St Robert of Newminster Catholic School

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St Robert of Newminster Catholic School is a co-educational secondary school and sixth form located in Washington in the City of Sunderland, Tyne and Wear, England.[1] The school is named after Saint Robert of Newminster. As a Catholic school it is under the jurisdiction of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Hexham and Newcastle.

Previously a voluntary aided school administered by Sunderland City Council, in July 2019 St Robert of Newminster Catholic School converted to academy status. The school is now sponsored by Bishop Wilkinson Catholic Education Trust.

St Robert of Newminster Catholic School offers GCSEs and BTECs as programmes of study for pupils, while students in the sixth form have the option to study a range of A Levels and further BTECs.

Notable former pupils

  • Jordan Pickford, goalkeeper for Everton and England[2]
  • Ethan Robson, footballer
  • Jessica Andrews, author and lecturer
  • Paul Coughlin, cricketer
  • Bridget Phillipson, Labour Party Member of Parliament (MP) for Houghton and Sunderland South (2010–present)[3]
  • Si King, Hairy Bikers member[4]
  • Paul Thirlwell, footballer
  • Carl Magnay, footballer[5]
  • Matthew Potts, cricketer[6]
  • Rebecca Welch, Referee
  • Paul Mullen, musician

Conviction of headteacher

In 2025, the BBC reported that the former headteacher, Dean Juric, had pleaded guilty to "downloading and distributing indecent images of children including teenage girls"[7] He was caught by an undercover police officer whilst he was in charge of the school, being found with 380 illegal images. The trust immediately suspended him, issuing a replacement. Juric, who was previously "asked what turned him on and he replied: 'Schoolgirl'" according to ITV, [8] was later given a suspended sentence.

References

  1. 1.Official school website; accessed 8 May 2015.
  2. 2."Jordan Pickford School". Retrieved 24 January 2018.
  3. 3."Bridget Phillipson: Houghton & Sunderland South constituency election results". 9 June 2017. Retrieved 5 September 2017.
  4. 4."Si King reference". 24 July 2014.
  5. 5.@TeamStRoberts (24 January 2022). "Really lucky to have past pupils who come back to work with our students. Carl Magnay visited us today to talk abou…" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  6. 6.Players pcboard.com.pk
  7. 7."Washington head Dean Juric admits sharing indecent images of children". BBC News. 21 November 2025. Retrieved 23 April 2026.
  8. 8."Paedophile headteacher found with hundreds of indecent images of young girls avoids jail". ITV.