Llantarnam School ( cy, Ysgol Llantarnam) was a state-funded and non-selective

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 ...

in the

Llantarnam Llantarnam ( cy, Llanfihangel Llantarnam) is a suburban village of Cwmbran, and is a community and electoral ward in the county borough of Torfaen in south east Wales. The ward covers the same area as the community, but also includes Southville. ...

suburb A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area, which may include commercial and mixed-use, that is primarily a residential area. A suburb can exist either as part of a larger city/urban area or as a separate ...

Cwmbran Cwmbran ( ; cy, Cwmbrân , also in use as an alternative spelling in English) is a town in the county borough of Torfaen in South Wales. Lying within the historic boundaries of Monmouthshire, Cwmbran was designated as a New Town in 1949 to pro ...

Torfaen Torfaen (; cy, Torfaen ) is a county borough in the south-east of Wales. Torfaen is bordered by the county of Monmouthshire to the east, the city of Newport to the south, and the county boroughs of Caerphilly and Blaenau Gwent to the south ...

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 ...

. Construction began in 1950 and was the first of three secondary modern schools to be built in Cwmbran New Town. It became a comprehensive in 1971 with extensions such as the sixth form building, sports hall and leisure center built by 1975. As part of Torfaen County's 21st century programme, Llantarnam closed in 2015 and was merged with Fairwater High on the latter site to form the larger Cwmbran High School. Llantarnam itself provided education for approximately 1,400 students between the ages of 11 and 19. The school had been placed on special measures, after the publication of an unsatisfactory Estyn inspection report in November 2012. The school site is now a new housing development called St. Michael's Gate, with the playing fields now part of the new Llantarnam Primary School, having replaced the original in Oakfield which was demolished in 2017. That too is now a new housing development called Oakfield Grange.

Site layout

The school was split into three main buildings (one of which was split) with two smaller buildings on site. The main buildings were named Ebbw, Llwyd, Usk and Monnow after the local

Ebbw River The Ebbw River (; cy, Afon Ebwy) is a river in South Wales which gives its name to the town of Ebbw Vale. The Ebbw River is joined by the Ebbw Fach River (Welsh: Afon Ebwy Fach meaning 'little Ebbw river') at Aberbeeg. The Ebbw Fach is itself fed ...

Afon Llwyd The Afon Lwyd or Afon Llwyd ( en, 'grey river') is a long river in south-east Wales which flows from its source northwest of Blaenavon, through Abersychan, Pontnewynydd, Pontypool, Llanfrechfa and Cwmbran before flowing, at Caerleon, into the R ...

River Usk The River Usk (; cy, Afon Wysg) rises on the northern slopes of the Black Mountain (''y Mynydd Du''), Wales, in the westernmost part of the Brecon Beacons National Park. Initially forming the boundary between Carmarthenshire and Powys, it fl ...

and

River Monnow The River Monnow ( cy, Afon Mynwy) marks the England–Wales border for much of its length. After flowing through southwest Herefordshire, England, and eastern Monmouthshire, Wales, its confluence with the River Wye is approximately south of ...

. These were also the names of the four houses in the school. The two smaller buildings were referred to as the Design Technology Block and the Science Block. Each of the three main buildings had three

storey A storey (British English) or story (American English) is any level part of a building with a floor that could be used by people (for living, work, storage, recreation, etc.). Plurals for the word are ''storeys'' (UK) and ''stories'' (US). T ...

s or levels and a main access corridor on the first level which were referred to by students and faculty as Llwyd Corridor, Usk Corridor and Monnow Corridor. The school's

canteen {{Primary sources, date=February 2007 Canteen is an Australian national support organisation for young people (aged 12–25) living with cancer; including cancer patients, their brothers and sisters, and young people with parents or primary carers ...

was located in Llwyd Building but there had been a second canteen in Usk Building until 2006. What was Usk Canteen became the

Sixth Form 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 ...

study area. (see below) Both the

science Science is a systematic endeavor that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe. Science may be as old as the human species, and some of the earliest archeological evidence for ...

block and the design technology block housed other subjects as well as their own. The science block contained three classrooms and one science prep room which linked the two science classrooms. The third classroom was used as a

physical education Physical education, often abbreviated to Phys Ed. or P.E., is a subject taught in schools around the world. It is usually taught during primary and secondary education, and encourages psychomotor learning by using a play and movement explorati ...

theory classroom and had a set of computers connected to the schools network. The design technology block contained two workshops, three design technology classrooms and an

art Art is a diverse range of human activity, and resulting product, that involves creative or imaginative talent expressive of technical proficiency, beauty, emotional power, or conceptual ideas. There is no generally agreed definition of wha ...

classroom. These classrooms all had smaller rooms used for storage. Usk Building contained two

geography Geography (from Greek: , ''geographia''. Combination of Greek words ‘Geo’ (The Earth) and ‘Graphien’ (to describe), literally "earth description") is a field of science devoted to the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, and ...

rooms on the top floor, a staff room, three

drama Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has been ...

classrooms, three religious studies classrooms, the

headteacher A head master, head instructor, bureaucrat, headmistress, head, chancellor, principal or school director (sometimes another title is used) is the teacher, staff member of a school with the greatest responsibility for the management of the school ...

's office as well as the other main school administrative offices. The ground floor contained student's toilets and staff toilets, a classroom and a sixth form area which contained a locker room (now Offices), and it contained Sixth Form toilets, a

common room A common room is a type of shared lounge, most often found in halls of residence or dormitories, at (for example) universities, colleges, military bases, hospitals, rest homes, hostels, and even minimum-security prisons. They are generally con ...

, one classroom which was also used as a Sixth Form study area.

References

External links

Llantarnam School's Official Website
{{authority control Secondary schools in Torfaen Cwmbran 1954 establishments in Wales