l For further information on this annual event please ring Pearl (nee Jenkins) McCabe (01834 871733) or Diane (nee Davies) Coombs (01443 227148). I reckoned Id have a flying start with Welsh. You need to sign in to tag. I Will Make Them Play The Whole Concert All Over Again. Detention. Vernon had also recently prepared for publication his own collection of poems entitled Rhondda Recalled in Rhyme, an account of what he describes as our often forgotten precious past.. You can order records in advance to be ready for you when you visit Kew. We need more of the kind of degree apprentice routes my own university offers to industry-sponsored young people who may not pass an 11-plusbut who, with the right training and support, can and will become the engineers and industry CEOs of the future. For the price of a cup of coffee a month you can help us create an independent, not-for-profit, national news service for the people of Wales, by the people of Wales. And that is the real point, isn't it? The results were predictable. May 23, 2015 - Porth County Grammar School 1st XV rugby team 1968/69. And once I managed to persuade the schools it was a good idea, the thing began to snowball. We'd like to use additional cookies to remember your settings and understand how you use our services. For too long the UK has separated education into a world of class and possibility. We had a grand Premiere just like Hollywood in that grand Rhondda auditorium, the Park and Dare, in Treorchy. Porth County Grammar School badge and report card images by John Geraint The Ranch But, like Santos, Porth was a school with something of a split personality. So it was natural for us in Porth County to have a crack at it. the kitchen cafe brewster, ma menu. When the schools closed during the pandemic, many Rhondda parents told me that they began to appreciate for the first time what these institutions do for children it turns out its far more than reading, writing and arithmetic. Catcalls and sniggers. Sian Assiratti. But we were really a rare breed. Paula Bailey Butlins Holidays Wales Beach Porthcawl Nostalgic Pictures Hartlepool London History Seaside Resort Worlds Away The hours, the days, the weeks, the whole terms when you were sick and tired of it, simply ached for it to be over, for the summer holidays to be here. While in charge of the grammar school, Mr Jones dedicated his life to proving to Rhondda boys that academic success was not impossible, something which the sons of miners had previously dismissed as unattainable. The former pupils of that intake have been meeting in October for the past three years and, while the organisers have managed to track down most of their fellow pupils, some are still missing. If any reader is aware of the whereabouts of any of them, please ask them to get in touch. Cowbridge was the posh place you aspired to - people who lived there worked in Cardiff. Committee on Energy and Commerce. I knew I was made for life; everyone had told me that in each pitying remark that I heard about those who "failed" the 11-plus examination. The golf club and the Rotary beckoned you as you smoothly travelled in you new Austin Tourer from your detached house in a pleasant village in the vale of Glamorgan. There were snacks to snaffle, dinner money to be extorted, pain to be inflicted simply for the pleasure of it. Her first teaching posts were in the private sector, at Wycombe Abbey school in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, and then at the City of London school for girls in central London. If you don't have an account please register. This article uses material from the Wikipedia article Porth County Community School, and is written by contributors. And I mean tough, so we were not afraid of the secondary modern roughs. One of the greatest grammar schools in South Wales was the school my father and his brother went to Porth County. [15], At the start of 2016, Rhondda Cynon Taff council released a statement saying that they will be spending 80million on making a 'super school' This would be for Porth county community school and Tonypandy community college. John On The Rhondda is based on John Geraints popular Rhondda Radio talks and podcasts. The school was built to cater for pupils between the ages of ten and fifteen years-old, but there were many problems from the start. This means that we may include adverts from us and third parties based on our knowledge of you. Porth County Grammar School, Wales Activity We're bringing over 60 speakers together for Config 2021. It was thejobs which were on offer when you left. This was done by pupils to gain entrance into teacher training colleges and become teachers themselves. Not just one, but two levels of grammar school local grammars up and down both valleys, and for those passing their Eleven Plus with the highest marks of all, there was the Rhondda County Grammar School at Porth. May be an image of 1 person and text that says 'WIKIPEDIA Mako Vunipola Article Talk A Vunipola (born 14 January 1991) professional rugby union player who plays loosehead prop English club Saracens and the England national team. Everyone has their