- Source: Bassaleg School
Bassaleg School (Welsh: Ysgol Basaleg) is a comprehensive secondary school for pupils aged 11 to 18 years, situated in the suburb of Bassaleg on the western side of the city of Newport, South Wales, United Kingdom. The present buildings of the school range in age from the early 20th century to the present day. The buildings form a natural campus, with playing fields, lawns and gardens. It has over 1,700 pupils. Because of expanding residential development in the area, consultations took place in 2021 to 2022 to increase capacity to over 2,000 pupils by 2023. Plans were approved by Newport City Council in February 2022 with work on the project beginning in March 2022, following a £30,000,000 investment.
History
There has been a school around the current site since 1880, when Rowland Morgan (a distant relative of the Morgan's of Tredegar) endowed £20 for its creation. In the early twentieth-century, Bassaleg Controlled Voluntary School was built in its place to serve the familes of the workers of Lord Tredegar's estate. "Forge Building", as it is commonly referred, was opened in Autumn 1935, by which time the school was known as Bassaleg Secondary School.
The then Lord Tredegar and Princess Olga Dolgorouky frequented the new school, hosting prize-giving, and for many years to deliver gifts to the children at Christmastime.
During World War II, five teachers and around 250 past students were serving in the forces, while forty older male students formed the "School Harvest Camp"; sleeping in the recently built gymnasium and farming the surrounding land for six weeks. By 1948, the school had become known as Bassaleg Grammar School.
In 1958, Graig County Secondary Modern was established on the same site, with new buildings developed by A. Arthur & Son LTD. as a result. The Secondary Modern's main building was erected adjacent to Griffin Lane, thus dubbed "Griffin Building". Following the 1976 abolition of grammar schools in England and Wales, the two schools on the site merged into Bassaleg Comprehensive School, as it is known today.
Notable staff and former pupils
= Pupils
=Stuart Barnes, Times journalist and former Bath, England and British Lions rugby player
Jon Callard, former Bath and England rugby player
Sabrina Cohen-Hatton, Chief Fire Officer of the West Sussex Fire and Rescue Service, homeless whilst studying at the school
Jamie Corsi, rugby player
John Davies, Bishop of Swansea and Brecon in the Church in Wales and Archbishop of Wales
David Davies, former Conservative MP for Monmouth and Secretary of State for Wales
Ron Davies, Former AM and MP and Secretary of State for Wales
Rio Dyer, rugby player for Dragons RFC and Wales
Anneliese Heard, triathlete
Liz Johnson, Paralympic gold medallist
Ryan Jones, former Wales and British Lions rugby player
Roger Lewis, writer and journalist, author of The Life and Death of Peter Sellers
Alix Popham, former Welsh national rugby player
Malcolm Thomas a former Welsh and British Lions rugby player who played club rugby for Newport and won 27 caps for Wales during the 1950s
Aaron Wainwright, current Welsh national rugby player
Amelia Womack, Deputy Leader Green Party of England and Wales
= Staff
=Ryan Doble, former under-21 international footballer for Wales
Justin Thomas, former International rugby union player for Wales
Gallery
In 2023, the school renamed its buildings in welsh; each reflecting one of the school's values. The new names include Caredig, Parchus, Dewr, Balch, Uniondeb, and Gwydn, meaning Kindness, Respect, Bravery, Pride, Integrity, and Resilience respectively.
= Adeilad Balch
== Adeliad Parchus
== Adeliad Uniondeb
== Adeliad Dewr
== Adeilad Gwydn
== Adeilad Caredig
=References and notes
= Website
=Clark, Gregory (2023). "The Annual RPI and Average Earnings for Britain, 1209 to Present (New Series)". MeasuringWorth. Retrieved 22 February 2023.