# Whitley Bay High School

Whitley Bay High School is a mixed upper school and sixth form located in Whitley Bay, North Tyneside, England.

## Admissions

The school has 1600 pupils; more than 600 are in the sixth form. In 2006, the school was awarded Specialist College Status in Science & Humanities.
It is situated next to Monkseaton Drive (A1148), towards the north of Monkseaton. There is a subway for access under the main road. It is in the parish of St Peter, Monkseaton.

## History
### Grammar school

The school was originally built as a grammar school in 1963, and was originally known as Whitley Bay and Monkseaton Grammar School. The buildings were officially opened on 7 December 1963, by Edward Boyle, Baron Boyle of Handsworth. It was formerly housed in what is now the Marden Bridge Middle School. The original buildings on site were A Block, B Block and C Block.

### Comprehensive

In 1973, it became a high school. In 1995, the biology class of Elizabeth Pollock featured in the Radio 4 programme Six of the Best, looking at how the human eye worked.

## Buildings

The school has since been rebuilt and all except D-Block and a portion of C-Block have been replaced. It had four main buildings, with several other outlying blocks around them. They were:
* A-Block: English, Modern Foreign Languages (French and German), Science (predominantly Chemistry), the school gym, canteen, main hall and various offices.
* B-Block: Mathematics, Geography, Philosophy and Ethics, ICT and an additional sports hall (known as B-Block Hall).
* C-Block: Childcare, Design and Technology, Media Studies, Food Technology, Healthcare, Science (predominantly Biology), learning support and Textiles.
* D-Block (built 2003): Art, Drama, Music, Science (predominantly Physics), the School Library, a music recording studio and a drama studio.
* E-Block (built 2008): Art and Textiles.
* F-Block: Psychology.
* G-Block: Business Studies and Economics.
* H-Block: History and a Reprographics office.
* I-Block: Physical education block for written work.
* S-Block: Media.

## Former pupils

* Rudolf Abel, aka Vilyam Genrikhovich Fisher – KGB spy, born in Benwell.
* Alan Campbell – MP for Tynemouth, taught History at the school from 1980–9, and married a former pupil.
* Frank Collins – SAS Soldier, first to enter the building in the Iranian Embassy Siege. Later ordained as a Church of England minister. Committed suicide in 1998 a year after the publication of his book 'Baptism of Fire'.
* Graham Fenton – Footballer who formerly played for Aston Villa, Blackburn Rovers and Leicester City.
* Sam Fender – Musician and Brit Award Winner
* Prof Sir Lawrence Freedman CBE, Professor of War Studies since 1982 at King's College London, and one of the inquirers of The Iraq Inquiry
* John Thomas Young Gilroy – English artist and illustrator, best known for his advertising posters for Guinness, the Irish stout.
* WillNE - YouTuber and content creator.
* Alex Oates – Award-winning playwright and screenwriter.
* Joyce Quin – Baroness Quin of Gateshead, former MP for Gateshead East, also former prisons minister and deputy agriculture minister.
* Peter Ramage – professional footballer
* Lucy Ratcliffe – model and Britain's Next Top Model, Cycle 1 winner.
* Andrea Rea, aka Huffty – presenter of The Word (TV series).
* Greg Rutherford, professional footballer
* Michael Shanks – British archaeologist who taught Latin, Greek and Ancient History 1983–1988.
* Steven Tupling – former Middlesbrough, Hartlepool United and Cardiff City player, formerly taught PE at the school.
* Roger Uttley – former English rugby union player. Taught PE in the 1970s.
* Dame Ethel Wormald, Labour councillor and Lord Mayor of Liverpool
* Elliot Anderson - professional footballer.