The John Frost School, formerly known as Duffryn High School ( cy, Ysgol Uwchradd Dyffryn), is a comprehensive school on the south-western outskirts of Newport, south

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

. It is in the suburb of

Duffryn Duffryn ( cy, Dyffryn) is a large housing estatebr>in the southwest of the city of Newport, Wales, Newport, south Wales comprising a large portion of the Tredegar Park electoral district (ward). Built on land belonging to Tredegar Housebr> it ...

and opened in 1959. The John Frost School was the filming location of the '' Doctor Who'' television episode " School Reunion", filmed in 2005. As of 2019, the

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

is Mark Tucker.

Name change

At the beginning of 2015 it was announced that Duffryn High School was changing its name to The John Frost School. John Frost (1784−1877) was a Chartist and the leader of the

Newport Rising The Newport Rising was the last large-scale armed rising in Wales, by Chartists whose demands included democracy and the right to vote with a secret ballot. On Monday 4 November 1839, approximately 4,000 Chartism, Chartist sympathisers, under ...

In popular culture

In August 2019, in the BBC TV series '' Who Do You Think You Are?'', the school was visited by TV producer

Michael Whitehall Michael John Whitehall (born 12 April 1940) is an English author, producer, talent agent and television personality. He is a former theatrical agent who went on to form two production companies, Havahall Pictures (with Nigel Havers) in 1988, an ...

and his son, actor and comedian

Jack Whitehall Jack Peter Benedict Whitehall (born 7 July 1988) is an English comedian, actor, presenter and writer. He is known for starring as JP in the series '' Fresh Meat'' (2011–2016) and Alfie Wickers in the series '' Bad Education'' (2012–2014, 20 ...

, who were revealed to be descendants of

Thomas Phillips Thomas Phillips Royal Academy, RA (18 October 177020 April 1845) was a leading English Portrait painting, portrait and subject Painting, painter. He painted many of the great men of the day including scientists, artists, writers, poets and explo ...

, mayor of Newport at the time of the Rising.

References

{{authority control 1959 establishments in Wales Educational institutions established in 1959 Secondary schools in Newport, Wales