Fitzalan High School () is an 11–18 mixed,

English-medium An English-medium education system is one that uses English as the primary medium of instruction—particularly where English is not the mother tongue of the students. Initially this is associated with the expansion of English from its homeland i ...

community A community is a social unit (a group of living things) with commonality such as place, norms, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given geographical area (e.g. a country, village, ...

secondary school and

sixth form In the education systems of England, Northern Ireland, Wales, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago and some other Commonwealth countries, sixth form represents the final two years of secondary education, ages 16 to 18. Pupils typically prepare for A-l ...

Leckwith Leckwith ( cy, Lecwydd) is a small village in the Vale of Glamorgan, just west of Cardiff. Historically, the parish of Leckwith also included land on the east side of the river Ely that is now part of Cardiff itself. This area is also commonly kn ...

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...

, Wales.

History

Fitzalan High School has links to Cardiff's first municipal secondary school at Howard Gardens,

Adamsdown Adamsdown ( cy, Waunadda or ) is an inner city area and community in the south of Cardiff, the capital city of Wales. Adamsdown is generally located between Newport Road, to the north and the mainline railway to the south. The area includes ...

in 1884. The school later became Howardian High School and a Grammar School in 1941. Much of the school was subsequently destroyed by incendiary bombs in the

Cardiff Blitz The Cardiff Blitz ( cy, Blitz Caerdydd); refers to the bombing of Cardiff, Wales during World War II. Between 1940 and the final raid on the city in March 1944 approximately 2,100 bombs fell, killing 355 people. Cardiff Docks became a strate ...

during the night of 3–4 March 1941 in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. The school's girls and boys relocated to newly built buildings, Lady Margaret High School for Girls (1948) and

Howardian High School Howardian High School was a secondary school that was established in Cardiff from 1885 to 1990. Howardian originated in 1885 as the ''Cardiff Higher Grade School'', which was founded by the Cardiff School Board at Howard Gardens, Adamsdown (), ...

for Boys (1953), in

Penylan Penylan is a district and community in the east of Cardiff, the capital city of Wales, known for its Edwardian era period houses and spacious tree lined roads and avenues. Situated to both the north and south of the A48 dual carriageway, it ...

. After the war the building at Howard Gardens was partially repaired. A new technical school was opened in September 1953 with around 200 boys. It was officially named ‘Fitzalan Technical High School’ in December 1953. The Howard Gardens site was to be re-developed (as Cardiff School of Art & Design) and Fitzalan Technical High School acquired new premises on the present site in Lawrenny Avenue,

Canton, Cardiff Canton ( cy, Treganna) is an inner-city district and community in the west of Cardiff, capital of Wales, lying west of the city's civic centre. Canton is one of the most ethnically diverse of Cardiff's suburbs, with a significant Pakistani an ...

which were opened on Tuesday 3 March 1964. In January 1968 the school was renamed Fitzalan High School (dropping 'Technical'), becoming a comprehensive school. It was announced in 2017 that Fitzalan High School would be one of three major secondary schools in Cardiff to be completely rebuilt and replaced as part of

City of Cardiff Council Cardiff Council, formally the County Council of the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Cyngor Sir Dinas a Sir Caerdydd) is the governing body for Cardiff, one of the Principal Areas of Wales. The principal area and its council were established ...

's £284 million improvement plans.

Organisation and communications

Pupils are grouped according to their abilities with the more able pupils placed in an express set. Pupils with special educational needs receive specialist support in class to ensure that they can access the curriculum fully. The school has four Houses: Dewi, Llewellyn, Glyndwr, and Hywel. The school has a website, and issues a regular newsletter on school activities. A School Council exists for pupils to raise any issues through this forum. It has many community links and local residents and interest groups, who are allowed to use the extensive facilities. The school has an established and published policy on 'anti-bullying' for all pupils. A Parent Teacher Association (PTA) was formed in 1978 called the ‘Friends of Fitzalan‛. It supports the school, raises funds, and helps organise social events. In 2007 the school embarked on a program to reduce its carbon footprint after an audit by the

Carbon Trust The Carbon Trust was developed and launched in 1999-2001 as part of the development of the Climate Change Levy (CCL), a tax on business energy use that still operates today. The Carbon Trust was originally funded by around £50m of tax revenue ge ...

. Steps taken included installing "eco-quiet" computers, one of which was to be powered by a demonstration

wind turbine A wind turbine is a device that converts the kinetic energy of wind into electrical energy. Hundreds of thousands of large turbines, in installations known as wind farms, now generate over 650 gigawatts of power, with 60 GW added each yea ...

