St. John Baptist Church in Wales High School is a church

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) ...

located in

Aberdare Aberdare ( ; cy, Aberdâr) is a town in the Cynon Valley area of Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales, at the confluence of the Rivers Dare (Dâr) and Cynon. Aberdare has a population of 39,550 (mid-2017 estimate). Aberdare is south-west of Merthyr Tyd ...

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 ...

. The school serves children from all over

Rhondda Cynon Taf Rhondda Cynon Taf (; RCT; also spelt as Rhondda Cynon Taff) is a county borough in the south-east of Wales. It consists of five valleys: the Rhondda Fawr, Rhondda Fach, Cynon, Taff (Welsh: ''Taf'') and Ely valleys, plus a number of towns and vil ...

and surrounding counties. In the summer of 2016, the school was announced as the best school in

for 5 A*-C grades at GCSE.

Building and Grounds

The school consists of several buildings in which departments are placed with adjacent classrooms. Within the school, the building is commonly referred to as having two parts, upper school and lower school. This has no relation to the lower, middle and upper year groups. The upper school is the western side of the building consisting of several Science labs, the History department, Modern Foreign Languages and mathematics. The lower school, the eastern side of the building, contains all sporting facilities, Religious Studies classrooms, the English department and IT facilities. The reception and offices are also located in the lower school. The building has expanded several times in recent years with the addition of new sporting facilities and new classrooms with elevators to cater for wheelchair users. The school consists of: *6 Science labs *1 library for all pupils *6 IT rooms (including one Design and Technology IT suite) *Home Economics and Textiles rooms *3 Design and Technology rooms *2 Art rooms and one

darkroom A darkroom is used to process photographic film, to make prints and to carry out other associated tasks. It is a room that can be made completely dark to allow the processing of the light-sensitive photographic materials, including film and ph ...

*2 Music rooms *6 Modern Foreign Languages rooms (including

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

, French and

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...

classrooms) *5 English rooms *3 Religious Studies rooms *A sports hall with gym equipment and one gymnasium *A hall and canteen *A Sixth Form canteen/snack kiosk *A Sixth Form study area (including an IT suite and library) *Facilities for disabled pupils

Christianity and Worship

Christianity is a large part of the school life. Every year group attends a

Eucharist The Eucharist (; from Greek , , ), also known as Holy Communion and the Lord's Supper, is a Christian rite that is considered a sacrament in most churches, and as an ordinance in others. According to the New Testament, the rite was instit ...

service at least once per term. These services take place in the school hall, hosted by visiting priests from the

diocese of Llandaff The Diocese of Llandaff is an Anglican (Church in Wales) diocese that traces its roots to pre-Reformation times as heir of a Catholic bishopric. It is headed by the Bishop of Llandaff, whose seat is located at the Cathedral Church of Saint Pet ...

and surrounding dioceses, as well as in St Elvan's, a large church situated in Aberdare's town centre. St Elvan's is usually the host for whole-school services and major school events, such as the annual Prize Giving ceremony. Notably, the school has welcomed iconic members of the

Anglican Church Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of the ...

through its doors.

Rowan Williams Rowan Douglas Williams, Baron Williams of Oystermouth, (born 14 June 1950) is a Welsh Anglican bishop, theologian and poet. He was the 104th Archbishop of Canterbury, a position he held from December 2002 to December 2012. Previously the Bish ...

, former

archbishop of Canterbury The archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England, the ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. The current archbishop is Justi ...

, visited the school during 2012 after announcing that he intended to stand down as Archbishop that year. Dr Barry Morgan,

Archbishop of Wales The post of Archbishop of Wales was created in 1920 when the Church in Wales was separated from the Church of England and disestablished. The four historic Welsh dioceses had previously formed part of the Province of Canterbury, and so came unde ...

, also visited with Rowan Williams.

Notable former pupils

* Rhys Jones - Team GB Paralympic Athlete - T37 100m and 200m sprint

London 2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

. *

Rhys Shellard Rhys Shellard (born 25 June 1985) is a rugby union player for Cardiff RFC and Cardiff Blues in the Celtic League. He previously played with Aberdare RFC and most notably, Pontypridd RFC Pontypridd Rugby Football Club ( cy, Clwb Rygbi Pon ...

- Welsh Rugby Union player. *

Vikki Howells Vikki Howells is a Welsh Labour politician and former teacher. Since May 2016, she has been the Member of the Senedd for Cynon Valley. Early life and education Howells was brought up in Cwmbach, Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales. She was educated at S ...

- Welsh politician

References

External links

St John Baptist High School School Website
Main News can be found on http://www.stjohnbaptist.co.uk/moodle/ {{DEFAULTSORT:Saint John The Baptist School (Aberdare) Secondary schools in Rhondda Cynon Taf Church in Wales schools Aberdare