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Ysgol Gyfun Cwm Rhymni is a Welsh-medium school situated in the village of
Fleur-de-Lys The fleur-de-lis, also spelled fleur-de-lys (plural ''fleurs-de-lis'' or ''fleurs-de-lys''), is a lily (in French, and mean 'flower' and 'lily' respectively) that is used as a decorative design or symbol. The fleur-de-lis has been used in the ...
in the
Rhymney Valley The Rhymney Valley () is one of the South Wales valleys, with the Rhymney River forming the border between the historic counties of Glamorgan and Monmouthshire. Between 1974 and 1996 a Rhymney Valley local government district also existed (one o ...
. Cwm Rhymni was founded in 1981 with just over 150 pupils and has since grown to 1,684 pupils with 1,164 at the Gellihaf campus and 520 at Y Gwyndy (September 2018). The school's motto is “Tua'r Goleuni”(Towards the Light) and its badge is a
dragon A dragon is a reptilian legendary creature that appears in the folklore of many cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but dragons in western cultures since the High Middle Ages have often been depicted as ...
rampant In heraldry, the term attitude describes the ''position'' in which a figure (animal or human) is emblazoned as a charge, a supporter, or as a crest. The attitude of an heraldic figure always precedes any reference to the tincture of the figure ...
. The school is traditionally represented by the colours red and black. A new campus for Ysgol Gyfun Cwm Rhymni opened in Caerphilly Area in 2013 for years 7 through 11; Ysgol Gyfun Cwm Rhymni – Safle'r Gwyndy, due to the demand of a new Welsh Medium school. The previous school is now called Ysgol Gyfun Cwm Rhymni – Safle Gellihaf so it is not confused with the other campus. The original Cwm Rhymni school was based in Aberbargoed (years 7-8) and Bargoed (years 9-13).


History

Cwm Rhymni was originally situated on two sites, a Lower school for years 7 and 8 and an Upper school for years 9 to 13, situated in
Aberbargoed Aberbargoed is a town in the County Borough of Caerphilly, Wales. Aberbargoed once contained the largest ever colliery waste tip in Europe, although this has now been reclaimed and turned into a country park. The town is within the historic b ...
and
Bargoed Bargoed ( cy, Bargod) is a town and community in the Rhymney Valley, Wales, one of the South Wales Valleys. It lies on the Rhymney River in the county borough of Caerphilly. It straddles the ancient boundary of Glamorgan and Monmouthshire, with ...
respectively. By the late 1990s these buildings were in very poor condition, and after a long struggle the school was finally granted permission to build a new state of the art one-site building in
Fleur-de-lys The fleur-de-lis, also spelled fleur-de-lys (plural ''fleurs-de-lis'' or ''fleurs-de-lys''), is a lily (in French, and mean 'flower' and 'lily' respectively) that is used as a decorative design or symbol. The fleur-de-lis has been used in the ...
, which opened in 2002. The new building was funded through PFI. The original Headmaster of Cwm Rhymni was Mr Huw Thomas, who was succeeded by Mr Hefin Mathias in 1995. Mr Mathias was in turn succeeded upon his retirement in 2008 by Mr Owain ap Dafydd. In April 2020, following the retirement of Mr ap Dafydd, Mr Matthew Webb was appointed the Headteacher.


1989 fire

On Wednesday 8 November 1989, Gareth Curtis, aged 16, and Paul James, aged 15, were sentenced at Cardiff to three years; the fire cost £2.2m.''Times'' Thursday November 9 1989 The former St Ilan school was destroyed by arson in 1989.


Headteachers

* 1981–1995 (Mr Huw Thomas) * 1995–2008 (Mr Hefin Mathias) * 2008–2020 (Mr Owain ap Dafydd) * 2020–present (Mr Matthew Webb) Ysgol Gyfun Cwm Rhymni has a strong reputation in relation to sports, especially in
rugby Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby league: 13 players per side *** Masters Rugby League *** Mod league *** Rugby league nines *** Rugby league sevens *** Touch (sport) *** Wheelchair rugby league ** Rugby union: 1 ...
and
athletics Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competiti ...
. The school has also fared very well down the years in the
Urdd Eisteddfod The Urdd National Eisteddfod ( cy, Eisteddfod Genedlaethol Urdd Gobaith Cymru or ''Eisteddfod Genedlaethol yr Urdd'') is an annual Welsh-language youth festival of literature, music and performing arts organised by Urdd Gobaith Cymru. Arguably Eur ...
. Cwm Rhymni has a very large
catchment area In human geography, a catchment area is the area from which a location, such as a city, service or institution, attracts a population that uses its services and economic opportunities. Catchment areas may be defined based on from where people are ...
stretching from
Rhymney Rhymney (; cy, Rhymni ) is a town and a community in the county borough of Caerphilly, South Wales. It is within the historic boundaries of Monmouthshire. With the villages of Pontlottyn, Fochriw, Abertysswg, Deri and New Tredegar, Rhymney is ...
near the top of the valley to
Caerphilly Caerphilly (, ; cy, Caerffili, ) is a town and community in Wales. It is situated at the southern end of the Rhymney Valley. It is north of Cardiff and northwest of Newport. It is the largest town in Caerphilly County Borough, and lies wit ...
. The breadth of the catchment area is reflected by the names of the three main corridors at the Gellihaf campus; Ebwy, Sirhywi and Rhymni; three adjoining South Wales Valleys that all feed some pupils into Cwm Rhymni. Prior to the establishment of
Ysgol Gyfun Gwynllyw is a Welsh-medium comprehensive school located in Trevethin, Pontypool in Torfaen, Wales and named for Saint Gwynllyw. The school had 926 pupils on roll in 2017. History The school was founded in 1988 as the first Welsh-medium school in the ...
in 1988, Cwm Rhymni's catchment area also included the whole of the county of Gwent and pupils attended the school from as far afield as Newport and
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 ...
. The school's four houses are named after Welsh
saint In religious belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of Q-D-Š, holiness, likeness, or closeness to God. However, the use of the term ''saint'' depends on the context and Christian denomination, denominat ...
s: Mabon (house colour: yellow),
Cadog Saint Cadoc or Cadog ( lat-med, Cadocus; also Modern Welsh: Cattwg; born or before) was a 5th–6th-century Abbot of Llancarfan, near Cowbridge in Glamorgan, Wales, a monastery famous from the era of the British church as a centre of learnin ...
(green), Tudful (purple) and Sannan (blue). Tudful was a later addition to the original three houses as the school's numbers grew in the early 1990s. In 2009, a new house, Ilan, was also created in addition to the previous four houses because of the growing number of students.


