Queen Elizabeth High School is a mixed, bilingual, inclusive community comprehensive school of around 1500 pupils, catering for all abilities between the ages of 11 and 19. It was formed in September 2005 by the joining together of Queen Elizabeth Cambria and Queen Elizabeth Maridunum Schools. Our origins may be traced back to 1576 with the establishment of the Queen Elizabeth Grammar School on Priory Street in Carmarthen town, which was set up for the benefit of the merchant people of the town. In this respect, as a new school we are mindful that we are building on 430 years of academic and extra-curricular success.
We have a great sense of pride in the achievements of all members of our school community, and a priority is placed upon high standards of work, behaviour, attitude and appearance.
LOCATION
We are situated in the picturesque Tywi valley. Our catchment area is predominantly rural, covering a large swathe of Carmarthenshire, including the county, market town. Currently, we have seventeen partner primary schools with whom we have extremely effective links at academic, pastoral and social levels, and we enrol pupils annually from more than 25 different primary schools.
BUILDINGS
Recently, our entire campus was redeveloped with a multi-million pound, county council-funded investment in:
Accommodation for 1600 pupils. Apart from state-of-the-art educational facilities which enable flexible approaches to pedagogy, the buildings incorporate the latest in environmental and sustainable design, including rainwater harvesting, solar panels, photo-voltaics, a biomass boiler and environmental study areas;
A special needs centre of excellence, enabling us to meet individual needs ranging from profound and multiple learning difficulties, sensory impairment, autism, and specific literacy and numeracy needs. As a mainstream school, we are unique in the region in providing such a facility, thus enabling local access to specialised intervention;
A performing arts centre which enables the further development of our pupils’ talents in music, dance and drama;
A sixth form centre, including a large common room, individual study areas and classrooms;
An extended and refurbished leisure facility incorporating a competition-standard swimming pool and many other outstanding resources;
Brand new external sporting facilities, including new tennis courts, an all-weather pitch, running track and playing fields.
The new buildings, officially opened by HRH The Princess Royal on 22nd January 2010, provide us and future generations with many more opportunities to grow and to develop, as we continue to invest in the educational capital of our nation.
OUR VISION
The vision for our school is of an intelligent, responsive, inclusive, bilingual and supportive community with the highest possible standards of teaching and learning.
OUR GOAL
Our goal is to ensure success for every child.
This will be achieved by:
safeguarding each pupil’s entitlement to an education which embraces enlightenment, compassion and activity;
enabling moral and ethical understanding, identity, responsibility, wisdom and vision to grow;
being ambitious in our work and having confidence in each child’s capacity for success.
CONCLUSION
Although there have been many years of change, growth and relocation, our school has sought to be true to its pedigree. As one of my own predecessors, Miss Margaret Wooloff, wrote in 1971, “We like to feel that we are not disappointing the expectations of our founders, and that they are with us in spirit as we go forward”.
So, since 2005, we have built on the excellent academic track record of our predecessor schools, attaining amongst the highest GCSE and A Level results of any school in the region. In March 2008, we underwent a full inspection, a process which acknowledged that we have established “a school with a supportive yet challenging ethos and high expectations of success”, and one in which there is “an ethos of harmony”.
“Ymlaen Gyda’n Gilydd” is our school motto; which means that all members of our school community are moving forward together in order to provide educational excellence and to ensure success for every child. It resonates with the truth that we shall continue to move forward together, preparing young people for the vagaries of a rapidly changing world.