. The school was awarded the NAACE Mark for excellence in the use of ICT in November 2005. ;Organised Sports and Arts The school campus includes two gymnasia, a multi use dance studio, two indoor multi-use halls, two fitness suites, a sports hall, a swimming pool, four grass football and rugby pitches and an artificial cricket square. In addition daily access to the Gol Centre, comprising twelve five-a-side artificial football pitches, the Welsh International Athletics Stadium and artificial sports pitches. BTEC sport lessons take place both in the school and in Cardiff City Football Club. * In 1982, the school football team won the

English Schools Football Association The English Schools' Football Association was founded in 1904 and is the governing body of schools' football in England. It is responsible for the running and development of schools competitions and festivals at primary and secondary school age ...

Cup, the first time that this cup had been taken out of England. * Fitzalan has traditionally had a strong chess team, winning the Welsh Schools Championship in 1984 and 1985, and in 2001 and 2002. * The school hall was used during filming for " School Reunion", an episode of the long-running

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

science fiction series '' Doctor Who'', first aired on 29 April 2006. * A BBC2 documentary called "Fitzalan — School of Dreams" was filmed in March 2006. * The school transformed one of its gyms into a drama studio complete with brand new apparatus

Results

In January 2020 a class of fifteen to sixteen-year-olds, who had had the same maths teacher since they started the school in year 7, all passed their mathematics GCSE six months ahead of schedule and all achieved A*, the top grade. Only 13% of pupils in Wales who had sat the WJEC GCSE the previous year had achieved A or A*. The achievement was widely reported in the British, Cameroonian and international media with the teacher Francis Elive described as 'The Maths Whisperer'.

Facilities

* A £300,000 refurbishment of the school's twenty-metre swimming pool, and named the Peter Perkins Swimming Pool in memory of the former chair of governors. It was officially opened in March 2009. Facilities are open to the local community after school hours. As part of the joint venture between the Sport Wales,

’s Active Communities team and the school, a disused classroom has been turned into a fitness suite and multi-gym facility. * Fitzalan was the first school to install state-of-the-art 5-a-side astro pitches (identical to that of Real Madrid), in partnership with Gôl Football Centres, and a new £600,000 sports hall. The hall has many uses, including

Cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by str ...

, Football,

Basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

Netball Netball is a ball sport played on a court by two teams of seven players. It is among a rare number of sports which have been created exclusively for female competitors. The sport is played on indoor and outdoor netball courts and is specifical ...

Tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...

and

Badminton Badminton is a racquet sport played using racquets to hit a shuttlecock across a net. Although it may be played with larger teams, the most common forms of the game are "singles" (with one player per side) and "doubles" (with two players p ...

. * Two new full-sized astro pitches were recently completed, and are located next to the Leckwith Athletic stadium. * The school introduced a new 5x60 regime – a Sport Wales programme aimed at increasing the number of secondary age pupils taking part in sport or physical activity for 60 minutes, at least five times a week. Pupils of any age can take part after school. The activities include football, netball, basketball, cricket, hockey and dancing.

Head teachers

Fitzalan Technical High School, Howard Gardens *1953–1963, Mr Harold C. Eyre, BA Fitzalan Technical High School, Leckwith *1963–1967, Mr Harold C. Eyre, BA Fitzalan High School, Leckwith (as a comprehensive school) *1968–1979, Mr Peter L. Goble, MA *1979 - 1985 Mr Nick Jenkins *1985–2004, Mr Angus Dunphy *2005–2008, Mr Huw Jones-Williams *2008–, Mrs Cath Bradshaw

School inspections

Fitzalan High School is inspected every six years by the independent statutory body

Estyn Estyn is the education and training inspectorate for Wales. Its name comes from the Welsh language verb ''estyn'' meaning "to reach (out), stretch or extend". Its function is to provide an independent inspection and advice service on quality ...

, as part of the Welsh national programme of school inspection, funded by the

Welsh Government , image = , caption = , date_established = , country = Wales , address = , leader_title = First Minister () , appointed = First Minister approved by the Senedd, ceremonially appointed ...

. In 2017 they gained a rare "double excellent".

Notable alumni

* Mel Rees, goalkeeper

References

External links

* {{authority control Secondary schools in Cardiff Educational institutions established in 1953 1953 establishments in Wales