Newtown High School, Powys

Newtown High School

Caring Yields a Flourishing Learning Environment
Location
Newtown, Powys, Presteigne
Wales, United Kingdom
Information
Type Mixed non-selective comprehensive
LEA Powys
Headteacher Mr G Harkness
Number of students approx. 2500
Campus Newtown Campus and John Beddoes Campus
Website Official school site

Newtown High School is a secondary comprehensive school for boys and girls. The school is based on two campuses in the towns of Newtown and Presteigne in Powys. It caters for pupils aged 11 – 18 years (KS3 and KS4).

Estyn Results

The High School received its most recent Estyn inspection report in 2015,[1] the previous inspection was in 2009.[2]

Current Information

The school reached Band 1 in the Welsh Government banding system in 2012,[3] and reached band 3 in 2013. It was rated 'yellow' in the 2014 Welsh school categorisation banding. 100% of pupils achieved the Level 2 Threshold (5A*-C equivalent) in 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015.

The school managed John Beddoes School in Presteigne in 2013/14, which had been judged by Estyn to be in the Special Measures category; as well as assisting through its role as a Lead Practitioner school in the Lead and Emerging Practitioner Schools project.[4]

On the 10th of April 2014, John Beddoes School was closed, and on the 11th of April reopened as a campus of Newtown High School,[5] named the John Beddoes Campus. The Newtown site became the Newtown Campus of Newtown High School.[6] With the combination of the two campuses, there are approximately 1160 pupils on roll.[7]

Senior Leadership Team

The current School Leadership Team consists of:

School Campuses

Newtown High School is based on two campuses in geographically distinct locations in Montgomeryshire and East Radnorshire. The Newtown Campus is larger, and also includes a sixth form, while the John Beddoes Campus includes the Ivor Hughes Centre which acts as a drama, assembly and meeting venue. The two campuses are roughly 27 miles apart by road.[8]

School Newsletter

The school has a newspaper called 'The Cyfle' which is produced to showcase student achievement and includes features of interest to students and parents. It was founded by sixth form students Keri Trigg, Ben Capener and Richard Williams in 2012, replacing standard newsletters.

School History

In the 1950s, Montgomeryshire County Council, with their architect Herbert Carr and successive Directors of Education, T Glyn Davies and J A Davies, set about erecting new school buildings across the county. After the 1944 Education Act Newtown had three secondary schools: a Grammar School, in the former County Intermediate School opposite the railway station; a Secondary Modern School which had taken over much of Penygloddfa Primary School, and a County Technical School which had moved from old buildings in Penygloddfa into the army huts along Dolfor Road.[9] It was this site that was chosen for Newtown High School, which opened in 1957 as a comprehensive school, replacing the existing grammar schools. It became co-educational in 1964.

The school expanded over time, with additional buildings added in its first fifty years of use. This included the Art/Welsh block, Girls' Gym, Humanities (formerly English) block, Music (formerly History) block, Canolfan Cyfle (formerly Biology) block, Home Economics block, Technology block and the Sixth Form block. Work was undertaken in the late 1990s to add disabled access to many of the first floor areas, with lifts and ramps. An outdoor classroom/canopy was installed in 2015 on the site of the old demountable buildings.

In April 2014, the school was expanded to a two-site model, as it incorporated John Beddoes School in Presteigne. The school now consists of the 'Newtown Campus' and 'John Beddoes Campus' of Newtown High School.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Newtown High School | Estyn". www.estyn.gov.wales. Retrieved 2015-10-20.
  2. ↑ "ESTYN Inspection report". Retrieved 12 July 2012.
  3. ↑ "Welsh Government Secondary school banding". Retrieved 29 October 2013.
  4. ↑ "Welsh Government Lead and Emerging Practitioner Schools". Retrieved 29 October 2013.
  5. ↑ "John Beddoes School to shut ahead of Newtown takeover". BBC News. Retrieved 2015-10-20.
  6. ↑ "Newtown High School - John Beddoes Campus".
  7. ↑ "http://mylocalschool.wales.gov.uk/school.htm?estab=6664011&lang=eng". mylocalschool.wales.gov.uk. Retrieved 2015-10-20. External link in |title= (help)
  8. ↑ "Google Maps". Google Maps. Retrieved 2015-10-20.
  9. ↑ Pugh, David. "Morphology of Newtown". The Civic Trust for Wales.

Coordinates: 52°30′29″N 3°19′13″W / 52.5081°N 3.3203°W / 52.5081; -3.3203

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