Lansdowne Primary School ( cy, Ysgol Gynradd Lansdowne) is a Victorian

primary school A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary e ...

that opened in 1898 in Canton,

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 ...

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

History

The school was designed by architects Veall & Sant and opened in January 1898.Moira Sharke
''Years rolled back to Victorian era''
South Wales Echo, 17 January 2008. Retrieved 2011-12-22. During the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

the school was commandeered and used as a military hospital, before reopening as a school again in 1918. The school was badly damaged by

incendiary bombs Incendiary weapons, incendiary devices, incendiary munitions, or incendiary bombs are weapons designed to start fires or destroy sensitive equipment using fire (and sometimes used as anti-personnel weaponry), that use materials such as napalm, th ...

during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, when a bombing raid hit Cardiff in January 1941. In the last 20 years the school has seen the fabric of the building being renovated with new double glazing on the first floor of the Juniors building In the mid 1990s a nursery school was added and about a year after the schools centenary year the overgrown and neglected nature garden was removed. On the cusp of the new Millennium the long-standing headmaster, Mr Davies retired and was presented with a wooden garden bench as a mark of gratitude from staff and pupils. In 2001 Lansdowne School and School House were granted grade 2 Listing as historic buildings.

Present day

There are currently 382 children attending the school from nearly 200 local families. 71% of the children attending the school are from the local area and within walking distance. Lansdowne also has a Nursery Unit. In November 2007 Cardiff Council proposed to close Lansdowne Primary School to provide a new site for the local Welsh medium primary school, Ysgol Treganna. This proposal culminated in a campaign by parents and children, with two bus loads of protesters arriving outside the Senedd in March 2010 to petition Education Minister, Leighton Andrews, to reject the closure.Katie Norma
''Parents will fight on for Lansdowne primary school''
South Wales Echo, 1 May 2009. Retrieved 2011-12-22.Gareth Evan
''Senedd protest over Ysgol Treganna''
South Wales Echo, 26 March 2010. Retrieved 2011-12-22. On 17 January 2008 Lansdowne Primary celebrated its 110th Birthday. School pupils created a Victorian fair to mark the occasion. In November 2011 the school received the CILT Cymru Award for their foreign language teaching and international links.''Schools rewarded for their global teaching''
South Wales Echo, 12 November 2011. Retrieved 2011-12-22.

References

External links

Lansdowne Primary School webpages
{{authority control 1898 establishments in Wales Canton, Cardiff Grade II listed buildings in Cardiff Grade II listed educational buildings Educational institutions established in 1898 Primary schools in Cardiff