Denbigh High School, Denbighshire

Denbigh High School (Welsh: Ysgol Uwchradd Dinbych) is an English medium secondary school based in Denbigh, North Wales. Pupils who attend are between the ages of 11 to 18. The school welcomes all students, regardless of academic ability.

Overview

Denbigh High School is situated on Ruthin Road, Denbigh and had 542 pupils on roll in 2017.^[1] About 6% of the learners speak Welsh as a first language or to an equivalent standard.^[2] The school serves Denbigh, St Asaph and surrounding rural areas, including Trefnant, Henllan and Tremeirchion.

The motto of this school is 'Succeeding Together – Progressing with Pride'.

The school has an annual sponsored walk, held in mid to late September. Students and staff alike walk 13.5 kilometre walk around the Clwydian Range to raise funds, whereby all proceeds go to student-chosen charities. In September 2017, students raised over £2,500. This impressive sum was donated to the MacMillan unit in the local Denbigh Infirmary, Kentigern's Hospice in St Asaph, and the North Clwyd Animal Rescue.

The school was originally situated on two separate sites with the first 3 years on the existing site and the older years at an older building on Middle Lane, which is situated half a mile away. This Middle Lane site was built in 1903 as The County School and Denbigh High ceased using it in 1983. The site then became a Youth Club and is used for Teacher Training and Education Administration.

The school is in conjunction with the secondary department of the autistic school Ysgol Plas Brondyffryn, which was built next door in 2003.

In August 2017, the school achieved its best set of A Level results in its history, with 77% of students achieving the top grades of A*-C.^[3]

To ensure A Level students receive the best possible range of subject options, Denbigh High School formed part of the Dyffryn Clwyd Consortium. This was a partnership agreement with neighbouring schools St Brigid's School (in Denbigh), Ysgol Brynhyfryd (in Ruthin), Ysgol Glan Clwyd (in St Asaph), and Denbigh College, to provide transport for students who wish to do subjects from different schools. However, this Consortium changed for 2018 as Ysgol Brynhyfryd and Ysgol Glan Clwyd chose to withdraw from the agreement. Subsequently, the Consortium now consists of Denbigh High School, St Brigid's School, Denbigh College and Llysfasi College.

However, in 2018 the Welsh Government listed Denbigh High School as red (the worst category) in their colour-coded performance rating.^[4] This means the school is in urgent need of improvement, having supposedly declined rapidly in performances, and have subsequently received urgent support and intervention from the Welsh Government.^[5]

Headteachers

As of March 2018, the Headteacher is Dr R P Evans, who was Acting Headteacher since November 2017 following the resignation of former Headteacher Mr Simeon Molloy.^[6] Previous Headteachers include: Ms Alison Duncan, Mr Bill Bailey, Mr G D Dodd and Mr Maurice Bitcon.

The current Assistant Headteachers, as of September 2017, are Mr E Fenlon, Mr A Skoech, Mrs E Williams, Mrs D Howlett and Mr D Park.

Special education partnership

The school has a longstanding partnership with Ysgol Plas Brondyffryn, a special needs school catering mainly to pupils with autism spectrum disorders, as well as a smaller number of students diagnosed as attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, dyslexia, cerebral palsy and developmental co-ordination disorder. In 2003 a new Secondary Dept. of Brondyffryn was built behind Denbigh High, and caters for 56 youngsters from throughout North and Mid Wales along with parts of Cheshire and Liverpool. This unit has its own, self-contained science laboratory, design-technology workshop, ICT department and Life Learning (cookery) kitchen. The building is roughly shaped like a capital letter G, and is divided into five corridors. This building forms the senior department of Brondyffryn; the junior department is located near Ysgol Frongoch, and was reconstructed shortly following the senior department.

The project increases integration between some autistic teenagers and youngsters from the local comprehensive. In 2004, the first full-time transfer from Brondyffryn to Denbigh High took place, and since then there have been several more transitions to full-time mainstream education.^[7]

Controversy

In September 2009, Maths teacher at the school, Ian Gee, was suspended and later fired from the school when images of child pornography were found on a computer at his home. Investigators found no evidence to suggest criminal activity had taken place on school premises or during school hours. He was banned from working with children for five years.^[8][9]

Assistant Headteacher and Performing Arts teacher Gwawr Ceiriog was fired by the school in 2014 for failing to hand over charity raised money for BBC Children in Need, and for pocketing student payments for hoodies. In November 2013, she was ordered to pay £1,400 in compensation.^[10]

In September 2016, Denbigh High School placed 72 pupils; mainly girls, in exclusion and isolation on the first day of school, for wearing 'inappropriate' uniform. The case saw coverage from many major news companies and received outcry from parents, many claiming that the uniform is adequate and claiming they could not afford to purchase new uniform.^[11][12][13]

References

External links

• Denbigh High School Official Homepage
• Plas Brondyffryn Official Homepage