# 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 Morgans of Tredegar) endowed £20 for its creation. In the early twentieth-century, Bassaleg Controlled Voluntary School was built in its place to serve the families 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 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
* Lauren Parfitt, Welsh cricketer and current captain 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

* Front view.
* Central lobby.

### Adeliad Parchus

* Front view.
* Side view.

### Adeliad Uniondeb

* Front view.
* Side view.
* Side view of the older section of Adeilad Uniondeb.
* Side view of the older section of Adeilad Uniondeb.
* Staircase Lobby.
* Wall mural.
* Plaque commemorating the opening of the building in 1997.

### Adeliad Dewr

* Front three quarter view.
* Corridor view from the entrance.

### Adeilad Gwydn

* Gwdyn, the remainder of what was previously referred to as "Griffin Building".

### Adeilad Caredig

* Front view of the main building, original gymnasium (left), and newer gymnasium (far left).
* Rear view of the complex and hard-standing area.
* The south-east original 1930s staircase.

## References and notes

* ↑ £20 in 1880 equates to approximately £3,000 in 2023, according to calculations based on the Consumer Price Index measure of inflation.'"`UNIQ--ref-0000001C-QINU`"'
* ↑ "A report on Bassaleg School" (PDF). Estyn. May 2019. Retrieved 28 January 2020.
* ↑ "Bassaleg School expansion could go to second consultation". South Wales Argus. 15 February 2021. Retrieved 30 May 2021.
* ↑ "Bassaleg School demolition and rebuild plan set for go-ahead". South Wales Argus. 2 February 2022. Retrieved 17 July 2022.
* ↑ "Bassaleg School redevelopment work starts". South Wales Argus. 7 March 2022. Retrieved 17 July 2022.
* 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Our History" (PDF). Bassalegschool.com. Retrieved 5 December 2024.
* ↑ "Bassaleg School Prize Day". Western Mail. 24 November 1936. p. 12. Retrieved 5 December 2024.
* ↑ "Viscount Tredegar". Western Mail. 17 December 1938. p. 11. Retrieved 5 December 2024.
* ↑ "Main Contractors For The Graig Secondary Modern School". Western Mail. 3 October 1958. p. 8. Retrieved 5 December 2024.
* ↑ "Barnes Stuart". bathrugbyheritage.org.
* ↑ "Callard Jon". bathrugbyheritage.org.
* ↑ Deacon, Thomas (24 February 2018). "Why firefighters can run toward danger - woman's fascinating PhD". WalesOnline. Retrieved 29 September 2019.
* ↑ "Jamie Corsi | Dragons Player". Dragons Rugby.
* ↑ "About David". Rt Hon David TC Davies MP.
* ↑ "Davies, Ron, 1946- - National Library of Wales Archives and Manuscripts". archives.library.wales.
* ↑ "Teenage speedster Dyer aiming to build on Dragons debut against Euro champs". South Wales Argus. 29 January 2018. Retrieved 5 November 2022.
* ↑ "Top athlete goes back to school". South Wales Argus.
* ↑ "I'll win gold for my mum - swimmer's pledge". South Wales Argus.
* ↑ Thomas, Simon (3 July 2015). "Which Wales legend went back to his old school". WalesOnline.
* ↑ "Roger Lewis' Seasonal Suicide Notes". WalesOnline. 28 November 2009.
* ↑ Blanche, Phil (12 April 2012). "Former Wales rugby captain Malcolm Thomas dies at the age of 82". WalesOnline.
* ↑ "The skinny kid from Bassaleg now set to take on the Boks". South Wales Argus.
* ↑ Mosalski, Ruth (18 March 2019). "Newport West by-election candidates named". WalesOnline.
* ↑ Clayton-Jones, Justin; Doble, Ryan (17 May 2022). "Staff v 6th Form Football Match Thursday 12th May". Bassalegschool.com. Retrieved 12 December 2024.
* 1 2 "Our Staff | Bassaleg School". Bassaleg. Retrieved 6 December 2024.
* ↑ "Bassaleg Transition 24 - Buildings". sites.google.com. Retrieved 13 December 2024.

### Website

* Clark, Gregory (2023). "The Annual RPI and Average Earnings for Britain, 1209 to Present (New Series)". MeasuringWorth. Retrieved 22 February 2023.
51°34′29″N 03°02′36″W﻿ / ﻿51.57472°N 3.04333°W﻿ / 51.57472; -3.04333
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