St Michael's School, Llanelli

Last updated

St Michael's School
Ysgol Mihangel Sant
St Michael's School (geograph 5898302).jpg
Address
St Michael's School, Llanelli
Bryn

Llanelli
,
Carmarthenshire
,
SA14 9TU

Wales
Coordinates 51°41′06″N4°06′31″W / 51.6850839°N 4.1086924°W / 51.6850839; -4.1086924
Information
Other nameSt Mikes
Type Private day and boarding
MottoDisce ut vivas
(Learn, that you may live)
Established1923
FounderPercy Rees
Local authority Carmarthenshire
HeadmasterBenson Ferrari
GenderMixed
Age3to 18
Enrolment450
Campus size13.73 acres
HousesMerlin, Caradog
Colour(s)Red & Green  
AccreditationISA, BSA & BAISIS
Website http://www.stmikes.co.uk

St. Michael's School (Welsh: Ysgol Mihangel Sant) is a private day and boarding school for pupils aged from 3 to 18 years old in Llanelli, Wales.

Contents

The school is divided into four sections, comprising the Pre-Preparatory School, Preparatory School, Senior School and Sixth Form. [1] The current head teacher is Benson Ferrari. [2]

History

The school was founded in 1923 by brothers Bill and Percy Rees and has been situated in the east Llanelli village of Bryn since 1928. Upon retirement of the Rees' brothers, former head boy Mr Vaughan-Evans was appointed Headmaster in 1962. [3]

The school's main building, St. David's House, dates back to the 19th century and was originally a large house belonging to a local industrialist. The school's Pre-Preparatory School is housed in a converted former public house, The Royal Oak, which was purchased by the school in 2012 [4]

Ownership

The school was acquired in 2019 by Chinese company Bright Scholar, as part of a £150m purchase of colleges in the UK. Bright Scholar is also the largest operator of international and bilingual schools in China. [5] The deal for St Michael's, along with Bosworth Independent College, specifically cost the company a sum of £38m. [6]

Results

The school offers GCSE and A-Level qualifications, with 60.9% of all A-Level entries graded A* or A in 2018, [7] winning the Sunday Times 2018 Welsh Independent Secondary School of the Year award. [8]

Incidents

In 2012 the school appeared in national headlines after accusations arose that education officers at Cognita UK, a rival education company, had posed as parents at St Michael's in order to obtain commercial information. Cognita at the time operated nearby Ffynone House School in Swansea but denied all of the allegations. [9]

Notable former pupils

Notable former pupils of St Michaels' include:

St Michael's alumna and singer Cerys Matthews has acknowledged in interviews that her career benefited from attending St. Michael's, because "through the public school system, you've had so many leg ups", [16] and avoids playing music by privately educated acts on her 6 Music show. She is subsequently an advocate for state educated acts in the music industry. [16]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Catatonia (band)</span> Welsh rock band

Catatonia were an alternative rock band from Wales who gained popularity in the mid-to-late 1990s. The band formed in 1992 after Mark Roberts met Cerys Matthews and Kirsty Kennedy. The first major lineup featured Dafydd Ieuan of Super Furry Animals on drums, Paul Jones on bass, and Clancy Pegg on keyboards. With this line-up the band recorded two EPs, For Tinkerbell and Hooked.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Secretary of State for Wales</span> Member of the Cabinet of the United Kingdom

The secretary of state for Wales, also referred to as the Welsh secretary, is a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, with responsibility for the Wales Office. The incumbent is a member of the Cabinet of the United Kingdom.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mill Hill School</span> Public school in Mill Hill, London

Mill Hill School is a 13–18 co-educational private, day and boarding school in Mill Hill, London, England that was established in 1807. It is a member of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Llanelli</span> Town and community in Carmarthenshire, Wales

Llanelli is a market town and community in Carmarthenshire and the preserved county of Dyfed, Wales. It is located on the Loughor estuary and is also the largest town in the county of Carmarthenshire.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Guy Hands</span> English financier and investor

Guy Hands is an English financier and investor. He is most notable as the founder and former chairman of Terra Firma Capital Partners, one of the largest private equity firms in Europe. Hands also was chairman of the UK music company EMI.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cerys Matthews</span> Welsh singer-songwriter (born 1969)

Cerys Elizabeth Matthews is a Welsh singer, songwriter, author, and broadcaster. She was a founding member of Welsh rock band Catatonia and a leading figure in the "Cool Cymru" movement of the late 1990s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brighton College</span> Public school in East Sussex, England

Brighton College is a fee-charging, co-educational, boarding and day public school for boys and girls aged 3 to 18 in Brighton and Hove, England. The school has three sites: Brighton College, Brighton College Preparatory School and the Pre-Prep School.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">West Buckland School</span> Public school in Devon, England

West Buckland School is a private co-educational day and boarding school in West Buckland, Devon in the English public school tradition. It comprises a senior school, preparatory school, and a nursery. It is a relatively high performing school in Devon. It was one of eight schools shortlisted for 'Boarding School of the Year' in the TES Independent School Awards 2019, a category won by Cottesmore School.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Giggleswick School</span> Public school in North Yorkshire, England

Giggleswick School is a public school in Giggleswick, near Settle, North Yorkshire, England.

