Wyedean School and Sixth Form Centre is 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) ...

with academy status in

Sedbury Sedbury is a village in the Forest of Dean district of west Gloucestershire, England. It is located on the eastern bank of the River Wye, facing the town of Chepstow in Monmouthshire . The village is in the parish of Tidenham. It had a populatio ...

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean. The county town is the city of Gl ...

, England, just across the border from

Chepstow Chepstow ( cy, Cas-gwent) is a town and community in Monmouthshire, Wales, adjoining the border with Gloucestershire, England. It is located on the tidal River Wye, about above its confluence with the River Severn, and adjoining the western ...

, Wales. Wyedean School was rated 'Good' by OfSTED in Jan 2018. The school is close to the

A48 road The A48 is a trunk road in Great Britain running from the A40 at Highnam, west of Gloucester, England, to the A40 at Carmarthen, Wales. Before the Severn Bridge opened on 8 September 1966, it was a major route between England and South Wale ...

and less than a mile from the Welsh border and as such, it accepts students from across the border. Wyedean School is a mixed

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 ...

, with 1,100 students, including 300 in 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 ...

. It was first set up in 1973 and was then moved in 1976 to its present location. The school is located in Gloucestershire, and falls within the English, not Welsh, education system. Although the majority of its students live in the

Forest of Dean The Forest of Dean is a geographical, historical and cultural region in the western part of the county of Gloucestershire, England. It forms a roughly triangular plateau bounded by the River Wye to the west and northwest, Herefordshire to the n ...

area of England, a significant number travel from within Wales. It was also the school of

J.K. Rowling Joanne Rowling ( "rolling"; born 31 July 1965), also known by her pen name J. K. Rowling, is a British author and philanthropist. She wrote ''Harry Potter'', a seven-volume children's fantasy series published from 1997 to 2007. The ser ...

, author of the

Harry Potter ''Harry Potter'' is a series of seven fantasy literature, fantasy novels written by British author J. K. Rowling. The novels chronicle the lives of a young Magician (fantasy), wizard, Harry Potter (character), Harry Potter, and his friends ...

series.

Facilities

The school has a sports hall which can be rented in the evenings; a learning resource centre with IT facilities; a canteen, where hot and cold food can be purchased; a music suite, equipped with computers linked to recording equipment; and a Design Technology Block. The Sixth Form block has been built to accommodate increased numbers of A-Level students. The Big Bean Café opened 2016, which allows students (including one apprenticeship) to learn how to become a barista. Admittance to Wyedean School and Sixth Form Centre is non-denominational and Wyedean accepts both male and female students between the ages of 11 and 18. Wyedean currently has around 1100 students (02/2019).

Staff

The Principal of Wyedean is Gwennan Jeremiah. Jodie Howells - Vice Principal- Finance and Business and Dai Thomas - Vice Principal Academic.

Sixth Form

The Sixth Form has two Head Boys and two Head Girls, known as 'The Team Leaders'. Every year a new set of team leaders is elected to represent the students, by the students. The Team Leaders also head a network of teams within the sixth form.

Notable students

J. K. (Joanne) Rowling, author of the

books, was

Head Girl Head boy and head girl are student leadership roles in schools, representing the school's entire student body. They are normally the most senior prefects in the school. The terms are commonly used in the British education system as well as in Aus ...

in 1982. Her mother, Anne Rowling, had worked there as a technician in the Science Department from 1978. During July 2006, the school library was dedicated to J. K. Rowling. Although she has made it clear that she did not always enjoy her time at Wyedean, citing teachers and loneliness, her website states that she and her sister "both loved their school days" there. She has stated that the character of

Professor Snape Severus Snape is a fictional character in J. K. Rowling's ''Harry Potter'' series. He is an exceptionally skilled wizard whose sarcastic, controlled exterior conceals deep emotions and anguish. A Professor at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft ...

was partly based on a chemistry teacher who taught at the school, understood to be

John Nettleship John Lawrence Nettleship (1 August 1939 – 12 March 2011) was a British schoolteacher who taught chemistry at Wyedean School, Gloucestershire. His pupils there included Joanne Rowling, and he has been stated to be a major inspiration for the c ...

. One of her teachers, Tim Ryan, has also said that he believes that other teachers were a direct influence on some of her characters. When she returned to the area in 2001 to film part of a biographical TV programme, she visited the nearby

Tutshill Tutshill is a village within the parish of Tidenham in the Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire, England. It is located on the eastern bank of the River Wye, which forms the boundary with Monmouthshire at this point and which separates the village fr ...

Primary School but did not pay a visit to Wyedean. Welsh actor

Owain Yeoman Owain Sebastian Yeoman is a Welsh actor. His credits include '' The Nine'', '' Kitchen Confidential'', AMC's '' Turn'' (as Benedict Arnold) and the HBO series ''Generation Kill''. Additionally, he portrayed CBI Agent Wayne Rigsby in ''The Menta ...

, who stars in the US series, ''

The Mentalist ''The Mentalist'' is an American drama television series that ran from September 23, 2008, until February 18, 2015, broadcasting 151 episodes over seven seasons, on CBS. Created by Bruno Heller, who was also its executive producer, the show fol ...

'', was a student at Wyedean School.

References

External links

Official Website
{{authority control Academies in Gloucestershire Chepstow Secondary schools in Gloucestershire Tidenham