Rydal Penrhos
| Rydal Penrhos School | |
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Veritas Scientia Fides
(Truth, Knowledge, Faith) |
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| Location | |
| Colwyn Bay, Conwy, Wales | |
| Coordinates | 53°17′43.42″N 03°44′0.68″W / 53.2953944°N 3.7335222°W |
| Information | |
| Type | Independent, day and boarding |
| Religious affiliation(s) | Methodist |
| Established | 1885 |
| Principal | Mr. Patrick Lee-Browne |
| Chaplain | Rev. Nick Sissons |
| Faculty | 57 full-time 10 part-time |
| Enrollment | 411 total 241 day 145 full boarding 25 weekly boarding |
| Student to teacher ratio | 6:1 |
| Campus | Urban |
| Color(s) | Black and amber |
| Athletics | 22 sports |
| Website | http://www.rydalpenrhos.com/ |
Rydal Penrhos is a private co-educational boarding school in Colwyn Bay, North Wales. It is located on multiple sites around the town including a site in the neighbouring village of Rhos-on-Sea where it keeps its watersports equipment for easy access to the beach.
The school, as it exists today, started life as three separate institutions:
- Rydal (incorporating the then Rydal Preparatory School, situated on the Erskine House campus and surrounds) has occupied the current school site as, firstly, a boys-only school and later, from the 1980s, a co-educational school.
- Penrhos College was a girls-only boarding school located near Rhos-on-Sea.
- Lyndon School was a private preparatory school situated in Colwyn Bay.
Rydal School and Penrhos College became known as Rydal Penrhos School following their merger in 1999. Initially they were run as three separate "divisions": "preparatory", "girls" and "co-educational", reflecting the three formerly separate incarnations. The Penrhos College campus was eventually closed down and sold for re-development, and its pupils moved to the main Rydal campus, with the divisions being amalgamated into a single entity. As with any major institutional reform, the merger and integration project was not without its controversy, not least over the sale of the former Penrhos site and the restructuring of the staff. The associated prep school is known as "Lyndon Preparatory School" following a merger with another local private primary school in 2003. The former Lyndon school campus was disposed of and staff and students were relocated to the larger existing Rydal Preparatory School campus.
Rydal Penrhos has a strong tradition in sports and the arts. The school's 1st teams in both hockey and rugby have, in recent years, been a strong selling point for the school, which thrives on their successes. The 1st XI hockey team, along with the U-16 team, have been exceptionally successful in the Welsh Nationals, claiming several titles in the past 5 years. In 2007, the U-16 boys team won the North Wales Final at hockey, only to go on and lose in the final on the Nationals.
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[edit] Introduction of the I.B.
In 2004, the school began to offer the International Baccalaureate programme of study in its Sixth form years, as a parallel alternative to the A-level programme that was already being offered. This led to an increase in the number of pupils attending the school from overseas countries such as Ukraine, Belgium, Canada, Germany, France, Kenya, Nigeria, Peru, Russia and the Czech Republic.
The average score of the first year group taking IB was 33, the second year 34 and the third year 31.
[edit] First-class cricket
 The pavilion at New Field, Rydal Penrhos |
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| Ground information | |
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| Location | Colwyn Bay, Wales |
| Coordinates | 53°17′47″N 3°44′24″W / 53.29639°N 3.74°WCoordinates: 53°17′47″N 3°44′24″W / 53.29639°N 3.74°W |
| Domestic team information | |
| Wales (1929) Denbighshire (1934) |
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| As of 10 August 2009 Source: CricketArchive |
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The school's cricket pitch was used as the venue for a first-class match between Wales and the touring South Africans in 1929. The three-day match, played on 10–12 June 1929, resulted in a 10-run victory for the South Africans and saw Bob Catterall of South Africa (117) and William Bates (102) record centuries.
[edit] Notable alumni
- Wilf Wooller – First-class cricketer for Glamorgan CCC and Welsh international rugby union player
- Sir Geoffrey Elton – esteemed historian was a student at Rydal school and later taught there
- Sir Michael Thompson – Former Vice-Chancellor of Birmingham University
- William Roache MBE – Long-running Coronation Street actor attended Rydal School
- Linus Roache – Actor best known for role in American series Law & Order attended Rydal School
- Duncan Kenworthy OBE – Film producer, best known for producing films such as Four Weddings and a Funeral and Love Actually attended Rydal School
- Bleddyn Williams – Welsh rugby union captain. Capped 22 times for Wales and also captained the British Lions in 1950, attended Rydal School.
- Paula Yates – Television presenter that attended Penrhos College
- Anne Reid MBE – Actress who attended Penrhos College
- Janet Hargreaves – Actress best known for her role as a Doctor Who villain attended Penrhos College
- Angela Knight – Conservative MP attended Penrhos College
- Dafydd Wigley – Plaid Cymru Member of Parliament for Caernarfon from 1974 until 2001 and Assembly Member for Caernarfon from 1999 until 2003. He was leader of Plaid Cymru from 1991 to 2000.
- Mervyn Davies, Baron Davies of Abersoch CBE – Former banker and current UK government minister.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
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This article relies largely or entirely upon a single source. Please help improve this article by introducing citations to additional sources. Discussion about the problems with the sole source used may be found on the talk page. (December 2010) |
