Sport & Music

At Bede Academy we fully understand the value of school sport and the many physical and social benefits it can bring. In giving students the opportunity to try a much wider variety of sports we are able to increase participation levels, develop talent and help young people lead a healthier, more active lifestyle. 

Activities are provided at both recreational and competitive levels. This serves to cater for the interests and needs of all, whilst embedding a love of physical activity in students. We have an extensive team of highly qualified staff who willingly support the running of teams and clubs in all major sports. We aim to help all young people achieve their sporting best in school and their personal best in life.

The success of the Academy sports teams are celebrated at the Annual Sports Awards evening. Teams compete at the highest level in both regional competitions and beyond. In recent years the teams have won numerous competitions and represented the district in various sporting events. Individual students have also competed at county level in Rugby, Athletics, Netball, Hockey, Fencing, Rowing, Badminton and Cross Country. We also have annual sports tours in Year 9 and in the Sixth Form where in recent years we have travelled to Ireland and Holland.

Sport is at the heart of our Academy house events and students enjoy representing their house in some of the many competitions on offer. The highlight of the house competition calendar is the annual Sports Day in the summer term when the whole Academy is transported to Monkton Stadium. Physical education and sport can be used to raise the self esteem of young people and give them confidence. We encourage students to take part in a variety of roles and provide opportunities for them to develop as leaders, officials and choreographers. Close links are established with sporting governing bodies which allow students to gain accredited awards. These include tennis, athletics, fencing and rugby. We also work closely with local sports clubs to ensure students have clear pathways to facilitate progression outside of the Academy.

The Music Department is a hive of activity with the main objective being to serve the students and providing them with a rich and diverse musical education. Students are not only provided with the highest quality and breadth of musical study, but an environment where the core values of the Academy are explicitly demonstrated at all times by both its staff and the students.  Expectations for all students’ development is very high and procedures are in place to ensure all can progress and gain enjoyment from the various facets of music.  The department provide outstanding extracurricular opportunities, which are open to staff and students alike, and have created a positive setting where all can express their innate musical abilities and creativity.  The Music Department instils respect and discipline into all of the students, in order to provide real life skills they can take beyond their Academy years and into their lives and careers.  Through planning, the department endeavour to make lessons engaging and practical whilst having a theoretical underpinning, depth of musical knowledge and contextual diversity.  There is also a conscious link with music with other curriculum subjects.  This is in order to develop students’ appreciations of how they are inter-connected and the part that music has to play in the understanding of reality, whilst also enriching students’ deeper understanding of music and these other subjects.

Music is incredibly high profile at Bede Academy and has been referred to as, ‘the heart beat of the Academy’.  There are many events to prepare for throughout the year including termly concerts, the carol service, presentation day, young musician of the year, and the annual Academy production to name but a few.  Being a musician has become commonplace and the whole Academy is involved in Music in some way, whether it be through curriculum lessons, assembly singing, Technical Intelligence Lectures, extracurricular ensembles or private instrumental tuition.  Music underpins the Christian ethos in Assemblies on both the North and South sites, which are accompanied daily by a worship band made up of students.

Music is taught in a practical way in order to immerse students in the subject, yet it is clearly and thoroughly underpinned by music theory.  This has meant that musicians are of a higher quality and skill level, as they are not merely learning to play and perform ‘parrot fashion’, but rather being given the independent skills to read music and understand it.  The Music department has strong support from the Principal and staff at Bede, many of whom are musically talented themselves and participate in the musical activities at Bede.  The Music department also has good links with outside agencies such as The Sage Gateshead, local churches and the Rotary Club of Blyth.

Music Co-curricular Activities:

• Jazz Band
• BEAT
• Orchestra
• Senior Wind Band
• Wind Band Project
• Bede Voices
• Academy Choir
• Strings