Howardian High School was a

secondary school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' secondary education, lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) ...

that was established in

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...

from 1885 to 1990. Howardian originated in 1885 as the ''Cardiff Higher Grade School'', which was founded by the Cardiff School Board at Howard Gardens,

Adamsdown Adamsdown ( cy, Waunadda or ) is an inner city area and community in the south of Cardiff, the capital city of Wales. Adamsdown is generally located between Newport Road, to the north and the mainline railway to the south. The area includes ...

(), to prepare students for the new

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which had opened two years previously. The new school took in its first 263 pupils (160 boys and 103 girls) on 19 January 1885, though had capacity for up to 840. The school's name changed to ''Municipal Secondary School, Cardiff'' in 1905 and to ''Howard Gardens Municipal School'' in 1907. In 1909 the school was split to form separate municipal schools for boys and for girls. In 1933 the schools were renamed ''Howard Gardens High School'' and ''Lady Margaret High School for Girls''. In 1948, due to heavy bomb damage during World War II, the girls' school moved to a new site off Colchester Avenue in

Penylan Penylan is a district and community in the east of Cardiff, the capital city of Wales, known for its Edwardian era period houses and spacious tree lined roads and avenues. Situated to both the north and south of the A48 dual carriageway, it ...

. In 1953 the boys joined them in a new school next door, the ''Howardian High School for Boys''. In 1970 the two schools merged to form ''Howardian High School'' a co-educational

comprehensive school A comprehensive school typically describes a secondary school for pupils aged approximately 11–18, that does not select its intake on the basis of academic achievement or aptitude, in contrast to a selective school system where admission is res ...

. The school's former premises in Howard Gardens was given over to the new Fitzalan Technical High School for Boys. By the 1980s Howardian had the second highest proportion of pupils (23%) from ethnic minorities in Wales and was described as "a model of comprehensive education and of racial harmony". Despite this, in the late 1980s

South Glamorgan County Council South Glamorgan County Council ( cy, Cyngor Sir De Morgannwg) was the local government authority that administered the county of South Glamorgan, Wales from its creation in 1974 until its abolition in 1996. History Local government in England and ...

made a controversial decision to close the school, citing falling pupil numbers as the main reason. In addition the school's

sixth formers In the education systems of England, Northern Ireland, Wales, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago and some other Commonwealth countries, sixth form represents the final two years of secondary education, ages 16 to 18. Pupils typically prepare for A-l ...

were to be sent to a separate

tertiary college In England and Wales, a tertiary college is a type of further education (FE) college that offers both academic and vocational courses to both youngsters and adults, combining the main functions of an FE college and a sixth form college. Unlike a si ...

, which would have brought the school to below the required government standard. As a comprehensive secondary school it was closed in 1990. Part of the school was used as an Adult Education Centre. In September 2015 the Upper School buildings in Hampton Court Road began to serve as the home for Howardian Primary School (until a purpose-built school could be finished on the site). The playing fields, and Lower School (formerly the Lady Margaret High School for Girls) were converted to housing in the 1990s. It was planned by The City and County Council of Cardiff that the new school would be completed by September 2017, although this has not come to fruition and the school is now showing serious signs of being not fit for purpose as the delay has now resulted in the move-in date being pushed back to September 2018. The current playground for the 182 children on roll is the old staff car park (pictured above) and is remarkably undersized. The history of the school was written by T.J. ('Tommy') Foster in 1990, to coincide with the closing of the school.

Notable alumni

* Ralph Hancock (1893-1950), landscape architect *

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Betty Campbell Betty Campbell (6 November 1934 – 13 October 2017, born Rachel Elizabeth Johnson) was a Welsh community activist, who was Wales' first black head teacher. Born into a poor household in Butetown, she won a scholarship to the Lady Margaret Hi ...

(1934–2017), head teacher (attended Lady Margaret High School for Girls) *

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(1939–), politician * Owain Arwel Hughes (1942–), orchestral conductor * Phil Walker (1944–2011), editor of the '' Daily Star'' *

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(1945–), Australian test cricketer * Keith Palmer (1947–), businessman * Jonathan Evans (1950–), politician *

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References

{{authority control Defunct schools in Cardiff Educational institutions disestablished in 1990 1885 establishments in Wales 1990 disestablishments in Wales Secondary schools in Cardiff