Croesyceiliog School


Croesyceiliog School is a state-funded secondary school in the Croesyceiliog area of Cwmbran, in South Wales, UK.

Setting

Situated on high ground that overlooks the valley westwards, the school site lies within the parish of Llanyrafon, with the Croesyceiliog By-Pass A4042 and headquarters of Gwent Police to the east, and the Afon Llwyd to the west.
Most pupils live in the areas of Croesyceiliog, Llanyrafon and Pontnewydd; however the Sixth Form attracts students from as far as parts of Newport and Pontypool.
The school grounds also hosts a local youth centre. The school is situated on of land; the average for schools is. Cwmbran's river is situated at the lower western end of the site. The school is surrounded by woodland; Jim Crow's Wood to the north and Middle Wood to the south.

History

Foundation

Cwmbran New Town was established in 1949, and the Development Corporation's Master Plan stated that three secondary modern schools would be built in the new town. Croesyceiliog however would be a "campus" whereby a grammar school and community college would be built alongside it. The school was designed by the Monmouthshire County Architect, Colin Jones. The secondary modern was opened on 5 November 1957, followed by the grammar school on 3 February 1960. Colin Jones died before the grammar school was completed. In 1960, the final costs of construction for the campus had reached £250,000. Today it would cost around £43 million.

Comprehensive

In September 1970, the campus of the two schools and college merged to form the Croesyceiliog Bilateral School, where the Secondary Modern buildings housed the lower three forms, and the Grammar buildings housed the upper three. It was officially named Croesyceiliog Comprehensive School the following year. In January 1975 the new Sixth Form building opened in the centre of the school. In the 1970s and 80s, a dozen prefabricated buildings were constructed around the school as the pupil population reached nearly 2,000. Three of the prefabs remain as Welsh language classrooms and a fourth was rebuilt as a Youth Centre behind the Community College. In 2006 a Fitness Suite opened to the rear of the West Gymnasiums, and in 2010 a perimeter fence was installed surrounding the entire site.
In the 2005 inspection the school had one of the best reports in the county. The following year the then-Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott visited the school.
In 2012, Crownbridge School, an education centre aimed at children aged 11–19 with learning or physical disabilities, was built on playing fields south of the school site. The previous Crownbridge School, situated on Greenhill Road in Sebastapol, had fallen into disrepair.
In July 2017, plans were submitted for the "demolition of existing school buildings and erection of a new three storey 11-16 school building, the erection of a new two storey Sixth Form and sports block, the construction of a new, floodlit artificial grass pitch, a new access junction, external play and sport areas, car parking, associated infrastructure and landscaping on the site". In March 2018, the plans were amended to not include a Sixth Form provision as a new post-16 education facility is to be constructed on land east of Cwmbran Centre, set to be opened by September 2020.
The school came in for heavy criticism from the South Wales Argus and The Daily Telegraph after encouraging a teacher to not pursue action, after a coke can was dropped by a pupil and hit her on the head. School staff informed police they did not want an investigation in fear of "criminalising children".
Moreover, in 2017, the school decided to review its uniform policy, after parents complained that the school refused pupils requests to remove jumpers in a heat wave.

List of Head Teachers