Whitchurch High School

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Whitchurch High School is a large, co-educational, comprehensive secondary school in the suburb of Whitchurch in Cardiff, Wales. It is run and maintained by Cardiff LEA, however the school has applied to the Welsh Assembly Government for foundation status.

School structure

It is divided into two sites, Upper and Lower. Upper School, located in Penlline Road, houses years 10, 11 and the Sixth Form. This is in accordance with the (now less popular) three tier system of comprehensive education. Approximately five minutes' walk away, in Glan-y-Nant Terrace, is the Lower School site which houses Year 7 to 9. It is considered one of Cardiff's better schools as it had a record pass rate for GCSE's in 2005 (based on 5 A*-C's)^{[citation needed]}.

History

The two sites were once two separate schools. Whitchurch Grammar School - a well-renowned grammar school, was based on Penlline Road (now the upper school) and Whitchurch County Secondary School, a secondary modern school, was based on Glan-y-Nant Terrace (now the lower school). They were merged in 1970,when the local education authority re-organised the education system.

Curriculum

In the Sixth Form the school offers AS/A2 levels the International Baccalaureate a few stages of the Welsh Baccalaureate as well as some vocational courses. The school is currently the largest in Wales, the largest in Britain and the second largest in Europe (according to the school's last Estyn report) with 2400 pupils. The current headteacher is Mr Huw Jones-Williams who was Head of Fitzalan High School and a former Deputy Head at Whitchurch who took over from Gareth Mathewson OBE in September 2008.

Notable alumni

• Gareth Bale, football player
• Maggie Jones, Baroness Jones of Whitchurch, politician.
• Rhodri Morgan, First Minister for Wales
• Geraint Thomas, Olympic Gold Medal Winner,Cyclist
• Sam Warburton, rugby player

Facilities

The school has a tradition in sport and music, with facilities such as:

• A sports recreational hall, located on the lower school site, opened by HRH The Duke of York, Prince Andrew. (2004)
• A sports recreational hall with a fitness suite, changing rooms and classrooms located on the upper school site. (2006)
• The school has 10 floodlit, five a side football pitches with clubhouse and parking located on the lower school site. The facility is run by the private company Powerleague, and is available for community use outside of school hours. (2007)
• A large, floodlit astroturf pitch on the lower school site used mainly for hockey and football (1997)
• Extensive, well drained playing fields on both the upper and lower school sites which are used for home matches by the schools rugby teams.
• Traditional school gyms with climbing equipment, ropes, gymnastic apparatus and crash mats on both the upper and lower school sites.
• The Dutch Barn, formerly a derelict gym on the lower school site, has been converted into a hall used for school assemblies, art exhibitions and the annual Matthew Pasley and Richard Fice Memorial Concerts. (2002)
• A purpose built music block on the lower school site (2009)
• There is also a drama studio in Lower School.

External links

• School website

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