's and the St Francis site which was closed down in 1985.

List of previous headmasters

Previous headmasters include:

Canon John "Dickie" Bell (1973-1980)
Bell was the first headmaster of English Martyrs, having previously been headmaster of the subsumed St Francis Grammar School. Prior to that, Father Bell had been Latin teacher at St Francis. After his retirement as headmaster, Canon Bell became parish priest of St Joseph's RC parish church, Hartlepool, until his death, aged 74, in 1991.
David Relton (1980-1995)
Joseph Hughes (1995-2010)
Hughes joined English Martyrs as headteacher in 1995 after working in schools in Oldham, Stoke-on-Trent, Norwich and Gateshead. During his time at the helm the school went through a string of highs with rising results, strong Ofsted reports and successes in art, sport and theatre. In September 2010 he left English Martyrs to start a new role with the Diocese of Hexham and Newcastle, overseeing more than 160 Catholic schools.
Michael Lee BA (Hons) (2010–2015)
Lee began his career at English Martyrs teaching history in 1977. His first classroom was on the Normanhurst site, a building which is now the White House Pub. Before being appointed head in September 2010, he had been head of sixth form and deputy headteacher.
Stephen Hammond (2015–present)

Statistics

The following statistics are summarised from the following Evening Gazette, Northern Echo and BBC News articles.
National averages are given in (italics) after the school's score.

Main School

Admissions Criteria 2013

The majority of secondary school students come from 6 feeder primary schools, which are:

Sixth Form

6th Form College Prospectus 2013-2014

If you obtain 5 grade Cs or better at GCSE then you can choose any Level 3 course i.e. an A Level or an Applied A Level course

If you obtain 4 grade Cs or above at GCSE then you are advised to follow a double award Applied A Level course, plus additional AS subject/s

If you obtain fewer than 4 grade Cs at GCSE then you are advised to follow a Level 2 course – either the BTEC First Diploma in Business or in Health and Social Care

Houses

There are five houses within the school: St John Boste, St Margaret Clitherow, Blessed John Ingram, St Anne Line and St Thomas More. In the same way as the earlier St Francis RC Grammar School had named its houses after the English Martyrs, in 2009 the houses of the English Martyrs School were introduced and named after the following. Prior to this introduction, Saints John Boste, Margaret Clitherow, Anne Line and Thomas More all existed as houses in the school's PE department for use during sports days and athletics tournaments, however they were unconnected to the pastoral or academic care of pupils.

St John Boste

Saint John Boste who was hanged, drawn and quartered in 1594.

House colour: PURPLE

St Margaret Clitherow

Saint Margaret Clitherow who was crushed to death by rocks in York in 1586 for harbouring priests.

House colour: BLUE

Blessed John Ingram

The Blessed John Ingram who was executed in Newcastle-on-Tyne in 1594 as a priest ordained abroad, an act of high treason.

House colour: GREEN

St Anne Line

Saint Anne Line who was hung at Tyburn in 1601 for harbouring a priest.

House colour: RED

St Thomas More

The Right Honourable Sir Thomas More, Lord Chancellor to Henry VIII of England, who was executed in 1535 and canonized in 1935 for refusing to accept the king as Supreme Head of the Church of England or his marriage to Anne Boleyn.

House colour: YELLOW

Annual Awards Evening Principal Guests 1981-2012

A tradition of the school since 1981 where awards are given to students of both the school and sixth form college for reasons including: "excellent attendance, reliability, hard work, social and academic progress, caring for others, academic excellence and artistic, cultural and sporting achievements. Recognition is given to achievement at GCSE, 'A' level and GNVQ levels." There are prizes donated by local individuals and groups as well as Huntsman Tioxide, Teesside University and The Daily Telegraph. Each year attracts over 1000 guests and a Principal Guest of Honour "who themselves represent achievement in a range of fields". The evening also features music by the school orchestra and individual student musicians with refreshments to end the night.

Annual School Show

Another tradition of the school is an annual school musical, usually held around the end of November. This features pupils from all years, although older students and sixth formers generally get the leading roles. The music department, orchestra and drama department work together on its production. Tickets are made available to parents throughout the school to buy.

Annual John Bell Lecture

This now traditional once a year lecture is usually given around March in the school's St Anne's hall. The lecture is in honour of Canon John Bell, the last headmaster of St Francis and the first headmaster of the new English Martyrs school, and lasts around 40 minutes followed by audience questions. Complimentary tickets to attend are made available free of charge.