own story. Born in Ton Pentre, in the Rhondda Valley, the son of a Methodist minister and crowned Eisteddfod bard, the Rev L Haydn Lewis, and his wife, Lily (nee Lloyd), Richard was brought up in a Welsh-speaking, nonconformist household that imbued him with a lifelong commitment to Wales, its language and culture. Delwyn Jones, former head of Gelli Primary School, read one of Vernons own poems called County Ties as part of the celebration of a remarkable life. During lessons, it was a crammer: the masters dictated, and the pupils filled their notebooks with the formulae and theorems that would secure outstanding grades from the WJEC. Porth County proved it! . Sian is passionate . Promoted to studio director in 1963, when I first met him in the news department, Richard worked on innovative news programmes including Wales Today and the first Welsh-language magazine programme, Heddiw. This record is stored off site and will take four working days to be delivered to The National Archives. At that time there were about 400 girls attending the girls-only school - strictly segregated from the boys at their school next door! So almost all of my class decided to try to 'parler franais'. Text is available under a CC BY-SA 4.0 International License; additional terms may apply. Year after year, exceptional candidates with exceptional results were rejected out of hand. Porth Community School is located in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses. Clive first went to Kettering Grammar School before transferring to Porth County Grammar when his father was appointed borough architect to the Rhondda Valley. Home; Lectures . Connect with Nation.Cymru on Facebook and Twitter. The school was formed in 1973 by the amalgamation of two leading grammar schools, Porth County Girls and Porth County Boys, along with the amalgamation of the Secondary Modern Schools of Llwyncelyn, Trealaw and Ynyshir.Porth is now described as a good school and the previous Porth Infants . These were both on Cemetery Road in Porth and amalgamated to become the comprehensive school on the old Porth County site. He was also a mentor for many young people joining the corporation at that time. Read tagging guidelines. It seems to come from a macho gym culture. We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. The school was formed in 1973 by the amalgamation of two leading grammar schools, Porth County Girls and Porth County Boys, along with the amalgamation of the Secondary Modern Schools of Llwyncelyn, Trealaw and Ynyshir. Christine attended Porth County grammar school for girls before graduating from Swansea University with a BA in French. Vernon was also a Justice of the Peace and a member of the Court of University College, Cardiff, and a Governor of the Rhondda College of Further Education. There was a great deal of controversy over providing further education in the Rhondda. Alsatian (Alsatian: Elsssisch or Elssserditsch "Alsatian German"; Lorraine Franconian: Elssserdeitsch; French: Alsacien; German: Elsssisch or Elssserdeutsch) is the group of Alemannic German dialects spoken in most of Alsace, a formerly disputed region in eastern France that has passed between French and German control five times since 1681. I particularly miss the pink custard with the chocolate pudding and the cigaretteon the cross country "run". However, she then moved to a state school Ellen Wilkinson school for girls in Ealing, west London and thereafter was committed to comprehensive education. [5], In 1922 the school became officially recognised as a secondary school. The compulsion to fit in, the desire to stand out. During his time at the school, Jones was affectionately known as 'Santos' by the pupils, due to his Mexican "demeanor" and "moustache". Gill Rowlands has died at a hospice near her home in Hemingford Grey, Cambridgeshire. The film made a bit of a splash at the time. String all those place names together and youd have practically passed the O level Oral Exam without trying! Porth Community School is a Community School located in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales. We could bring back every damn aspect of my grammar School, and some of it would be heaven to someone like me. Children of various ages attend the school, ranging from 316 years old.[1]. Santos was determined that his school was going places. We need cutting-edge industrial research and a national strategy to support our best companies as they take on the world. And this fact is what nobody is mentioning now. The dearth of privacy. The 1891 and 1901 census show William and Sarah living at Lake Street in Ferndale. The Wild West had nothing on it. Vernons daughter Cheryl Hill paid tribute to her father on behalf of the family. View the profiles of professionals named " Stephen Gray" on LinkedIn. We use your sign-up to provide content in the ways you've consented to and improve our understanding of you. Porth County Community School is a secondary school located in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales. Young people who pursue a vocational route must also know that they are "The Chosen", that they have no