About Us

General Information

School Location

Kingsmeadow School opened on 1 September 1990 on the site of the former Dunston Comprehensive School following the amalgamation of three schools. The school is situated approximately four miles west of Gateshead town centre on the western edge of the Dunston are and is accessible from the nearby road network off the Gateshead Western Bypass. In close proximity to the school is the MetroCentre.

The School

Kingsmeadow School is a co-educational 11-16 school. We work in partnership with Gateshead College to provide post 16 education through the Central Gateshead Partnership (CG:6). The school provides an excellent range of vocational opportunities for students of all abilities. We have developed strong and successful links with local employers; community groups and Gateshead College. The school has a capacity for 900 pupils and there are currently 754 pupils on roll. The pupils are mainly drawn from the inner urban areas of Gateshead, Dunston and Lobley Hill. The school serves a varied catchment area of private and council housing in which the full range of ability and a wide range of social background are represented.

PFI New School Build

A new school is being built on the site, and will replace the existing accommodation in two phases, under the Private Finance Initiative (PFI). The first phase of the new building opened in April 2007. This houses the majority of subject areas. Phase 2 is due for completion by August 2008.

Located in Phase 1

• Science – 6 labs
• Technology – 2 Food, 1 Product Design, 1 Graphics, 1 Textiles
• Art – 2 dedicated Art rooms
• ICT – 4 dedicated spaces
• General classrooms for Maths (5), English (6), RE (2), MFL (3), Geog (3), History (2)

The remaining areas – PE, Drama, Learning Support, Music and Business Studies will remain in the current building until September 2008 along with the Dining Hall, Main School Hall and all of the administration and management offices.

A 1.2 million Lifelong Learning Centre was opened in 2002 and this provides progression opportunities for year 11 pupils on leaving school, an for community education in general.

School Ethos and Organisation

The governing body of the school is supportive and highly committed. Under its guidance the school is given encouragement to be innovative. The corporate vision of the staff team is one of enthusiastic, hard working and committed professionalism with pupils at the centre of all activities of the school. Academic organisation is based on departments and supported by a House system. A strong emphasis is placed on the recognition of pupil achievement. The school is a caring and inclusive organisation that seeks to maximise the potential of each pupil. In November 2006 we were awarded the Inclusion Quality Mark recognising our good practice in this area.

OfSTED Report

The school was recently inspected in December 2006 and received Grade 2 (Good) for overall effectiveness. A copy of the full OfSTED report can be found on www.ofsted.gov.uk

Community Links

The school greatly values its links with the community. It has a strong association with local churches and has a commitment to the continued development of industrial links and values its close relationship with local firms. The school has also established close links with nearby Beacon and Specialist schools. Feeder primary school relationships have always been good and are now further strengthened through the work of the EiC Education Action Zone that is led by Kingsmeadow and the Behaviour (and Attendance) Improvement Programme. Kingsmeadow is the nominated Full Service School for Gateshead and as such has enhanced community provision and services.

The Future

Since 2000 the school’s examination results have risen consistently at Key Stage 4. In 2007 the number of students achieving 5 A*-C grades was 61% - the highest achieved to date – with 24% including Maths and English.

In September 2006 we became a Specialist business and Enterprise College and we have developed post 16 provision in partnership with Gateshead College under the title of the Central Gateshead Sixth Form (CG:6) and currently 60 students study a range of courses on the Kingsmeadow site and taught by our staff. Along with the new build, these developments will further enhance opportunities for young people and make Kingsmeadow an exiting place to be at this time.