# St Cuthbert's High School

St Cuthbert's Catholic High School (formerly St Cuthbert's Catholic Grammar School) is a boys-only Roman Catholic secondary school with academy status located on Gretna Road in Newcastle upon Tyne, England.

## Admissions

St Cuthbert's is a seven-form entry school. The school admits students of all faiths, but Roman Catholic children take priority.

## History

St Cuthbert's Grammar School was opened in Westmorland Road, Elswick, Newcastle upon Tyne, on 16 August 1881, largely due to the efforts of Bishop James Chadwick and his successor Bishop John Bewick building upon the foundations of the Catholic Collegiate School established in 1870 in Eldon Square. Shortly afterward the School moved to larger premises in Bath Lane in the centre of the city. In 1922 the School transferred to the present site on Gretna Road. Part of the school (1922 Block – now demolished) was built directly over the Vallum (rear ditch) of Hadrian's Wall. During WWII, boys were evacuated to Cockermouth in what is now Cumbria. In 2011 the School again became single site on the completion of the Building Schools for the Future work, the former Lower School buildings on Fox & Hounds Lane having been demolished.
It was a direct grant grammar school until September 1977, then began to take a comprehensive intake.
The school converted to academy status in March 2012.

### Principals

Since 1881 there have been seven clergymen as head:
* Canon Wickwar
* Fr. Magill
* Monsignor Horace K. Mann
* Monsignor Jeffrey
* Monsignor Canon Cunningham
* Canon M. Cassidy,
* Fr. M. Walsh
and three lay headteachers:
* Mr E. Lovell
* Mr J. G Murphy
* Mrs C. Davison
The incumbent is Daniel P. Murray.

## Academic statistics

St. Cuthbert's was 662nd in the Financial Times Top 1000 Schools 2008 – 17th of 34 schools in the North East to make the list.

## Notable alumni

* Kenneth Allott – poet
* Flt Lt Dominic Bruce OBE MC AFM MA KSG RAF – World War II Escaper, the 'medium-sized man' of Colditz Castle
* John Carver – football player and coach
* Ryan Donaldson – footballer
* Declan Donnelly OBE – Dec of Ant & Dec
* Admiral Sir Nigel Essenhigh – First Sea Lord from 2001 to 2002 of the Royal Navy
* Sir Terry Farrell – architect
* Sir Anthony Grabham – President from 2002 to 2003 of the British Medical Association, and chairman from 1993 to 2005 of the BMJ Group
* Mick Herron - mystery and thriller novelist
* Paul Kennedy – historian and writer
* Jack Lambert - professional footballer
* Rt Rev Hugh Lindsay – Bishop of Hexham & Newcastle from 1974 to 1992
* Rt Rev Joseph McCormack – Bishop of Hexham & Newcastle from 1937 to 1958
* Cecil McGivern CBE – BBC executive, and Controller of BBC One from 1950 to 1957
* Lawrie McMenemy – football coach
* John Middleton – Vicar Ashley Thomas in Emmerdale
* Lee Novak – footballer
* Gordon Sumner (Sting) – bass player & singer in The Police and solo artist
* Neil Tennant – Singer in the band Pet Shop Boys
* Rt Rev Joseph Thorman – Bishop of Hexham & Newcastle from 1925 to 1936
* Tom Tuohy CBE – put out the Windscale fire in October 1957
* Rt Rev Frank White – Assistant Bishop of Newcastle (Anglican)
* Liam Noble – Professional footballer
* John Nichol (RAF officer) - Royal Air Force navigator
* Joey Batey – Actor
* Michael Ndiweni – Professional footballer