limits on their potential and that their future is assured. After 27 prolific years at the BBC, Richard joined the independent production company Opus to produce and direct award-winning dramas for S4C, including Y Palmant Aur (The Golden Pavement, 1996), reflecting the fortunes of Welsh dairies in London, the poignant family drama Nel (1990) and Y Weithred (The Act, 1995), a dramatic account of the 1963 bomb-blast on a transformer at the Tryweryn dam construction site, in north Wales. French was a proper modern language, a language with a future, the Common Market and all of that. During his tenure, an unprecedented number of boys entered university and there were an average of eight scholarships to Oxford and Cambridge each year. But, in practice, something may have been lost in the transition: the ambition to give every child not just schooling, which focuses the mind, but education which broadens it. privacy policy, Need more context? I bet someone you know is. of any that money could buy. Did you go to the Welsh School? He is survived by his wife, Bethan (nee Pierce), a teacher, whom he married in 1964, their three children, Elen, Sin and Gwenllian, and six grandchildren. Nothing to do with the above school, entirely different schools in different areas. We also may change the frequency you receive our emails from us in order to keep you up to date and give you the best relevant information possible. And when up on the big screen those hundreds of children, all of them Welsh speakers, stood in front of the statue on Penrhys, up above the Spring and the Holy Well, and they began to chant the poems most famous line, Maer ffynhonnaun fyw! (The mountain springs are alive!), it really did feel like we were all part of something vital and thriving; and that Welsh, too, was a language of the future right there in the Rhondda. View the catalogue description for. Enter your email address to receive instant notifications of new articles. Porth County Grammar School, Mid Glamorgan, Wales 1970- 1976 View Wayne's full profile See who you know in common Get introduced Contact Wayne directly Join to view full profile Looking for. 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His collaboration with writers continued with William Nicholson, on the Bafta-winning, original television film Shadowlands, in 1985. But the really important story about my school and others like them was not blazers, test results or even the teaching. Continuing our series written by John Geraint, author of The Great Welsh Auntie Novel, and one of Waless most experienced documentary-makers. Porth Grammar School. Porth Community School is a Community School located in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales. Let us know. Want the latest Rhondda news sent straight to your inbox? She is survived by her siblings, Myra and me, and by a large extended family of nieces and nephews, grand-nieces and grand-nephews. Once the first acceptance came, many more followed. Mention schooldays and suddenly our minds are flooded with memories. The school wasn't opened to the public until 19 January 1905. Who will create the wealth and pay the taxes, and how? And yet who doesnt remember school with at least a sliver of fondness, if only for the friends we made, the time we had with them, for the fact that we were young then, and that was our time? And even if you left school at 14, as my dad and others like him did, there were still a lotof decentlypaid blue-collar jobs to go to. In 1961, he spotted an advert for a temporary assistant floor manager at the BBC in Cardiff. the son of Daniel and Violet Thomas, and attended Tonypandy Grammar School. Sian Assiratti is a Councillor for Pontyclun East. Bridgend Grammar Technical School ended up as Brynteg Comprehensive when it was merged with Heol Gam, the nearest secondary modern school. She has 2 boys who attended Bryn Celynnog Compregensive and 2 grandchildren. County Grammar School Rugby Team - 1962-1963. He obtained his first BA honours degree in History at Cardiff University, to be followed by two other degrees, a BSc Econ and an M.Ed. You dont know what youve got till its gone, or so they say. Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email. They were nervous, worried, frightened - and clad in a school uniform which they were expected to 'grow into'. But there were some places its pupils werent going. There are adverts for jobs in banks, building societies and local industry, because most boys went straight from school to professional careers. But I was a contrary so-and-so. What does that mean for the future? We could gather them all together on top of Penrhys where the poem begins and get them to recite it there. At the time the vast majority of children in the Rhondda were born into poverty. The Guardian went on to say that staff at 'Porth County Community School' had "caught young teenagers" using steroids at the school, and on one occasion, found steroids on the school premises. However, if the photos include boys and girls then it wouldn't have been Porth County. I have not seen any improvement to our way of life in North Wales since the early 