Monkseaton High School
Encyclopedia
Monkseaton Community High School is a mixed, comprehensive school situated in Whitley Bay
, North Tyneside
, England for 13-18 year olds. There are 800 students on roll, 280 of whom are in the sixth form. The school has initiated or led a number of local and national initiatives aimed at raising standards.
Monkseaton High School is noted for its innovations in degree study in schools and primary modern languages.
The school building is noteworthy. Originally based on a dRMM design for the ideal school, the design has evolved into a building which is of a revolutionary design in terms of other secondary education buildings. The design, beyond the formal teaching spaces, incorporates a number of learning areas for students to study independent of teachers. The light, airy feeling created throughout the school encourages ‘open’ learning and is a move away from traditional, ‘institutional’ school design.
The ellipse shape of the school is very efficient in terms of space and land usage. It is aerodynamic and due to its position, reduces seasonal heating and cooling impact. On the exterior Devereux Architects, the architectural practice behind the Exemplar school, has strategically installed solar panels to provide tempered hot water. The school also benefits from natural ventilation, known as E-stack, which controls and maintains a temperate climate within the building. External shades control the impact of the sun on the building and spaces within.
The prestigious project was led by Devereux Architects and involved the services of Parsons Brinckerhoff, Shepherd Construction Ltd and Hacel.
. This was a major political argument about elitism in University of Oxford
admissions procedures, centring around Magdalen College's decision to reject Monkseaton student Laura Spence's application to study medicine. Laura had been accepted by every other university she applied to, including Harvard University
, where she was offered a £65,000 scholarship. She became an Academic All Ivy at Harvard and returned to the UK to continue her studies in medicine at Cambridge
after completing her bachelor's degree at Harvard.
2-1 at the Meadow Lane.
In 2007, Monkseaton once again won the cup, defeating Millfield 4-0. Accounts of the approach to football at Monkseaton appeared in The Sunday Times
.
And in 2008 won it again beating Gateshead College 1-0
premiership, was rejected as "politically impossible".
, Tribal Education, North Tyneside Council and the Chair, Professor David Reynolds. The focus of the Trust is applying technology and neuroscience to education at the school and creating, testing and sharing solutions for better ways of learning.
, based on the neuroscientific discoveries of Douglas Fields at the National Institutes of Health in the USA. Spaced Learning is delivering learning in a pattern of three repetitions separated by 10 minute gaps that distract the learners from the subject, and has been reported widely in the media as "8 minute lessons".
Whitley Bay
Whitley Bay is a town in North Tyneside, in Tyne and Wear, England. It is on the North Sea coast and has a fine stretch of golden sandy beach forming a bay stretching from St. Mary's Island in the north to Cullercoats in the south...
, North Tyneside
North Tyneside
The Metropolitan Borough of North Tyneside is a metropolitan borough of Tyne and Wear, in North East England and is part of the Tyneside conurbation. Its seat is Wallsend Town Hall....
, England for 13-18 year olds. There are 800 students on roll, 280 of whom are in the sixth form. The school has initiated or led a number of local and national initiatives aimed at raising standards.
Monkseaton High School is noted for its innovations in degree study in schools and primary modern languages.
The school building is noteworthy. Originally based on a dRMM design for the ideal school, the design has evolved into a building which is of a revolutionary design in terms of other secondary education buildings. The design, beyond the formal teaching spaces, incorporates a number of learning areas for students to study independent of teachers. The light, airy feeling created throughout the school encourages ‘open’ learning and is a move away from traditional, ‘institutional’ school design.
The ellipse shape of the school is very efficient in terms of space and land usage. It is aerodynamic and due to its position, reduces seasonal heating and cooling impact. On the exterior Devereux Architects, the architectural practice behind the Exemplar school, has strategically installed solar panels to provide tempered hot water. The school also benefits from natural ventilation, known as E-stack, which controls and maintains a temperate climate within the building. External shades control the impact of the sun on the building and spaces within.
The prestigious project was led by Devereux Architects and involved the services of Parsons Brinckerhoff, Shepherd Construction Ltd and Hacel.
The Laura Spence Affair
In 2000, Monkseaton High School became a focus for the national media during the Laura Spence AffairLaura Spence Affair
The Laura Spence Affair was a British political controversy in 2000, ignited after the failure of high-flying state school pupil Laura Spence to secure a place at the University of Oxford.-Background:...
. This was a major political argument about elitism in University of Oxford
University of Oxford
The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...
admissions procedures, centring around Magdalen College's decision to reject Monkseaton student Laura Spence's application to study medicine. Laura had been accepted by every other university she applied to, including Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
, where she was offered a £65,000 scholarship. She became an Academic All Ivy at Harvard and returned to the UK to continue her studies in medicine at Cambridge
University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...
after completing her bachelor's degree at Harvard.
All England Cup victories in 2006 and 2007 and 2008
Monkseaton High School football academy won the all England Cup in 2006 involving 2836 6th form teams across England. Monkseaton won the cup alongside the league cup DIV1, league cup DIV2, county cup, north England cup and Churchhill cup, playing 33 games, winning 32 and drawing 1 on the first game of the season. Monkseaton beat London AcademyLondon Academy
The London Academy is a British secondary school and sixth form in Edgware, North London.Formerly "Edgware School", it opened as the London Academy in September 2004. It is an 11-18 school and specialises in Business with Enterprise and Information communication technology . The school is open to...
2-1 at the Meadow Lane.
In 2007, Monkseaton once again won the cup, defeating Millfield 4-0. Accounts of the approach to football at Monkseaton appeared in The Sunday Times
The Sunday Times
The Sunday Times is a British Sunday newspaper.The Sunday Times may also refer to:*The Sunday Times *The Sunday Times *The Sunday Times *The Sunday Times...
.
And in 2008 won it again beating Gateshead College 1-0
Secular school proposal
Headmaster Paul Kelley has proposed that Monkseaton High School become the first secular state school in the country. This would imply ignoring the requirement for a daily act of worship, which he feels is inappropriate at a school. Kelley said that the proposal, made during the latter days of the BlairTony 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...
premiership, was rejected as "politically impossible".
Trust School
Monkseaton became England's first Trust School in August 2007. The partners in the Trust are the school itself, MicrosoftMicrosoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...
, Tribal Education, North Tyneside Council and the Chair, Professor David Reynolds. The focus of the Trust is applying technology and neuroscience to education at the school and creating, testing and sharing solutions for better ways of learning.
Spaced Learning
Monkseaton has developed spaced learningSpaced learning
Spaced learning is a teaching method in which the educational content is repeated three times, with two 10-minute breaks during which physical activity is performed by the students. It is based on the mechanism for creating long term memories reported by R. Douglas Fields in Scientific American...
, based on the neuroscientific discoveries of Douglas Fields at the National Institutes of Health in the USA. Spaced Learning is delivering learning in a pattern of three repetitions separated by 10 minute gaps that distract the learners from the subject, and has been reported widely in the media as "8 minute lessons".