Carmel RC Technology College
Encyclopedia
For schools of the same name, see Carmel College.
Carmel College, A Catholic Academy (formerly Carmel RC College) is a secondary school on The Headlands in Hummersknott
, Darlington
, England. It also has a small sixth form college, admitting about 100 students each year, compared to the much larger Queen Elizabeth Sixth Form College
and Darlington College
. Following a recent OFSTED
inspection, Carmel was graded as outstanding in all categories.
The current principal is Miss Maura Regan.
secondary school. It has four main feeder schools at Primary level. These are St Teresa's RC Primary, St Bede's RC Primary, St Augustine's RC Primary and Holy Family RC Primary. There is also another school, Abbey Road Junior School, which feeds Carmel; although this school is not Catholic, it is local with Carmel. Carmel also has a sixth form college
, which is attached to the school.
Carmel College: a Catholic Academy has six forms which consist of C, A, R, M, E, L with three houses St. Aidans, St. Bedes and St. Cuthberts.
, becoming comprehensive and co-educational in September 1974 when it merged with the Immaculate Conception Grammar School, a girls' Catholic grammar school.
The new John Caden Hall was opened by former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
Tony Blair
, and is named after Father John Caden, who is celebrating sixty years as a priest this year.
Carmel recently underwent a multi-million pound building project, which included three brand new teaching blocks and the refurbishment of many of the old facilities. This was completed in Summer 2008, and were opened for students in September 2008. They were officially opened by Alan Milburn
, Member of Parliament
for Darlington. Carmel also upgraded its Sixth Form facilities; expanding the common room and providing a learning resource centre in the schools library. This was carried out in Summer 2010, and opened the following school year. The canteen areas were also refurbished at this time.
Tony Blair
paid his last school visit as Prime Minister in 2007 at Carmel before he resigned.
On 1st November 2011, Carmel RC College was officially closed, and Carmel College: A Catholic Academy was opened, as the school converted to an academy on this date.
Zoe Birkett
(runner up for Pop Idol
in 2001) attended Carmel during her time on Pop Idol.
The college has always had an excellent pass rate in GCSEs, Sats, etc. Its most recent GCSE passes (summer 2009) were the best to date, having 94% of students getting at least 5 A*-C GCSE certificates (80% including English and Mathematics), and 99.7% of 16+ students achieving A-E grades in A-levels.
Carmel College, A Catholic Academy (formerly Carmel RC College) is a secondary school on The Headlands in Hummersknott
Hummersknott
Hummersknott is an area in the western end of Darlington, County Durham which consists of mainly post-war houses, and is closely linked to the Mowden....
, Darlington
Darlington
Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, part of the ceremonial county of County Durham, England. It lies on the small River Skerne, a tributary of the River Tees, not far from the main river. It is the main population centre in the borough, with a population of 97,838 as of 2001...
, England. It also has a small sixth form college, admitting about 100 students each year, compared to the much larger Queen Elizabeth Sixth Form College
Queen Elizabeth Sixth Form College
Queen Elizabeth Sixth Form College, or QE, is a sixth form college on Vane Terrace in Darlington, County Durham, England.-History:It was established in 1970 on the site of the old Queen Elizabeth Grammar School, designed by George Gordon Hoskins...
and Darlington College
Darlington College
Darlington College is a further education college in Darlington, County Durham, England. The college campus is located at Central Park, Haughton Road. With support from Darlington Borough Council and Tees Valley Regeneration the college was built by "Shepard Construction", starting in 2004...
. Following a recent OFSTED
Ofsted
The Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills is the non-ministerial government department of Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Schools In England ....
inspection, Carmel was graded as outstanding in all categories.
The current principal is Miss Maura Regan.
Admissions
It is the town's only CatholicCatholic
The word catholic comes from the Greek phrase , meaning "on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in general", and is a combination of the Greek words meaning "about" and meaning "whole"...
secondary school. It has four main feeder schools at Primary level. These are St Teresa's RC Primary, St Bede's RC Primary, St Augustine's RC Primary and Holy Family RC Primary. There is also another school, Abbey Road Junior School, which feeds Carmel; although this school is not Catholic, it is local with Carmel. Carmel also has a sixth form college
Sixth form college
A sixth form college is an educational institution in England, Wales, Northern Ireland, Belize, Hong Kong or Malta where students aged 16 to 18 typically study for advanced school-level qualifications, such as A-levels, or school-level qualifications such as GCSEs. In Singapore and India, this is...
, which is attached to the school.
Carmel College: a Catholic Academy has six forms which consist of C, A, R, M, E, L with three houses St. Aidans, St. Bedes and St. Cuthberts.
