Students at a Darlington Academy are being encouraged to learn about sport from the referee’s viewpoint. 

As part of the Junior Athlete Education Programme at St Aidan‘s Church of England Academy, gifted and talented PE students have been taking part in a programme of sessions in coaching, umpiring and refereeing in sports including football and basketball. 

Students at St Aidan’s Church of England Academy in Darlington staged a fundraising week to raise money for African villagers in danger from contaminated water. 

 The students, from Cuthbert House at the Hundens Lane Academy, are raising money to purchase an Aquafilter, a pump that turns dirty water into drinking water without the use of electricity or chemicals. 

A Cross made from centuries-old timber and celebrating the life of the northern Saint Cuthbert was blessed during a ceremony held at St Aidan’s Church of England Academy in Darlington. A team of students from Cuthbert House have worked with staff at the Academy in Hundens Lane to create the Cross from the wood they selected during a visit to the timber store at Durham Cathedral.

Students chose a piece of 16th Century oak that was removed from the fabric of the Cathedral in 1982, then worked with Academy staff to come up with designs for the Cross.
The Academy has plans for each of its four Houses to have a Cross made from historic timbers and Cuthbert is the first to have completed their project.

The Cross was blessed at a service in the Academy attended by guests including Father David Sudron, from Durham Cathedral, and Academy governor the Venerable Granville Gibson, whose idea the crosses were.

Granville Gibson said: “We plan to have four crosses made from historic timber, one for each house. Bede will have timber from Jarrow, Hilda from Hartlepool and Wilfrid from Ripon. The Cuthbert cross is the first one to have been completed.
“It’s fantastic to think that the oak tree from which it is made was hewn many centuries ago.”

Father Sudron said: “The cross establishes a tangible link between the Cathedral and the Academy and with the past. The wood is centuries old.”

When St Aidan’s Church of England Academy named David Joni as its new head boy, it marked a special event in its development.

St Aidan’s Church of England Academy, in Darlington, has become one of just six schools selected to host an event connected to the Turner Prize, the art world’s most prestigious award.

A new Lead Teacher of English has been appointed by St Aidan’s Church of England Academy in Darlington - and she is aiming to make sure students are excited about the language.

Louise Lancaster was appointed having spent two years at the Hundens Lane academy as literacy co-ordinator.

Bethany Evans is celebrating after becoming the first student at St Aidan’s CE Academy to achieve the national Arts Award.

St Aidan's Church of England Academy devoted an entire day’s lessons to the theme of ‘Enterprise’ as part of its speciality in business studies.

The Academy, in Hundens Lane, Darlington, which specialises in Business and Enterprise, staged an Enterprise Day with a green theme.

Students from St Aidan’s Church of England Academy, in Darlington, were among those taking part in a Bible-reading marathon to celebrate the publication of one of the world’s great books.