Rydal Penrhos
Encyclopedia
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 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.
The average score of the first year group taking IB was 33, the second year 34 and the third year 31.
(102) record centuries.
Private school
Private schools, also known as independent schools or nonstate schools, are not administered by local, state or national governments; thus, they retain the right to select their students and are funded in whole or in part by charging their students' tuition, rather than relying on mandatory...
co-educational boarding
Boarding school
A boarding school is a school where some or all pupils study and live during the school year with their fellow students and possibly teachers and/or administrators. The word 'boarding' is used in the sense of "bed and board," i.e., lodging and meals...
school
School
A school is an institution designed for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is commonly compulsory. In these systems, students progress through a series of schools...
in Colwyn Bay
Colwyn Bay
- Demography :Prior to local government reorganisation on 1 April 1974 Colwyn Bay was a municipal borough with a population of c.25,000, but in 1974 this designation disappeared leaving five separate parishes, known as communities in Wales, of which the one bearing the name Colwyn Bay encompassed...
, North Wales
North Wales
North Wales is the northernmost unofficial region of Wales. It is bordered to the south by the counties of Ceredigion and Powys in Mid Wales and to the east by the counties of Shropshire in the West Midlands and Cheshire in North West England...
. It is located on multiple sites around the town including a site in the neighbouring village of Rhos-on-Sea
Rhos-on-Sea
Rhos-on-Sea also known as Llandrillo-yn-Rhos in Welsh, or Rhos or Llandrillo , is a seaside resort in Conwy County Borough, Wales. The population was 7,110 in 2001. It is a mile to the north but effectively a suburb of Colwyn Bay, on the coast of North Wales...
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-SeaRhos-on-SeaRhos-on-Sea also known as Llandrillo-yn-Rhos in Welsh, or Rhos or Llandrillo , is a seaside resort in Conwy County Borough, Wales. The population was 7,110 in 2001. It is a mile to the north but effectively a suburb of Colwyn Bay, on the coast of North Wales...
.
- 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.
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.
First-class cricket
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 BatesWilliam Bates (cricketer)
William Ederick Bates was an English first-class cricketer who played for Yorkshire, Wales and most notably, Glamorgan, over a long career from 1907 to 1931...
(102) record centuries.
Notable alumni
- Wilf Wooller – First-class cricketCricketCricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
er for Glamorgan CCCGlamorgan County Cricket ClubGlamorgan County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh national cricket structure, representing the historic county of Glamorgan aka Glamorganshire . Glamorgan CCC is the only Welsh first-class cricket club. Glamorgan CCC have won the English County...
and Welsh internationalWales national rugby union teamThe Wales national rugby union team represent Wales in international rugby union tournaments. They compete annually in the Six Nations Championship with England, France, Ireland, Italy and Scotland. Wales have won the Six Nations and its predecessors 24 times outright, second only to England with...
rugby unionRugby unionRugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...
player - Sir Geoffrey Elton – esteemed historianHistorianA historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the study of all history in time. If the individual is...
was a student at Rydal school and later taught there - Sir Michael Thompson – Former Vice-Chancellor of Birmingham University
- William RoacheWilliam RoacheWilliam Patrick Harry Roache MBE is a British actor, best known for his role as Ken Barlow in the soap opera Coronation Street...
MBEMBEMBE can stand for:* Mail Boxes Etc.* Management by exception* Master of Bioethics* Master of Bioscience Enterprise* Master of Business Engineering* Master of Business Economics* Mean Biased Error...
– Long-running Coronation StreetCoronation StreetCoronation Street is a British soap opera set in Weatherfield, a fictional town in Greater Manchester based on Salford. Created by Tony Warren, Coronation Street was first broadcast on 9 December 1960...
actor attended Rydal School - Linus RoacheLinus RoacheLinus William Roache is an English actor.-Early life:Roache was born in Manchester, the son of Coronation Street actor William Roache and actress Anna Cropper. Roache was educated at Bishop Luffa Church of England School in Chichester, West Sussex and at the independent Rydal School in Colwyn Bay,...
– Actor best known for role in AmericanUnited StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
series Law & OrderLaw & OrderLaw & Order is an American police procedural and legal drama television series, created by Dick Wolf and part of the Law & Order franchise. It aired on NBC, and in syndication on various cable networks. Law & Order premiered on September 13, 1990, and completed its 20th and final season on May 24,...
attended Rydal School - Duncan KenworthyDuncan KenworthyDuncan H. Kenworthy, OBE is a British film and television producer, and co-founder of the production company DNA Films. He is currently a producer at Toledo Productions....
OBE – Film producer, best known for producing films such as Four Weddings and a FuneralFour Weddings and a FuneralFour Weddings and a Funeral is a 1994 British comedy film directed by Mike Newell. It was the first of several films by screenwriter Richard Curtis to feature Hugh Grant...
and Love ActuallyLove ActuallyLove Actually is a 2003 British romantic comedy film written and directed by Richard Curtis. The screenplay delves into different aspects of love as shown through ten separate stories involving a wide variety of individuals, many of whom are shown to be interlinked as their tales progress...
attended Rydal School - Bleddyn WilliamsBleddyn WilliamsBleddyn Williams MBE , was a Welsh rugby union centre. He played in 22 internationals for Wales, captaining them five times, winning each time, and captained the British Lions in 1950 for some of their tour of Australia and New Zealand...
– WelshWalesWales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
rugby unionRugby unionRugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...
captain. Capped 22 times for WalesWales national rugby union teamThe Wales national rugby union team represent Wales in international rugby union tournaments. They compete annually in the Six Nations Championship with England, France, Ireland, Italy and Scotland. Wales have won the Six Nations and its predecessors 24 times outright, second only to England with...
and also captained the British LionsBritish and Irish LionsThe British and Irish Lions is a rugby union team made up of players from England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales...
in 1950, attended Rydal School. - Paula YatesPaula YatesPaula Elizabeth Yates was a British television presenter and writer, best known for her work on two television programmes, The Tube and The Big Breakfast.-Early life:...
– Television presenter that attended Penrhos College - Anne ReidAnne ReidAnne Reid, MBE is a BAFTA Award-nominated English film and television actress from Newcastle upon Tyne, best known for her roles as Valerie Tatlock in Coronation Street and Jean in dinnerladies....
MBEMBEMBE can stand for:* Mail Boxes Etc.* Management by exception* Master of Bioethics* Master of Bioscience Enterprise* Master of Business Engineering* Master of Business Economics* Mean Biased Error...
– Actress who attended Penrhos College - Janet Hargreaves – Actress best known for her role as a Doctor WhoDoctor WhoDoctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor who explores the universe in a sentient time machine called the TARDIS that flies through time and space, whose exterior...
villain attended Penrhos College - Angela KnightAngela KnightAngela Ann Knight is the Chief Executive of the British Bankers' Association . She was formerly a Conservative Party Member of Parliament representing the constituency of Erewash from 1992–97, and served as the Economic Secretary to the Treasury from 1995–97.-Early life:Born in Sheffield, Knight...
– ConservativeConservative Party (UK)The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
MPMember of ParliamentA Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
attended Penrhos College - Dafydd WigleyDafydd WigleyDafydd Wigley, Baron Wigley is a Welsh politician. He served as Plaid Cymru Member of Parliament for Caernarfon from 1974 until 2001 and as an Assembly Member for Caernarfon from 1999 until 2003. He was leader of the Plaid Cymru party from 1991 to 2000...
– Plaid CymruPlaid Cymru' is a political party in Wales. It advocates the establishment of an independent Welsh state within the European Union. was formed in 1925 and won its first seat in 1966...
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.