70s. There were hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of them. Nevertheless, he won a scholarship to Porth County grammar school and, although he was a talented. If we think of this group as also-rans, we are headed for disaster. [16] During his visit, Michael Sheen spoke with the pupils and told them that he was "saddened" by the lack of funding for drama schools and clubs throughout Wales. The classmates you despised. Some of my schoolmates were later imprisoned for running an extortion racket that began at school. If you don't have an account please register. The coming Comprehensive ethos was helpful too recognising different kinds of achievement, different measures of success. Porth County Porth County Grammar School for Boys Porth Grammar School. Porth County Grammar School for Girls Experience Directorate Communication and Engagement Manager dvla Mar 2012 - Present10 years 11 months Education Porth County Grammar School for Girls -. It could also be Ferndale grammar school - again both boys and girls probably. [7][8]The school was formed in 1973 by the amalgamation of two leading grammar schools, Porth County Girlsand Porth County Boys, along with the amalgamation of the Secondary Modern Schoolsof Llwyncelyn, Trealawand Ynyshir. After senior house officer posts at Cardiff and Sully hospitals he joined the Hammersmith Hospital, where he was registrar under Ralph Shackman and Geoff Chisholm. John On The Rhondda is broadcast at about 3.15pm as part of David Arthurs Wednesday Afternoon Show onRhondda Radio, All episodes of the John On The Rhondda podcast are availablehere, John Geraints debut in fiction, The Great Welsh Auntie Novel, is available from all good bookshops, or directly fromCambria Books. I often talk about the Porth County opportunity for socially deprived pupils from working / lower working class homes and what it did for them. It produced phenomenal Physicists, champion Chemists, brilliant Biologists, maestros of Maths. The family of Owen Vernon Jones, former headmaster of Porth County Grammar School for Boys and later of Porth. In the pauses between pieces, Santos might make a show of chastising the boys with a swish of his cane. After all, Id been born in Llwynypia, been brought up in Penygraig, lived in Tylacelyn, gone to school in Hendrecafn, played in Penmaesglas, on Craig-yr-Eos and Carncelyn. After a tour of the school, the ceremony was performed by Mr W. E. Thomas (the chairman of the Rhondda Education Committee) in the absence of Mr W. G. Howell (the Director of Education) due to ill-health. Porth is now described as a super school and the previous Porth Infants . Many of his Porth County past pupils attended his funeral last week including Dr Kelvin Roberts, head of Pirtek Group of Companies, who gave a eulogy. The group is for ex pupils to get in touch with fellow pupils and share memories Private Only members can see who's in the group and what they post. I chose Cymraeg. My great grandfathers name Was William James, his wifes name was Sarah. Porth Community School. [15] Porth County Community School is part of 'Filmclub' along with schools in the Tonypandy and Treorchy areas, and it is implemented through the schools "E3 after-school projects". Born in the Rhondda, Sian attended Porth County Grammar school for girls. During lessons, it was a crammer: the masters dictated, and the pupils filled their notebooks with the formulae and theorems that would secure outstanding grades from the WJEC. Instead, we need to make sure there is the globally competitive, progressive economy which can offer real hope to the many. After leaving she worked in Montreal, Canada for a year before returning and settling back in South Wales. As always you can unsubscribe at any time. This record is stored off site and will take. This year the invitation was for the 'I can't believe it's been 50 years' lunch! Bells. Miners put pennies aside, built schools for their sons and daughters, and when universal secondary education became a right, the Rhondda Borough Council invested heavily in it. He was given the affectionate nickname of Santos because of his black, curly hair and moustache. Did you send your children there? Porth County had an enviable reputation for academic excellence, along with a very strict regime for discipline. On Sunday, October 8, a group of these 1956 first-formers met for lunch in the Heritage Park Hotel in Trehafod, followed by a trip to the school premises, now part of Porth Community School. A true education, as those early pioneers of schools in the Rhondda knew, makes the very best in human learning and human experience accessible to all. Who will be the employers in a globalised world, which increasingly relies on automation of blue-andwhite-collar roles. It was known as The Ranch. Please ensure the tag is appropriate for the record. House. This can't be a separate issue. Then between 1946 and 1947, the name of the school was changed to Porth Secondary Grammar School. Porth is now described as a good school and the previous Porth Infants and Porth Juniors schools have all moved to the Porth Community School to form the new school.