Christ the Word Catholic School is a Catholic co-educational voluntary aided secondary school situated on Cefndy Road, in Rhyl, Denbighshire. It opened in September 2019 and is an English-medium school. It replaced both a secondary school, Blessed Edward Jones Catholic School and primary school, Ysgol Mair, meaning that it teaches pupils from ages 3 to 16.
| Christ the Word Catholic School Ysgol Uwchradd Crist Y Gair | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Address | |
 | |
Cefndy Road Rhyl , Denbighshire , LL18 2EU United Kingdom | |
| Coordinates | 53°18′53″N 03°28′40″W / 53.31472°N 3.47778°W |
| Information | |
| Type | Voluntary Aided |
| Religious affiliation(s) | Catholic |
| Established | September 1965 |
| Local authority | Denbighshire |
| Department for Education URN | 6635902 Tables |
| Headteacher | Amanda Preston |
| Gender | Co-educational |
| Age | 3 to 16 |
| Website | ChristtheWord.co.uk |
It was one of three Catholic secondary schools in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Wrexham, the others being St Joseph's Catholic & Anglican High School, Wrexham, and St Richard Gwyn Catholic High School, Flint.
History
editBlessed Edward Jones Catholic High School
editIn September 1965, Blessed Edward Jones School was founded to provide education for children of Catholic families in Rhyl, Colwyn Bay, and Llandudno. It is situated next to a feeder primary school, Ysgol Mair.[1]
It was named after Blessed Edward Jones, who was a Welsh Catholic martyr in the 16th century, who baptised an Anglican, before becoming a Catholic priest.
In October 2012, it was inspected by Estyn who reported that its performance was Good.[2] In 2019, it was replaced by Christ the Word School.
Christ the Word Catholic School
editIn 2013, plans were made by Denbighshire County Council, the local education authority, to build a new dual faith school for Anglicans and replace the existing Catholic schools in the county. Originally, the plan was to merge Blessed Edward Jones, Ysgol Mair in Rhyl and St Brigid's School in Denbigh, and include the Anglican Diocese of St Asaph.[3] Later, the Diocese of St Asaph pulled out of the plans as did St Brigid's School.
The name of the new school became Christ the Word Catholic School. It opened in 2019 and is built on the site of Blessed Edward Jones and Ysgol Mair, replacing the two schools. It teaches pupils aged 3 to 16 years old.[4] The cost of the building was £23 million and was being built by Kier Construction. It has capacity for 920 pupils, 420 pupils for 3 to 11 and 500 pupils for ages 11 to 16.[5]
The facilities in the school include a theatre, assembly hall, domestic science room, four-court sports hall, a chapel, small hall and an external dining area. Outdoors there is a sports pitch and an all weather pitch.[6]
Notable former pupils
edit- Carol Vorderman, television personality/presenter
- Chris Ruane, Labour MP for the Vale of Clwyd constituency (1997-2015)
- David Harrison, jockey, who was British flat racing Champion Apprentice in 1992.
- Barry Hilton, South African Comedian
References
edit- ^ School information Archived 1 November 2018 at the Wayback Machine from BlessedEdwardJones.eschools.co.uk, retrieved 31 October 2018
- ^ Blessed Edward Jones R.C. School report[permanent dead link], October 2012, by Estyn, retrieved 31 October 2018
- ^ Faith school merger at St Brigid's and Blessed Edward Jones go to consultation from BBC News, 14 May 2013, retrieved 31 October 2018
- ^ Kelly Williams, Take a virtual tour inside Rhyl's new £23m catholic school from Daily Post, 17 October 2018, retrieved 31 October 2018
- ^ Suzanne Kendrick, LOOK: Outside areas, classrooms and other facilities at Rhyl's new £23m faith school revealed in fly-through video from Rhyl Journal, 18 October 2018, retrieved 31 October 2018
- ^ Suzanne Kendrick, Look inside Rhyl's new £23million Christ the Word Catholic school from Rhyl, Prestatyn and Abergele Journal, 20 August 2019, retrieved 17 March 2021