Queen Elizabeth High School is a mixed, bilingual community comprehensive school of 1500 pupils, catering for all abilities between the ages of 11 and 18. It was formed in September 2005 by the amalgamation of Queen Elizabeth Cambria and Queen Elizabeth Maridunum Schools. Its origins may be traced back to 1576 with the establishment of the Queen Elizabeth Grammar School on Priory Street in Carmarthen town, which was set up for the benefit of the merchant people of the town. In this respect, the new school has been mindful of building on 430 years of academic and extra-curricular success.
The school is located in the picturesque Tywi valley, and its catchment area is predominantly rural, covering a large swathe of Carmarthenshire, including the county, market town.
Currently, the entire campus is being redeveloped with a multi-million pound, county council-funded investment in:
a new purpose built school to accommodate 1600 pupils;
an extended and refurbished leisure facility incorporating a competition-standard swimming pool and many other outstanding resources;
new external sporting facilities, including tennis courts, an all-weather pitch, running track and playing fields.
The building programme will be completed during the academic year 2008-2009, and will provide pupils and staff with exceptional facilities.
There are extremely effective links at academic, pastoral and social levels with all seventeen designated partner primary schools. Annually, the school enrols pupils from a further eight primary schools, predominantly those which are outside the catchment area.
The school has a great sense of pride in the achievements of all members of its community, and a priority is placed upon high standards of work, behaviour, attitude and appearance.
The school’s stated mission is: Ymlaen Gyda’n Gilydd. This means that all its members are moving forward together in order to provide educational excellence. The mission is seen as the embodiment of:
THE SCHOOL’S CHARACTER:
It is a statement of a shared determination, rooted in its educational heritage. It is apparent in the relationships and bonds between members of the school community;
THE CONDUCT OF ITS MEMBERS:
It underpins and suffuses the present behaviour of all concerned, as they work in unity to strive for educational excellence;
THE SCHOOL’S PRINCIPLES:
It is a collective and ambitious declaration that the school is forward-looking, with a commitment to educational progress.
The vision for the school is of an intelligent, responsive, inclusive, bilingual and supportive community with the highest possible standards of teaching and learning.
The school’s goal is to ensure success for every child, which will be achieved by:
safeguarding each pupil’s entitlement to an education which embraces enlightenment, compassion and activity;
enabling moral and ethical understanding, identity, responsibility, wisdom and vision to grow;
being ambitious in its work and having confidence in each child’s capacity for success.
Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions. If you are a prospective pupil, parent or employee, and wish to visit the school, we would be only too pleased to meet with you and to show you around.
