St John's College, Cardiff
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St John's College | |
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Address | |
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Newport Road , CF3 5YX | |
Coordinates | 51°31′41″N 3°06′40″W / 51.528°N 3.111°W |
Information | |
Type | Private day school Cathedral school |
Motto | Ubi amor, ibi oculus (Wherever there is love, there is vision) |
Religious affiliation(s) | Roman Catholic |
Established | 1987 |
Local authority | Cardiff |
Department for Education URN | 402013 Tables |
Headteacher | Shaun Moody |
Gender | Coeducational |
Age | 3 to 18 |
Enrolment | 550 |
Houses | Bute, De La Salle, Mostyn, St David's |
Colour(s) | Red, Gold |
Website | https://www.stjohnscollegecardiff.com/ |
St John's College is an independent co-educational day school in the village of Old St Mellons in Cardiff, Wales. It is the choir school of Wales' national Catholic cathedral, Cardiff Metropolitan Cathedral.
History of St John's College
De La Salle Prep School
The De La Salle School for Boys, established in the 1930s, was originally based at 9 Richmond Crescent, Cardiff at a site formerly occupied by St Peter's Catholic Young Men's Society. The School was run by the Brothers of the Christian Schools and sought to provide an education within a strong Christian context. Later, the school moved to a site off Greenway Road near Trowbridge in north-east Cardiff.
In the 1980s the De La Salle School faced imminent closure. A group of parents, some of whom had been pupils at the school, were determined to keep the school open and in 1987, decided to establish St John's College.
St John's College
The new school, still located at Greenway Road, opened its doors to both boys and girls up to the age of 16; A Levels were introduced in 1996. The founding Headmaster, Dr David Neville, put the academic and choral foundations at the very heart of the new college and St John's became the choir school to the Metropolitan Cathedral of St David, providing choristers for Sunday Mass and other weekday services.
As the school roll grew, it became apparent that St John's had outgrown the site at Greenway Road. In 1995 the college moved to its current site, Ty-to-maen, a mansion built in 1885–9 by the Cardiff architect E. Bruce Vaughan for Richard Allen of Spillers flour mills. It was later owned by Sir William Edgar Nicholls, the manager of Spillers, who gave the house and its estate to the Cardiff Royal Infirmary, when it became the William Nicholls Convalescent Home.[1][2]
The Cathedral Choir
As the choir school to Cardiff Metropolitan Cathedral, St John's College provides the boy and girl choristers (ages 8–18) for weekly Sunday masses, also participating in an annual Christmas Concert at St David's Hall and numerous performance opportunities throughout the year.
Over the years the Cathedral Choir has appeared in a Hollywood film, participated in radio broadcasts for BBC Radio Wales and BBC Radio Four, performed with The Tallis Scholars, sung at Notre-Dame de Paris and performed alongside the Prague and Cardiff Philharmonic Orchestras in performances of Symphony No. 3 (Mahler).
College structure
St John's College is divided into four sections: the Nursery and Infants (ages 3–7); the Junior School (ages 8–11); the Senior School (ages 12–16); the Sixth Form College (ages 17–18).
House system
Pupils and students at St John's College are divided into four houses, each named after a significant person from Welsh or Catholic history:
- Bute – the family who owned Cardiff Castle and were responsible for much of the industrialisation of Cardiff.
- De La Salle – John Baptiste De La Salle, the Catholic patron saint of teachers and founder of the De La Salle schools
- Mostyn – Francis Mostyn who served a Archbishop of Cardiff from 1921 to 1939
- St David's – named after the patron saint of Wales
The house names were inherited from the old De La Salle school and are an important[citation needed] part of the heritage of St John's heritage. A recent[when?] house competition allowed pupils to submit designs for new House Shields, one set for Juniors, Infants and Nursery, another for the Senior School and Sixth Form.
College achievements
The examination results achieved by the school are among the best in the UK. In 2017 it was the highest-ranked secondary school in the UK with 98% of pupils attaining A* to B at Advanced Level.[3][4] This led to St John's being named 'Welsh Independent Secondary School of the Year' in the Sunday Times 'Parent Power' annual supplement.
The school has successfully participated in the F1 in Schools competition to design and build a miniature racing car. In 2019, Infinity Racing, a team of 12–13 year old pupils from the school won the Development Class National Finals and competed in the World Finals in Abu Dhabi.[5][6] Most recently in 2022, Blackout, a team of 15-16 year old pupils also from the school, became runners-up to Team Hydron in the World Finals in Silverstone[7] after achieving the fastest average race time at the competition.[8] They also managed to achieve the Fastest Car in UK History, recording 1.036 seconds at the 2021 Virtual National Finals.[9]
References
- ^ "Ty-to-maen; William Nicholls Convalescent Home; St John's College (32016)". Coflein. RCAHMW. Retrieved 23 August 2021.
- ^ "St John's College (formerly Ty-to-Maen)". British Listed Buildings. Retrieved 30 September 2021.
- ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 December 2012. Retrieved 7 January 2013.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ "Best Schools, The Top 100 Senior Schools A + B Grade at A Level". www.best-schools.co.uk. Archived from the original on 16 December 2006.
- ^ "Success in the F1 in Schools Regional Final". St John's College Cardiff. 3 March 2019. Retrieved 9 November 2019.
- ^ "Odiham School team crowned Formula 1 Education Challenge champions at the fastest and largest UK finals". F1 in Schools. 14 March 2019. Retrieved 9 November 2019.
- ^ "Australian team Hydron crowned 2022 F1 in Schools World Champions". Off The Track. 14 July 2022. Retrieved 14 August 2022.
- ^ "2022 F1 in Schools World Finals: Which teams are the most consistent?". Off The Track. 13 July 2022. Retrieved 14 August 2022.
- ^ "UK's Fastest Car". F1 in Schools UK. Retrieved 14 August 2022.
External links
- St John's College website
- Cardiff Cathedral Choir website
- Profile on the ISC website
- Estyn inspection reports