Radyr Comprehensive School

Infobox UK school
name = Radyr Comprehensive School


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established = 1973
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type = Comprehensive
religion = Secular and non denominational
president =
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head = Steven M Fowler
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chair_label = Chair of Governors
chair = Mrs Margaret Lloyd
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specialist = Sixth Form College
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street = Heol Isaf
city = Radyr
county = Cardiff
country = WAL
postcode = CF15 8XG
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staff =
enrollment = 1,400
gender = Co-educational
lower_age = 11
upper_age = 18
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colours = Pale Blue and Maroon
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website = http://www.radyr.cardiff.sch.uk/
website_name = Radyr Comprehensive School Website

Radyr Comprehensive School is a coeducational comprehensive school and Sixth Form college located in Radyr, a suburb of Cardiff, Wales, that opened in 1973. It the current roll is around 1,400 students from ages 11-18, with around 250 in the sixth form.

The school is controlled by the Cardiff Education Authority. [http://www.estyn.gov.uk/inspection_reports/Radyr_sec.pdf Report of Inspection 26–30 April 2004] , Estyn] In the community, the school is considered to have a first-class reputation [ [http://www.radyr.org.uk/homepages/local_directory.php?keywords=cat_education "Education"] , Radyr and Morganstown Community, "accessed 14 July 2008"] and for the 2000-01 school year demand for places from parents exceeded supply. [ [http://archive.cardiff.gov.uk/government/english/council_papers/School_Decisions/01_05_08_scd/scd_08_may.htm School Decisions Committee] , Cardiff Council, 8 May 2001]

History

Prior to 1968 the majority of children from Radyr travelled nine miles to Penarth County Grammar School and St Cyres Secondary Modern School in Penarth by steam train daily, a quicker and easier option than road journeys to closer Cardiff secondary schools. The arrangement ceased when the direct rail route was closed by the Beeching Axe. The new Radyr Comprehensive School opened in 1973. In 2004, a new state-of-the-art sports hall was built for the school, that includes a fitness suite.

The School was criticised in November 2004 for inadequate access for wheelchair users that delayed a teacher's return to her teaching post and meant that a pupil had a 40 minute return trip to the toilet. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/wales/4024169.stm "Disabled teacher's access wait"] , Hywel Griffith, BBC News, 18 November 2004]

In June 2007, the school site was said to be worth £25m, and it was reported by the South Wales Echo that Cardiff Council are considering plans to close the school as part of a reorganisation. [ [http://icwales.icnetwork.co.uk/southwalesecho/news/tm_headline=is-this-the-end-for-two-of-our-city-schools-&method=full&objectid=19369612&siteid=50082-name_page.html "Shock plan to shut top school"] , Moira Sharkey, South Wales Echo, 28 June 2007]

The school today

Academic performance

The proportion of pupils who achieved five or more grades A* to C in the 2003 GCSE examinations was well above the national average, though the proportion of students achieving A level success at grades A to C in 2 or more subjects was, however, below the national average.In summer 2007, over 95% of the school's students achieved at least 5 A*-C GCSE grades, the highest yet.Fact|date=October 2007

However, in the last Estyn inspection in April 2004, the standards reached in Religious Education at Key Stage 4 were considered unsatisfactory, but the remaining assessments ranged between satisfactory and very good, with notable performances in Art, Music, and Physical Education. In 2005, the school had a major reshuffle of its Religious Education department, hiring new teachers, and a new head for the department.Fact|date=October 2007

port

The girls' hockey team won the 2002 RAF Careers under-18 Schools Hockey Champions with a win over Chepstow School. [ [http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-86464580.html "Hockey: Great career move for the Radyr girls."] , "South Wales Echo", May 28, 2002.]

