St Thomas More RC

Infobox UK school
name = St Thomas More Catholic School


size =
latitude = 54.96118
longitude = -1.72222
dms = dms
motto = "Regis Servus Dei Prius"
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established =
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closed =
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type = Voluntary aided school
religion = Roman Catholic
president =
head_label = Headteacher
head = Mr Jonathan Parkinson
r_head_label =
r_head =
chair_label =
chair = Dr AL Gibson
founder =
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specialist = Technology College
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street = Croftdale Road
city = Blaydon-on-Tyne
county = Tyne and Wear
country = England
postcode = NE21 4BQ
LEA = Gateshead
ofsted = 108413
staff = 88
enrollment = 1516
gender = Coeducational
lower_age = 11
upper_age = 18
houses =
colours = Royal Blue
publication =
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website = http://www.stthomasmore.org.uk
website_name =

St Thomas More RC school is a voluntary aided Roman Catholic secondary school in Blaydon, Tyne and Wear, England, providing teaching to 11 - 19 year olds.

The current headteacher is Jonathan Parkinson, who took over after Michael Zarraga OBE retired in 2005. Its motto is "regis servus dei prius" which translates as, "I am the King's good servant, but God's first". This is a reference to St Thomas More, and his refusal to recognise Henry VIII as the Supreme Head of the Church following the King's split from the Vatican and Catholicism.

It is a well-regarded and over-subscribed school, performing well both regionally and nationally. In its last OFSTED inspection (2007) it was described as "an outstanding and inclusive school” and found to be outstanding in all major areas assessed.

The school is divided into four houses which every pupil placed into one. Each of the houses are named after saints and are as follows:
*St Bernadette
*St Theresa
*St John Fisher
*St Catherine Labouré

The houses provide pastoral care for each pupil, as well as being the focus of rivlarly during inter-house competitions at the start of the year. During the inter-house competitions the houses compete against one another in activities such as football, netball, chess and scrabble.

The majority of pupils eventually proceed to sixth form and then higher education, with a small minority of sixth form leavers achieving places at Oxbridge most years.

External links

*official|http://www.stthomasmore.org.uk

* [http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/portal/site/Internet/menuitem.7c7b38b14d870c7bb1890a01637046a0/?event=getReport&urn=108413&inspectionNumber=288094&providerCategoryID=8192&fileName=\school\108\s5_108413_20070306.xml The School's OFSTED report]