Durham Gilesgate Sports College and Durham Sixth Form Centre is the most recent name given to the School which is situated on Providence Row and adjacent to the Sands in Durham City. The School has had six different names since it was opened in 1913 but has always been known to local people as the School on the Sands and hence the title given to this publication. I have taught at the School since 1968 and over the last 35 years I have somehow assumed responsibilities for the school archives. Approaching retirement in May 2003 I thought it would be appropriate to put together a collection of photographs and assorted material to mark the 100 years of education associated with this school.
My colleague Mr David Buckingham has kindly agreed to assist me with the publication and layout of this material.
Brian Hunter
Deputy Headmaster January 2003
The present site and buildings of Durham Sixth Form Centre was opened on 3rd September 1913 with the transfer of 48 girls from the Johnson Technical School. The new building was officially opened on 21st January 1914 by Dr Hensley Henson the Dean and later Bishop of Durham. The School was designed by W. Rushworth and was built in the Neo-Georgian Style costing £16,250.
he new Durham Sixth Form Centre was opened in September 1983. It was formed out of the existing sixth form of the Durham Gilesgate Comprehensive School. It was created to meet the increasing demand for post 16 education in the Durham area. The tradition of academic excellence in the existing sixth form was preserved and developed. There was expansion in the member of GCE A level subjects on offer together with the introduction of more vocational courses. The existing buildings were modified and adapted to make it more suitable for 16-19 year old students.
An important feature of the Centre was to be the emphasis on the quality of guidance and support that students would receive from their personal tutors. The Centre was to provide an environment in which, because they were no longer in the same building as the rest of the school, students could be treated in a more adult fashion. This would mean accepting the disciplines of adult life as well as enjoying some of the freedoms. Mr Patrick Scott was appointed to the new post of Director of the Centre in 1983. In those early years the foundations were laid on which the Centre developed and achieved such a successful place within the post 16 educational sector in the two decades up to 2003. Mr Patrick Scott is now the Director of Education for York. In 1983 there were 150 students in the Centre and within three years the number had risen to 365. In 2003 the Centre was operating at maximum capacity with almost 800 students. Throughout the 1980’s and particularly the 1990’s there was a steady improvement in the examination results achieved at A level and in the advanced vocational courses. By the end of the twentieth century the Centre was achieving results which made it one of the top achieving Centres for sixth form studies within the North East. Increased use of value added measures helped to raise the standards achieved by all the subjects studied within the Centre. The following photographs and text show the wide diversity of activities undertaken by the students in recent years. |
