Cathedral School community shows resilience and versatility
AT the Cathedral School, excellent academic results and an exceptional co-curricular programme fosters the growth of intellectual curiosity, offering enormous breadth of opportunity.
High quality pastoral care and the school’s Christian ethos gives students the opportunity to reach their full potential in a vibrant, fun and supportive environment.
The last six months have not been easy and headteacher Clare Sherwood says it has been wonderful to welcome pupils back to school this term. Aiming to provide continuity of learning and high quality pastoral care for every pupil through its remote learning programme, the school is incredibly proud of its pupils and staff who showed resilience and motivation throughout.
With 800 pupils aged three to 18, the school was acknowledged by Estyn as “excellent” in all five inspection areas in 2018. It is one of the top performing co-educational schools in Wales at A-level and GCSE with pupils progressing to the most selective and sought after universities, including Oxford, Cambridge, Imperial College London, Bristol, Cardiff and Nottingham.
High levels of inclusion in music, sport and the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award are a reflection of the school’s
commitment to breadth as well as depth. Standards of music performance are unmatched and the school is equally proud of its sporting tradition. Priding itself on being a strong learning community, it is important that everyone feels valued and that they have a meaningful part to play.
The school was identified as sector-leading by Estyn for its work in helping “pupils to develop selfconfidence, acquire a broad range of
important life skills and to become well-informed and active citizens”.
And, this didn’t stop during lockdown. Pupils continued to support their local communities, from chairing the Children’s Commissioner for Wales youth advisory panel during the coronavirus and me survey, writing letters to Cartref care home as part of an intergenerational project, developing a bilingual chatbot to help those with concerns and setting up a pupil mentor scheme.
The school takes its youngest pupils on a journey of exploration, preparing them for their secondary education with confidence and a zest for life, strong academic skills, an appetite for learning, a rounded personality and enjoyment of music, sport and other activities.
Firm friendships are created through bonding activities when new pupils join the school in Year 7 and the competitive house system provides opportunities to develop their leadership skills.
With a full range of academic subjects available, small classes, highly experienced staff with close university links, the sixth form culture is ambitious and supportive in equal measure.
School transport is offered along six routes from Castleton, Cowbridge, Caerphilly, Colwinston, Llantrisant and Lisvane.
Working parents are helped by wrap-around care from 8am to 6pm and a holiday club for its pupils and their siblings.
Financial support via means tested bursaries is available at Year 7 and 12 entry, with scholarships in a range of disciplines from academic to sport and music.
To see what makes the Cathedral School such a dynamic and high achieving place of learning, book a place at one of its forthcoming open days: Whole School Open Morning (Nursery to Sixth Form) on Saturday, October 3 and Sixth Form Options Evening on Thursday, October 8 via www.cathedral-school.co.uk/ opendays
For further information, visit www.cathedral-school.co.uk or contact the registrar Deborah Whitehouse on 029 2083 8504 or registrar@cathedral-school.co.uk