Porth Community School | |
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Address | |
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Cemetery Road, Porth , , United Kingdom | |
Coordinates | 51°36′18″N3°24′54″W / 51.605°N 3.415°W |
Information | |
Type | Community School |
Established | 2018 (as Porth Community School) [1] |
Years offered | Nursery - 11 |
Enrollment | 1100 [1] |
Colour(s) | Grey, White and Purple (years 1-11) |
Nickname | Porth, PCS |
National ranking | 15 out of 212 secondary schools in Wales (as of 2014) [2] |
Previous Head Teachers | Richard Jenkins (2016-2018) Anita Francis (2011–2016) [3] Steve Bowden (1996–2011) [4] Vernon Owen Jones (Initially as Porth County Grammar School for Boys from 1961 to 1984) [5] Richard Chalke (as Porth Higher Elementary School from 1914–????) [6] John Gradling Grant (as Porth Higher Elementary School from 1905 to 1914) [6] |
Website | porthcommunityschool |
Porth Community School is a Community School located in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales. [7] [8] The school was formed in 1973 by the amalgamation of two leading grammar schools, Porth County Girls and Porth County Boys, along with the amalgamation of the Secondary Modern Schools of Llwyncelyn, Trealaw and Ynyshir. Children of various ages attend the school, ranging from 3–16 years old. [1]
The origins of the school dates back to the creation of ‘Porth Higher Elementary School’ in 1904, it opened the following January. The school enrolled 240 pupils under headmaster John Stradling Grant. At the time the vast majority of children in the Rhondda were born into poverty. There was a great deal of controversy over providing further education in the Rhondda. Tom John (editor of the ‘Rhondda Leader’ and the first Welshman to become president of the ‘National Union of Teachers’) said that "there was a laborious effort made by several speakers at the meeting [the opening ceremony] to dissipate the fear that this splendid institution would work serious opposition and injury to the county school nearby". The school was built to cater for pupils between the ages of ten and fifteen years-old, but there were many problems from the start. From as late as 1915, school inspectors found students aged nineteen to still be attending the institution. [6]
After the death of headmaster John Stradling Grant in 1914, Richard Chalke took over as head of the school. At the same time the school was merged with the ‘Pupil Teachers College’, where once a week students would take turns in teaching their peers. This was done by pupils to gain entrance into teacher training colleges and become teachers themselves. [6]
In 1922 the school became officially recognised as a secondary school. Then between 1946 and 1947, the name of the school was changed to ‘Porth Secondary Grammar School’. Sometime between 1951 and 1954 the name of the school was changed again to ‘Porth County Grammar Mixed School’. At some point in time the grammar school was split in two sections, one half being known as ‘Porth County Girls’ and the other half being known as ‘Porth County Boys’. [6]
In 1961, Vernon Owen Jones became headmaster of Porth County Grammar School for Boys. [9] Jones was headmaster from 1961 to 1984, and saw the amalgamation of the 'Porth County Girls' and 'Porth County Boys' grammar schools (along with the Secondary Modern Schools of Llwyncelyn, Trealaw and Ynyshir) into what is now known as 'Porth County Community School'. [10] [11] He retired from the school in 1984, and after retiring, he wrote a number of books about Porth, including one about his experiences as headmaster at 'Porth County'. [11]
During 2003, after six to seven weeks of preparation, a demolition team reduced parts of the 'upper school' to a pile of rubble during the weekend of 31 May to 1 June 2003, with site clearance taking place within the subsequent weeks following the demolition. [12]
In November 2003, The Guardian reported that staff at 'Porth County Community School' had "caught young teenagers" using steroids at the school and had found steroids on school premises. [13]
On 18 May 2009 Welsh actor Michael Sheen spoke with members of the school's film club. [14] Porth County Community School is part of 'Filmclub' along with schools in the Tonypandy and Treorchy areas, and it is implemented through the schools "E3 after-school projects". During his visit, Michael Sheen spoke with the pupils and told them that he was "saddened" by the lack of funding for drama schools and clubs throughout Wales. [15]
At the start of 2016, Rhondda Cynon Taff council released a statement saying that they will be spending £80 million on making a 'super school' This would be for Porth county community school and Tonypandy community college. The process of making started in 2017 and was estimated to be finished by 2018. It was eventually finished and opened to the public on September 1st, 2018. [16]
During 2015 plans were introduced that suggested eleven schools in the surrounding areas including 'Porth County Community School' could face closure. The Rhondda Cynon Taff council has said that the school closures would be part of their proposed £75 million investment, which they say would provide "improved educational facilities" and "opportunities" for nearly 7,000 children. [18]
Thomas George Thomas, 1st Viscount Tonypandy, was a British politician who served as a member of parliament (MP) and Speaker of the House of Commons from 1976 to 1983. He was elected as a Labour MP.
