Ysgol Llanhari
Ysgol Llanhari is a Welsh-medium school for 3-19 year olds situated in the village of Llanharry, Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales. History. Llanhari is one of the Welsh medium secondary schools in the area, having opened in 1974. It followed Ysgol Gyfun Rhydfelen in leading the way in Welsh medium education in South Wales. In 1974, the school was located in the county of Mid Glamorgan and had a huge catchment area from Tonteg and Cardiff in the east, all the way to Porthcawl and Maesteg in the west. It became popular very quickly and grew in  numbers, becoming oversubscribed. Within a few years, it was decided that South Glamorgan pupils would be educated in their own county and in 1978, Ysgol Gyfun Gymraeg Glantaf opened in Cardiff. On 6 June 2011, it was publicly announced that from 2012 the school would incorporate a primary unit and become a 3-18 school. On 3 September 2012, the Primary Unit was opened and the school was formally designated a 3-18 school with the new name of Ysgol Llanhari. Mrs Catherine Webb is Assistant Head with responsibility for this unit. Feeder schools. Llantrisant, Tonyrefail, Dolau and the primary  section of Ysgol Llanhari are the current feeder schools to the secondary department at Llanhari. Before the opening of Ysgol Gyfun Gymraeg Llangynwyd in 2008, the following schools also fed Llanhari with pupils from the county of Bridgend: Ysgol Y Ferch o'r Sger, Ysgol Bro Ogwr, Ysgol Cynwyd Sant and Ysgol Gymraeg Cwm Garw. These pupils are now educated at Llangynwyd, within their own county. Headteacher. To date, Ysgol Llanhari has been led by five heads. Mrs Rhian Phillips is the current headteacher at the school. She succeeded Mr Meirion Stephens, who served as head of Llanhari from January 2008 . He was preceded by Miss T Anne Morris, who took over in 2003. Prior to this, Mr Peter Griffiths, father of Ioan Gruffudd, star of such films as "Fantastic Four" and "Wilde" served as head from 1989. The original head when the school opened in 1974 was Mr Merfyn Griffiths. Since 2014, Ms Meinir Thomas has served as deputy Headteacher, with Ms Catherine Webb and Mr Geoffrey Howell serving as assistant head teachers. As of 2019, Mr Marc Evans and Mrs Elen George, have been appointeded to the role of assistant Headteacher, alongside Ms Webb and Mr Howell. Heads of  Year. MrsJenna Martin-Williams has responsibility for Year 7 and 8 currently. Miss Sian Morris is the current Attainment Standards Leader for Years 9 and 10 and Mr Stephen Wilshaw is the Attainment Standards Leader for Years 11, 12 and 13. Exam results. Examination results have consistently improved since 2008. In 2012, 75% of pupils attained grades A*-C in all A-Level subjects sat, and 97% were awarded grades A-E in all subjects. At GCSE, 74.2% of all grades awarded were A*-C and 74.6% of students attained the 5 A*-C benchmark.