St Aidan's Catholic Academy

Canon Smith, then parish priest of St Mary’s in Sunderland, founded St Mary's Grammar School at Bede Towers in 1928/29. The building on Burdon Road is a villa in Italianate style originally the home of Mayor John Moore. Records show the first schoolmaster, Mr J Goundry, was a layman. The Jesuits took over the running of the school in 1935 – two years after taking on Ashbrooke Hall as a retreat for local Catholic men and renaming it Corby Hall. Ashbrooke Hall, in Ashbrooke Road, had originally been built for glassmaker James Hartley in 1864 by architect Thomas Moore, whose masterpiece was Monkwearmouth Station. It later became the home of the Short shipbuilding family, before being taken over by the Jesuits. The original Superior of the teaching staff, and of Corby Hall Retreat House, was Father SJ Whittaker. It was opened on 8 October 1933 by the Bishop of Hexham and Newcastle, Joseph Thorman and closed in 1973.[1][2]

The school transferred from Bede Towers to The Briery in Ashbrooke Road in 1936 – previously the home of Mr Craven of Craven Ropery. There was a pedestrian tunnel under the road to gardens opposite, which the school later used as a sports ground. The name was then changed to Corby Hall, to avoid confusion with another school. Further confusion arose, however, between Corby Hall and Corby Hall School, so that "an interchange of letters was necessary after each of the postman's rounds," according to Jesuit archives.

Just a year later, in 1937, the name of the school was changed yet again, to Sunderland Catholic College, and in 1939 it became Corby School. The dedication of both Corby School and Corby Hall recalled, according to the Jesuit archives, the historical association of Sunderland with Father Ralph Corby who was captured by Puritans in 1644 and hanged. The name Corby School lasted until 1948 when the Jesuits left and handed running of the school over to the Christian Brothers of Ireland.

It was renamed as St Aidan's RC Grammar School and remained a grammar school until 1973, when a new school block and gymnasium building was completed on the opposite side of Ashbrooke Road and linked to the old school site by a tunnel. At this date the school was reclassified as a comprehensive school, although the last 'grammar school' pupils took their O-levels in 1975. St Aidan's retained the Briery building for use by the sixth form. Ashbrooke House was used as a retreat by the Brothers for many years, but was sold off in the 1970s and demolished to make way for flats.

In April 2013, St Aidan's Catholic School was converted to an academy and renamed St Aidan's Catholic Academy.

In 2016, an ex-pupil of St Aidan's school was paid £17,000 compensation by the Congregation of Christian Brothers after claiming two members of the Christian Brothers abused him at school in the 1960s.[3] Other ex-pupils have come forward and made similar claims.[4]

St Aidan's has forms into which each year is divided. The forms, which form houses are: Aquin and Bede making Ashbrook House, Corby and Fisher making Corby House and More, David and Rice making Brookfield House. The school is split into two main buildings: the main school, which caters mainly for boys up to Year 11, and the Briery, which housed the Sixth Form until Simon Hodgson left, and the Sixth Form joined with sister school St Anthony's under one umbrella.

In 2014 a former St Aidan's alumnus was arrested for tweeting a malicious joke about the 2014 Glasgow bin lorry crash.[5] The tweet said “So a bin lorry has apparently driven in 100 people in Glasgow eh, probably the most trash it’s picked up in one day”.

• Tom Coyne – Broadcaster
• Kevin Dillon – former Portsmouth, Newcastle United, and Birmingham City footballer.[6]
• Dennis Donnini VC – recipient of the Victoria Cross
• Mike Elliott – Actor