Rhondda Cynon Taf is a county borough in the south-east of Wales. It consists of five valleys: the Rhondda Fawr, Rhondda Fach, Cynon, Taff and Ely valleys, plus a number of towns and villages away from the valleys.
Maerdy is a village and community in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, and within the historic county boundaries of Glamorgan, Wales, lying at the head of the Rhondda Fach Valley.
Porth is a town and a community in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, within the historic county boundaries of Glamorgan, Wales. Lying in the Rhondda Valley, it is regarded as the gateway connecting the Rhondda Fawr and Rhondda Fach valleys due to both valleys meeting at Porth. The Welsh word "porth" means "gate". Porth is a predominantly English-speaking community.
Treorchy is a town and community in Wales. Once a mining town, it retains such characteristics. Situated in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf in the Rhondda Fawr valley. Treorchy is also one of the 16 communities of the Rhondda. It includes the villages of Cwmparc and Ynyswen.
Tonypandy is a town, community and electoral ward located in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, within the historic county boundaries of Glamorgan, Wales, lying in the Rhondda Fawr Valley. A former industrial coal mining town, the town was the scene of the 1910 Tonypandy riots.
Llwynypia is a village and community in Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales, near Tonypandy in the Rhondda Fawr Valley. Before 1850 a lightly populated rural farming area, Llwynypia experienced a population boom between 1860 and 1920 with the sinking of several coal mines after the discovery of large coal deposits throughout the Rhondda Valleys.
Ynyshir is a village and community located in the Rhondda Valley, within Rhondda Cynon Taf, South Wales. The name of the village means "long island" in Welsh and takes its name from a farm in the area, falling within the historic parishes of Ystradyfodwg and Llanwynno (Llanwonno). The community of Ynyshir lies between the small adjoining village of Wattstown and the larger town of neighbouring Porth.
Rhondda is a constituency in Wales represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2001 by Chris Bryant of the Labour Party.
Rhondda, or the Rhondda Valley, is a former coalmining area in South Wales, historically in the county of Glamorgan. It takes its name from the River Rhondda, and embraces two valleys – the larger Rhondda Fawr valley and the smaller Rhondda Fach valley – so that the singular "Rhondda Valley" and the plural are both commonly used. The area forms part of the South Wales Valleys. From 1897 until 1996 there was a local government district of Rhondda. The former district at its abolition comprised sixteen communities. Since 1996 these sixteen communities of the Rhondda have been part of Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough. The area of the former district is still used as the Rhondda Senedd constituency and Westminster constituency, having an estimated population in 2020 of 69,506. It is most noted for its historical coalmining industry, which peaked between 1840 and 1925. The valleys produced a strong Nonconformist movement manifest in the Baptist chapels that moulded Rhondda values in the 19th and early 20th centuries. It is also known for its male voice choirs and in sport and politics.
Tylorstown (Pendyrus) is a village and community located in the Rhondda valley, in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales. It is neighboured by the villages of Blaenllechau, Ferndale, Penrhys, Pontygwaith and Stanleytown.
Dinas is a village near Tonypandy in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales. Dinas is often referred to as Dinas Rhondda to avoid confusion with Dinas Powys in the Vale of Glamorgan. The word dinas in Modern Welsh means "city", but here it means "hill fort".
Ysgol Gyfun Cwm Rhondda is a Welsh-medium secondary school located in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, situated near Porth.
Trealaw is a long village, also a community and electoral ward in the Rhondda Valley, Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales. It stretches over two miles from the junction of Cemetery Road and Brithweunydd Road in the east, to the junction of Ynyscynon Road and Partridge Road to the northwest.
Cymmer is a village and community in the Rhondda Valley, Wales. It is so named because of being located at the 'confluence' of the Rhondda Fawr and Rhondda Fach river valleys. Several collieries were opened here in the middle part of the nineteenth century. A coal mine disaster in 1856 resulted in 114 casualties, and the lack of payment of any compensation to the miners' families caused bitter feelings in the community.
The Maerdy Branch was a railway branch line in South Wales. Financed and operated by the Taff Vale Railway, on amalgamation it became part of the Great Western Railway in 1923. Designed and mainly operated as a coal mining freight railway, its creation and demise was wholly defined by the South Wales Coalfield.
Tonyrefail School was an 11-18 mixed comprehensive school of approximately 1050 students that served the town of Tonyrefail and the surrounding areas.
Cwm Clydach is a community and electoral ward to the northwest of Tonypandy in Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales. The community and ward covers the valley of the Nant Clydach, which includes the cojoined villages of Clydach Vale and Blaenclydach.
The Rhondda & District League is a football league covering the Rhondda and surrounding areas in South Wales. The leagues are at the seventh and eighth levels of the Welsh football league system.