Established 1861 Executive Principal Mr Andrew Jordon Chair of Local Governing Body Mr William Purvis Founded 1861 Number of students 1,021 | Head of Academy Mrs Karen Hailes Phone +44 191 413 2113 Motto Together we achieve | |
 | ||
Location Main RoadRytonTyne and WearNE40 3AHEngland Similar Whickham School and Sports Co, Kingsme Community School, St Cuthbert's Catholic, Sacred Heart Catholic, Walbottle Campus Profiles | ||
Thorp Academy is a secondary school in Ryton, Tyne and Wear, England. The school teaches students who come mostly from the local Ryton and Crawcrook area, though some students residing in Greenside, Prudhoe and Winlaton also attend.
Contents
The school is named after Charles Thorp who was a rector of the parish of Ryton and, later, Archdeacon of Durham and the first warden of the University of Durham.
Thorp academy student reflects on the role play
History
The Thorp School, a Church of England Foundation, was built in 1861. In 1890 there were 200 pupils and 7 teachers. The school name was changed to Ryton Comprehensive School (date unknown). In 2005 there were 1270 pupils with over 200 in the sixth form, and 84 teachers.
Ryton Comprehensive School was threatened with closure as part of a review of secondary education in Gateshead in 2009. It was eventually decided that the school should remain open. The school's rating declined during this time from "good, with outstanding features" to receiving a Notice to Improve in 2011 which was removed in March 2012 when the school was judged Satisfactory. The school was judged to have serious deficiencies in September 2013.
In 2003/4 the school improved some facilities thanks to a £3 million investment by Gateshead LEA and the Big Lottery Fund. That development saw the construction of an additional sports hall, three new science laboratories, a purpose-built drama studio, a suite of music rooms, enhanced art and graphics areas and new modern foreign language classrooms. More recently the LA invested £2 million in a new classroom block housing Learning Support and Art/Media.
The school has a ‘Millennium Centre’ which provides facilities for independent study and a library.
In 2011 Hookergate School in High Spen was closed due to falling numbers, and merged with Ryton Comprehensive. The Hookergate site remained open for the academic year 2011–12 to provide education for years 8, 9 and 11.
The school changed its name to Charles Thorp Comprehensive School in September 2011. The uniform changed from a maroon blazer, blue shirt, blue striped tie and grey trousers to a blue shirt, grey jumper and black trousers.
In 2013, the school announced plans to convert to an academy. The sponsor, Northern Education Trust, was confirmed in 2014. The conversion occurred in September 2014 with the school being renamed Thorp Academy.
The school today
The school has recently opened a new STEM building which houses Science, Technology, Computer Science and Mathematics classrooms. The new building opened in the Easter of 2016. Another new building will open on the site of the old school buildings in the Easter of 2017.