St Richard Gwyn Catholic High School, Flint

For the school of the same name in Barry, see St Richard Gwyn Catholic High School, Barry.
St Richard Gwyn Catholic High School

Welsh: Dysgu â'n gilydd yng Nghrist
("Learning together in Christ")
Location
Flint, Wales
United Kingdom
Information
Type Mixed comprehensive secondary
Established 1954
Oversight Diocese of Wrexham
Headmaster Mr. Ronan Keating
Chaplain Fr. Shaji Punnattu Thomas S.D.V.
Grades Year 7 - Year 13 (Years 12 & 13 are Sixth Form)
Enrollment 950 (approx. as of 2008)
Nickname SRG
Affiliation Roman Catholic
Website www.strichardgwyn.com

St Richard Gwyn Catholic High School is a Catholic comprehensive school serving the population of Flintshire in North Wales. It was founded in 1954 to serve the Catholic population of Flintshire.[1] It is a nationally recognised forward looking 11 – 18 school with excellent records of achievement at all levels.

It is one of three Catholic secondary schools in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Wrexham, the others being St Joseph's Catholic & Anglican High School, Wrexham and Blessed Edward Jones RC High School, Rhyl.

It is a mixed school, currently serving close to 1000 pupils (including a mixed sixth form of over 120). It draws its pupils and students from the Roman Catholic parishes of Flint, Holywell, Queensferry, Mold, Saltney, Buckley, Connah's Quay, Hawarden and Pantasaph.

The most recent 2008 Estyn and Diocesan Inspections quotes:

"This is an Outstanding Catholic School", "Outstanding pupil motivation and behaviour", "Outstanding pastoral care, respect for diversity and working relationships", "Outstanding leadership and management", "Outstanding GCSE results", "Outstanding working relationship with parents" "We haven't seen such an entire school behaving so well before" (Inspector comment)[2]

Its patron Saint, St. Richard Gwyn, was canonized in 1970; prior to this, the school was called "Blessed Richard Gwyn Roman Catholic High School". The school observes his feast day on 17 October with a whole school Mass; every year, this is preceded by a week of religious observance and themed lessons as part of a "whole school retreat" that is called a faith 'focus week'.

The school's current head teacher is Mr. Ronald M Keating. Other headmasters include, most importantly, the first headmaster, Mr Burrows (1954 to circa 1973), Mr Derek Doran, recently retired (2005-2011), Mr. Tom Quinn (2002–2005), Mr. Mark Philpot (currently President of the World Union of Catholic Teachers) and Mr. Patrick Dominic Bryon OBE (For services to Education in Wales) (Currently Lead Assessor, National Professional Qualification for Headship).

In 1995 the school added a new block which houses the Religious Education and Music departments. The school has a theatre with tiered seating and a lighting rig to serve it. During 1996 its North Block was converted into science laboratories. During 2001 the school added a new restaurant, doubling its former capacity.

In each year from years 7 to 11 there are usually 6 form groups consisting of letters H, Q, M, S, F and B (C and P have also been used in the past if there is a big year group):

From when the school officially opened in 1954 there has been a head boy and girl system. Since 2008 there has been a House System - Dewi, Gwen and Beuno, named after St. David, St. Winefride and St. Beuno respectively.

The school was ranked as a Band 3 school in the Welsh Government's latest secondary school evaluation, with Band 1 being the best and Band 5 the worst.[3][4]

Religious Discrimination

The school is the subject of an ongoing religious discrimination controversy, after Flintshire Council decided to charge non-Catholic pupils for transport to the school.[5]

Notable former pupils

References

  1. ↑ http://www.strichardgwyn.com/page/?title=School+History&pid=6
  2. ↑ Estyn and Diocesan Inspection Report 2008
  3. ↑ http://wales.gov.uk/topics/educationandskills/schoolshome/raisingstandards/schoolbanding/secondary/?lang=en
  4. ↑ http://mylocalschool.wales.gov.uk/school.htm?estab=6644600&lang=eng
  5. ↑ http://www.leaderlive.co.uk/news/141649/free-bus-rule-changes-could-destroy-flint-school.aspx
  6. ↑ McCarthy, James (5 June 2013). "Wales' 4th richest man makes another £170m after selling stake in price comparison website". walesonline. Retrieved 3 December 2015.

Coordinates: 53°14′26″N 3°07′39″W / 53.240596°N 3.127563°W / 53.240596; -3.127563

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