St Aidan's Church of England Academy
# St Aidan's Church of England Academy

St Aidan's Church of England Academy is a coeducational secondary school with academy status, located in Darlington, County Durham, England.

Originally Eastbourne Comprehensive School, school converted to academy status and was renamed Eastbourne Church of England Academy. The school was later renamed St Aidan's Church of England Academy.

The new academy building was built on Hundens Park, to the north of the original school site.

There are 550 pupils enrolled at the Academy for 2023.

## Trustees

From December 2022, the Chair of Trustees is Mr Merion Baker. Mrs Ruth Lowbridge and Mrs Anita Blackburn are the Co-Chairs.

## Ofsted

In January 2020 the school was rated Good in all areas. "This is a school of great warmth. It feels almost possible to reach out and touch the school’s caring ethos. The pupils are proud of the school."

## Notable former pupils

### Eastbourne Comprehensive School

* Tom Sawyer, Baron Sawyer, trade unionist and Labour Party politician
* Vic Reeves, comedian
* Andrew Fothergill, cricketer

### St Aidan's Church of England Academy

* Alex Pattison, footballer

## Leadership

In February 2015, principal Catherine McCoy and assistant principal Stephanie Francom stood down. Nicole Gibbon became principal and oversaw the Academy achieving an Ofsted "Good" rating.

In December 2021, Nicole Gibbon stepped down, with Anthony Martin, former Deputy Principal, becoming Acting Principal until the end of the year. In July 2022, Dean Lythgoe was appointed Headteacher, the first time since the Academy's conversion from "Eastbourne" that the term was used, rather than Principal.

## Honours

* 2018 Darlington 7-a-side Football Cup Winners
* 2019 Durham Schools' Rugby Finals Runners Up
* 2019 Darlington Schools' Cricket Finals Runners Up
* 2020 Mountain Biking Regional Finals, 3rd Place.
* 2021 Year 7 Football Town Cup Runners-Up
* 2022 Year 7 Football Town Cup Winners
* 2022 Robotics North East Championships, 3rd Place.
