The Blyth School Community College
It was around late 1997 when I first heard the rumours of a possible merger between the two existing High schools in Blyth. Blyth Ridley and Blyth Tynedale had been struggling for years because the pot of money available to Blyth from the County Council had to be split between both sites. The result of this was that the finances were not there to do what was needed to keep the buildings in good order. The continual challenge was for each school to get the best they could but finances being the way they were it was never going to be possible. I remember all staff were called to a meeting at Ridley to mention that both Governing Bodies were considering a merger so that the students of Blyth could get the best service that one single school could provide.
Once the decision to merge had been agreed with both Governing Bodies the problem then lay with financing a new Building and also finding the best location possible. The County Council applied to the Government of the day for the Funding which I believe came in at £8million and the Council themselves supplied over £6million. There were various sites chosen, South Beach, Bates Pit, Bolam Park area but in the end the most economically viable site was on the existing Tynedale High school sports Field which became the chosen destination.
There were 2 Contractors who designed very different school buildings but the County Councillors went with a design by a company called Gleesons. After some initial trouble in buying a right of way over a strip of land which is now the front of the car park, building work started. The whole project took around 16 months to complete during which time the 2 existing staff groups and students had to travel between sites and get together for meetings to keep up to date. Mr Peter Smith was appointed Headteacher and he decided on the staffing of the school and also worked as the County representative with the building company. During August 2002 the building was furnished although 75% of the furniture came from the existing schools. The College opened it’s doors in early September 2002.
Written by Mr. C Hunter (Site Manager)