Simon Darcy Clifford is an English football coach, pioneer, and a businessman most commonly known for introducing Brazilian training techniques into the UK with his Brazilian Soccer Schools, being the very first of their kind.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ffynone House School</span> Private day school in Uplands, Swansea, Wales

Ffynone House School is a private co-educational secondary day school in Swansea, Wales. It is situated in the Uplands area of the city at 36 St. James Crescent.

St Clare's School is a coeducational private day school, located in the village of Newton, in Bridgend County Borough, South Wales. St. Clare's is a non-selective independent school attended by pupils aged 2 1/2 years through to 18. The school provides preparatory, secondary and tertiary education leading to GCSE and A-level qualifications. Formerly a Roman Catholic school, it is now owned and operated by the Cognita Group.

This article is about the particular significance of the year 1936 to Wales and its people.

Thomas's London Day Schools are four co-educational private preparatory schools in London, UK. They are located in Kensington, Battersea, Clapham and Fulham, as well as a kindergarten in Battersea. They are a family-run establishment, and have come to be seen as a feeder for major British public schools such as Eton, Harrow, Brighton College, Marlborough, Westminster, Alleyn's School, City of London, Dulwich, Radley, and King's College School.

The Ffos Las racecourse is a Welsh horse racing, equestrian sports and conferencing venue situated in Ffos Las, Wales. The Ffos Las racecourse was built at the site of an open cast coal mine after mining operations ceased.

Cognita is a global private schools group which owns and operates schools throughout the United Kingdom, Hong Kong, Singapore, the United Arab Emirates, India, Spain, Italy, Switzerland, Thailand, Vietnam, Brazil, Colombia, Chile, Mexico and the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Buckland</span> British politician (born 1968)

Sir Robert James Buckland is a British politician who served as Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice from 2019 to 2021, and as Secretary of State for Wales from July to October 2022. A member of the Conservative Party, he was first elected as the member of Parliament (MP) for South Swindon in 2010, holding the seat until the 2024 general election.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ysgol Bro Gwaun</span> Comprehensive school in Fishguard, Pembrokeshire, Wales

Ysgol Bro Gwaun is a secondary comprehensive school in the town of Fishguard in north Pembrokeshire. It is a predominantly English-medium school with significant use of Welsh, and has a catchment area covering the towns of Fishguard and Goodwick, the villages of Scleddau, Letterston and Newport and the surrounding areas including the Gwaun valley.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Julian Dunkerton</span> British businessman

Julian Marc Dunkerton is a British businessman, and the co-founder of the fashion label Superdry.

Nevena Bridgen is a Serbian opera singer blogger. She is married to Andrew Bridgen, the former Member of Parliament (MP) for North West Leicestershire. She founded The Wives of Westminster, a blog about British political wives. Bridgen and her work has been featured in The Times, The Guardian, i, The Independent, Vice and other publications.

References

  1. "The Schools". St. Michael's. Retrieved 16 January 2019.
  2. "Introducing Benson Ferrari". The Bay Magazine Swansea. 12 November 2017. Retrieved 22 December 2019.
  3. "Our History & Ethos". St Michael's School. 9 October 2023. Retrieved 5 March 2024.
  4. "Pub regular bidding to save local". 2 June 2011. Retrieved 16 January 2019.
  5. Education Editor, Rosemary Bennett (10 July 2019). "Chinese buy up more of England's private schools". The Times. ISSN   0140-0460 . Retrieved 22 December 2019.{{cite news}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  6. Bakshi, Akanksha (20 June 2019). "Bright Scholar acquires St. Michael's School and Bosworth Independent College in the UK for £38M". Seeking Alpha. Retrieved 22 December 2019.
  7. "Academic Results". St. Michael's. Retrieved 16 January 2019.
  8. Parent Power, Alastair McCall, Editor (25 November 2018). "Best secondary schools in Wales". The Times . ISSN   0140-0460 . Retrieved 16 January 2019.{{cite news}}: |first= has generic name (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  9. "Sending Spies To Rival School Is 'Nothing Unusual'". HuffPost UK. 13 June 2012. Retrieved 22 December 2019.
  10. "Robert Buckland QC MP". 23 Essex Street. Retrieved 16 January 2019.
  11. Sherwin, Adam (14 September 2018). "Cerys Matthews: 'I don't play public school pop stars on my BBC 6 Music show'". inews.co.uk.
  12. "About Kirsty". Kirsty Williams AM. Retrieved 16 January 2019.
  13. Langdon, Julia (22 March 2018). "Lord Richard obituary". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 15 February 2019.
  14. Jones, His Honour (John) Geoffrey. Oxford University Press. 1 December 2007. doi:10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.U22389. ISBN   978-0-19-954089-1 . Retrieved 19 September 2022. St Michael's Sch., Llanelli; St David's Coll., Lampeter; University Coll., London. LLB London 1955; LLM London 1985{{cite book}}: |website= ignored (help)
  15. "Today's Senedd roundup: Minister rules out ditching private schools in Wales". Nation.Cymru. 25 September 2019. Retrieved 22 December 2019.
  16. 1 2 "Cerys Matthews won't play public school pop stars on BBC 6 Music show". inews.co.uk. Retrieved 22 December 2019.