In the Wales Region Hard Track Cycling Championships, held in July 2006, a pupil won the under-14 Girls' Omnium. [ [http://66.102.9.104/search?q=cache:W25ss5kMtEkJ:www.britishcycling.org.uk/nmsruntime/saveasdialog.asp%3FlID%3D3386%26sID%3D3366+%22Radyr+Comprehensive+School%22&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=43&gl=uk&lr=lang_en "Wales Region Hard Track Championships] , British Cycling]

The pupils starting in 1995 were a particularly successful team on the field, winning the Welsh schools football championship, the Welsh Schools tennis championship, and the Cardiff schools cross country championship. They were also pretty good at chess.Fact|date=January 2008

The Senior Rugby Team of 2007 beat Bridgend College in the final of the Bay Resouring Plate (Welsh Schools Cup) at Taff's Well RFC. A conversion from the touchline in the dying minutes made the final score 17-15.

Extra-curricular activities

The School's Big Band was invited to entertain guests in Euro Disney, Paris in October 2006 and on 1 March 2007. [ [http://www.ndteach.co.uk/pdfs/education-newsletter.pdf "Education Matters"] , New Directions education, Spring 2007] The Jazz Band is run by students from 6th form with the help of the music department. The Jazz Band also has a training band which is open to students from Year 7 to Year 11.

The school's Green Flag Committee ensure that the school remains eco-friendly, with their main aim to aid the school in achieving the prestigious 'Eco Schools Green Flag Award.' The school currently holds the silver award in the scheme, and is now aiming to achieve the award itself, which would firmly strengthen the links with the community. In accordance with this, the green flag committee is affiliated with the Radyr and Morganstown Association. The RGFC has taken proceedings one step further recently, by taking on the duties of providing extra care to Radyr Railway Station as part of the Arriva Trains Wales adopt a station scheme.Fact|date=January 2008

Media controversy

The school was criticised, in February 2008, after pupils aged just 13, were instructed by a teacher to write imaginary suicide notes in an English lesson, in order to "get into the mind of a troubled teenager". This was part of a study of the non curriculum novels" Noughts and Crosses", by Malorie Blackman.

However, the school is just a few miles from Bridgend where there have been multiple teenage suicides. The headmaster of the school stated that "the task was a 'spontaneous piece of writing' where children were asked not to turn over the page to find out what the letter said - but to write their own version of the suicide note." and "the teacher setting the text did not associate the task with news stories but rather considered it part of the textual study of a serious book dealing with serious issues in a serious way".

Several relatives of the recently deceased Bridgend teenagers expressed their sorrow and regret that the unsuitable subject featured in a school project for such young children. [ [http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=519036&in_page_id=1770 "Outrage as pupils in school near 'suicide hotspot' Bridgend are told to write imaginary suicide notes"] , Luke Salkeld, Daily Mail, 26 February 2008]

Notable alumni

* Timothy Benjamin, runner. [Rowbottom, Mike. [http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4158/is_20051024/ai_n15718715/pg_2 "Athletics: 'I had got sick of people telling me I wasn't running"] , "The Independent", October 24, 2005. Accessed June 12, 2007. "Getting started: Always 'the fast kid at school', Benjamin excelled at sprints, winning first national title in 1997, at 14, in the Under- 17 indoor 200m. He was also the captain of the Welsh roller hockey team as a teenager and played rugby at Radyr Comprehensive in Cardiff."] [Davies, Gareth A. [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/main.jhtml?xml=/sport/2005/08/02/somysp02.xml "My Sport: Tim Benjamin"] , "The Daily Telegraph", February 8, 2005. Accessed June 12, 2007. "Running took over aged 14, although I carried on playing rugby for my school, Radyr Comprehensive."]
* Jimi Mistry, Actor, famous for roles on "EastEnders", "The Guru" and "East is East". [Bourton, Tom. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/wales/2207606.stm "On the global Taff Trail"] , BBC News, August 21, 2002. Accessed June 12, 2007. "Making all the noise this week across the UK media is the premiere of Hollywood meets Bollywood flick The Guru, starring Jimi Mistry and Heather Graham.... "I went to school in Radyr, and my wife's from Brecon, so my feet are firmly in Wales - I was always a regular in the hotspots of Cardiff," he said."]
* Rosie Ribbons, Singer and contestant on "Pop Idol"

References

External links

* [http://www.radyr.cardiff.sch.uk/ Official site]
* [http://www.radyrbigband.com/ Radyr Big Band]