Primary Feeder Schools

Ysgol Gyfun Cwm Rhymni is the only Welsh medium Comprehensive school in the Caerphilly borough and is fed by 11 primary schools *Ysgol Gymraeg Bro Allta *Ysgol Gymraeg Bro Sannan *Ysgol Gymraeg Cwm Derwen *Ysgol Gymraeg Cwm Gwyddon *Ysgol Gymraeg Caerffili *Ysgol Gymraeg Gilfach Fargod *Ysgol Gymraeg Ifor Bach *Ysgol Gymraeg Penalltau *Ysgol Gymraeg Trelyn *Ysgol Gymraeg Y Castell *Ysgol Gymraeg Y Lawnt


Partneriaeth 6

Cwm Rhymni currently has a partnership with
Ysgol Gyfun Gwynllyw is a Welsh-medium comprehensive school located in Trevethin, Pontypool in Torfaen, Wales and named for Saint Gwynllyw. The school had 926 pupils on roll in 2017. History The school was founded in 1988 as the first Welsh-medium school in the ...
, Pontypool. With this partnership more courses are made available in both schools. This type of programme has been tried in many schools before but the main difference with partneriaeth 6 is that the teachers travel between the schools or teach via conference link. Currently the school is trying to expand this partnership to include
Ysgol Gyfun Rhydywaun Ysgol Gyfun Rhydywaun is a Welsh-medium comprehensive school in the Cynon Valley in the village of Penywaun, Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales, to the northwest of the town of Aberdare. The school was established on 1 September 1995. It provides a Welsh ...


Notable former pupils

* Morgan Evans,
Gloucestershire All Golds Gloucestershire All Golds is a rugby league team based at the University of Gloucestershire, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire. University of Gloucestershire All Golds consists of six different teams, with the first team entering Kingstone Press C ...
rugby league player * Natasha Harding, Bristol Academy and Wales footballer *
Sali Hughes Sali Hughes (born 21 February 1975) is a Welsh journalist, writer and broadcaster. She is ''The Guardian''s resident beauty columnist. Early life and education Hughes was born on 21 February 1975 and grew up in Blackwood, Caerphilly. Her father w ...
, journalist, writer and broadcaster *
Delyth Jewell Delyth Non Jewell (born 1988) is a Welsh Plaid Cymru politician. She is a Member of the Senedd (MS) for South Wales East region. She is also the current Deputy Leader of Plaid Cymru. Early life Jewell was born in Caerphilly and grew up in Ystrad ...
,
Plaid Cymru Plaid Cymru ( ; ; officially Plaid Cymru – the Party of Wales, often referred to simply as Plaid) is a centre-left to left-wing, Welsh nationalist political party in Wales, committed to Welsh independence from the United Kingdom. Plaid wa ...
politician * Steffan Jones (rugby player), Newport Gwent Dragons rugby player * Rhodri Lloyd, Welsh Rugby League International player, Wigan and Swinton *
David Probert David Probert (born 1988) is a Welsh jockey who was joint British flat racing Champion Apprentice in 2008. Background Probert was born in Bargoed, Wales, attended Ysgol Gyfun Cwm Rhymni Welsh language school, and grew up competing in pony ra ...
, jockey *
Aaron Ramsey Aaron James Ramsey (born 26 December 1990) is a Welsh professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Ligue 1 club Nice and the Wales national team. Ramsey mainly plays as a box-to-box midfielder, but has also been deployed on the left ...
, Juventus and Wales footballer


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cwm Rhymni, Ysgol Gyfun Arson in the 1980s Educational institutions established in 1981 Secondary schools in Caerphilly County Borough School buildings in the United Kingdom destroyed by arson Welsh-language schools 1981 establishments in Wales