History of the school

A heritage of more than 125 years

Sunderland High School, now a co-educational independent day school, has the distinction of being the oldest independent school for girls in the city. It was founded in 1883 when the Venerable Archdeacon R Long expressed his surprise by the lack of a high school in a city the size of Sunderland.

After gaining support from local townsfolk as well as the mayor, the school opened in April 1884 with just 16 full-time pupils at 10-11 Park Terrace, now Towards Road. As pupil numbers increased, Tonstall School was developed to house the prep school, domestic science room, facilities for music and accommodation for weekly boarders and staff.

Growth into the 20th century

The school continued to grow in size and facilities until World War II when inevitably expansion was temporarily halted.  The school focused on science and home economics in the 1950s and 1960s and state-of-the-art laboratories now stand to work inline with the changing curriculum.

In 1987, the school celebrated its 100 year heritage by opening the Centenary Building which now houses the school's ICT suites.

From the late 1980s, the school entered a period of radical change by opening its Sixth Form doors to boys in 1988. This eventually led to the school becoming co-educational. In 1992, it merged with Tonstall School, a long-established boys' day school. Sunderland High School is now a thriving co-educational day school.

Serving pupils, parents and the community

Always proud of its distinguished heritage but mindful of opportunities for development and growth, a major programme began at Hendon Hill to build Tonstall House in order to provide a new Junior School and sports hall for the whole school. This was officially opened by HRH The Princess Royal.

Despite the many changes over the decades, the aim of the school has been consistent throughout: to equip its students for life and citizenship in the changing world.  The school will continue to harness this as its main objective as it always strives for excellence and seeks to serve its pupil, parents and community, of which it is proud to be an integral part.