At the end of October, Spanish A Level students had the opportunity to attend one of the public lectures offered by Newcastle University as part of their INSIGHTS programme. Francisco Ferrándiz, from the Spanish National Research Council, discussed 'Undoing the Valley of Cuelgamuros in contemporary Spain'.  The Valley of Cuelgamuros (formerly known as Valley of the Fallen or Valle de los Caídos) is Spain's most conspicuous and unresolved Francoist monument. The site incorporates the exhumations of Francisco Franco and José Antonio Primo de Rivera, founder of the Fascist party Falange, and it is central to ongoing debates about the Spanish Civil War and historical memory in the 21st century.

Not only did our students learn about a key period of Spanish history, which is part of the Year 13 A Level curriculum, but they also had the opportunity to reflect on the importance of remembering our history.

Our MFL department took a minibus of Gosforth Academy Sixth Formers and Year 11s to the Goethe Institut in Glasgow to participate in the 2024 German Career Roadshow. With Germany continuing to be one of the UK’s top trading partners, the Career Roadshow provided an ideal setting for our students to learn more about Germany's opportunities and gain insight into the importance of language skills in the UK job market. Students could choose from a varied programme of short presentations by experts from industry, cultural, and educational institutions, workshops, stalls, and other activities to illustrate the relevance of German in a career context and how it can improve job opportunities at home or abroad. The event was a great success and we returned with lots of inspiration and motivation to continue our studies inside the classroom!

Following on from the successful Italian exchange week at Gosforth Academy in September, last week Gosforth Academy hosted our German exchange from Heidelberg for the first time in collaboration with the MFL department at Great Park Academy.

After a weekend spent at our amazing host families, the exchange went on a joint trip to Dunstanburgh Castle, where students were able to get to know each other before being quizzed on their respective partners and their likes and dislikes on beach. We learned a bit about the medieval castle, the feuds and border disputes in its time and its artistic depiction in romanticism in preparation for our return visit to Heidelberg, where we will visit a medieval German castle.

The German students also explored British culture and heritage in trips to Beamish, Durham, York and Segedunum before experiencing a day at a British school and saying good-bye with a fun-filled party.

We have applied for a grant to help with the funding of this exchange via the UK-German Connection and hope that our return trip to Germany in July 2025 will once again be the most affordable trip abroad for our schools.

We would like to thank our parents and students who hosted this year’s German exchange and gave such an authentic insight into life in Britain to our guests. We are now looking forward to getting a glimpse of life in Germany and fostering our newly-forged cross-border friendships.

Today we have released revised admissions policies for September 2025 entry to Gosforth Junior High, Great Park Academy, Gosforth Academy and Jesmond Park Academy. These are now available on the schools’ websites.

Changes have been made following a small number of parental complaints to the School’s Adjudicator earlier this year, regarding the admissions process for September 2024. In particular, parents raised concerns regarding the fairness and legality of the Group’s admissions process.

The Schools’ Adjudicator subsequently completed a review of the Group’s admissions processes in the four academies and submitted reports, which included any changes which needed to be made, at the end of September.

The Schools’ Adjudicator reports confirmed that our admissions procedures are lawful and fair but highlighted the need for us to revise our policies to ensure greater transparency and clarity, especially regarding how our oversubscription criteria are applied.

We take the Schools’ Adjudicator's ruling very seriously and accept all the recommendations. We have sought legal support to ensure that our revised admissions policies are now easy to understand and transparent, whilst continuing to comply with all regulations.

We recognise and understand the frustration and concern that the lack of clarity in the admissions policies has caused, and on behalf of the Gosforth Group, I would like to apologise to those affected and thank parents for their patience whilst these changes have been made. 

We remain committed to providing equal opportunities for all families who wish to apply for a place in our academies. We will ensure that a consultation with parents on any proposed changes to the admissions policies for September 2026 will begin after the closure of the September 2025 admissions window.

Parents of children who have already completed their application for September 2025 will be notified by Newcastle City Council of the change in policy and sent further information as to how to make changes to their application if required.

Dr Alexandra Thorp, CEO Gosforth Group.

School Open Evening for students and families wanting to join Gosforth Academy in Year 9 from September 2025 on 22nd October 2024.

We are delighted to invite you to the Gosforth Academy Open Evening for students joining us in Y9 in September 2025.

Gosforth Academy has a reputation of traditional values and longstanding success. We are delighted to inform you that once again, our A Level and GCSE results were some of the best in the North East.

We are of course aware that the transition from middle school to high school can be a daunting journey and we would like to take the opportunity to assure you that we will make sure the vital transition to high school will be as smooth as possible for your child.

We are looking forward to meeting you and your child on Tuesday 22nd October 2024. Please note, we are holding two sessions this evening and are inviting families to join us at the following times depending on your surname.

You will have the opportunity to;

• Meet key members of staff
• Tour the academy building
• Listen to musical performances
• Hear about key features of our school

We are proud of the achievements our students make during their time with us.  Post GCSEs, students can choose to stay and join our successful Sixth Form. They can choose from a wide range of A Level and vocational courses and there is strong progression to higher education, apprenticeships or the workplace. 

We look forward to meeting you.

Please click below to view the Principal's update