History
It began life as St Mary's Grammar School, a boys' grammar schoolGrammar school
A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and some other English-speaking countries, originally a school teaching classical languages but more recently an academically-oriented secondary school.The original purpose of mediaeval...
, becoming comprehensive and co-educational in September 1974 when it merged with the Immaculate Conception Grammar School, a girls' Catholic grammar school.
The new John Caden Hall was opened by former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the Head of Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom. The Prime Minister and Cabinet are collectively accountable for their policies and actions to the Sovereign, to Parliament, to their political party and...
Tony Blair
Tony Blair
Anthony Charles Lynton Blair is a former British Labour Party politician who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2 May 1997 to 27 June 2007. He was the Member of Parliament for Sedgefield from 1983 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007...
, and is named after Father John Caden, who is celebrating sixty years as a priest this year.
Carmel recently underwent a multi-million pound building project, which included three brand new teaching blocks and the refurbishment of many of the old facilities. This was completed in Summer 2008, and were opened for students in September 2008. They were officially opened by Alan Milburn
Alan Milburn
Alan Milburn is a British Labour Party politician, who was the Member of Parliament for Darlington from 1992 until 2010...
, Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
for Darlington. Carmel also upgraded its Sixth Form facilities; expanding the common room and providing a learning resource centre in the schools library. This was carried out in Summer 2010, and opened the following school year. The canteen areas were also refurbished at this time.
Tony Blair
Tony Blair
Anthony Charles Lynton Blair is a former British Labour Party politician who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2 May 1997 to 27 June 2007. He was the Member of Parliament for Sedgefield from 1983 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007...
paid his last school visit as Prime Minister in 2007 at Carmel before he resigned.
On 1st November 2011, Carmel RC College was officially closed, and Carmel College: A Catholic Academy was opened, as the school converted to an academy on this date.
Zoe Birkett
Zoe Birkett
Zoe Birkett was one of the youngest contestants on the ITV show, Pop Idol, being only 16 at the time.-Music career:...
(runner up for Pop Idol
Pop Idol
Pop Idol is a British television series which debuted on ITV on 6 October 2001. The show was a talent contest to decide the best new young pop singer in the United Kingdom, based on viewer voting and participation. Two series were broadcast - one in 2001-02 and a second in 2003...
in 2001) attended Carmel during her time on Pop Idol.
Academic performance
It regularly achieves the best GCSE results in Darlington, and in the top five schools at GCSE in the north-east. It performs in the top twenty state schools at A level in the North East.The college has always had an excellent pass rate in GCSEs, Sats, etc. Its most recent GCSE passes (summer 2009) were the best to date, having 94% of students getting at least 5 A*-C GCSE certificates (80% including English and Mathematics), and 99.7% of 16+ students achieving A-E grades in A-levels.
St Mary's Grammar School
- Sir John Smith CBEOrder of the British EmpireThe Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
(1933–40) - Oswald O'BrienOswald O'BrienOswald O'Brien was a British Labour Co-operative politician.He was born Oswald O'Brien into a family of teachers in 1928, in Darlington...
, former Labour MP for DarlingtonDarlington (UK Parliament constituency)Darlington is a borough constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election....
from March–June 1983 (1939–46) - Stephen Galloway (1959-1966) Liberal and then Liberal DemocratLiberal DemocratsThe Liberal Democrats are a social liberal political party in the United Kingdom which supports constitutional and electoral reform, progressive taxation, wealth taxation, human rights laws, cultural liberalism, banking reform and civil liberties .The party was formed in 1988 by a merger of the...
City of YorkYorkYork is a walled city, situated at the confluence of the Rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. The city has a rich heritage and has provided the backdrop to major political events throughout much of its two millennia of existence...
councillor (1973-2011), North YorkshireNorth YorkshireNorth Yorkshire is a non-metropolitan or shire county located in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England, and a ceremonial county primarily in that region but partly in North East England. Created in 1974 by the Local Government Act 1972 it covers an area of , making it the largest...
county councillor (1981-1997), leader of City of York Council (2003-2008) and Executive Member for Transport and City Strategy (2008-2011) - Colin AtkinsonColin AtkinsonColin Ronald Michael Atkinson CBE - Cricketer, schoolmaster and headmaster of Millfield School....
CBEOrder of the British EmpireThe Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
, former President of Somerset CCCSomerset County Cricket ClubSomerset County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Somerset...
(1942-9)
Carmel RC College
- Zoe BirkettZoe BirkettZoe Birkett was one of the youngest contestants on the ITV show, Pop Idol, being only 16 at the time.-Music career:...
, Pop Idol finalist and runner up, West End performer. - James Michael Harris, 2nd Section Prize Silver Band Percussionist, Tuba Player, Trombone Player, Bass Trombone Player and Very Celebrated Pianist.