Whitchurch High School is an over-subscribed co-educational maintained comprehensive school with almost 2,400 pupils on roll.   Our intake is drawn from our eight partner primaries based in northern Cardiff. These are Birchgrove, Coryton, Eglwys Newydd, Eglwys Wen, Gabalfa, Hawthorn, Llanishen Fach and Rhiwbina.  The school is based on two sites in the suburb of Whitchurch.  Years 7, 8 and 9 are based on the lower school site off Manor Way, with Years 10, 11, 12 and 13 students on the upper school site in the Village. The popularity of the school means that it is oversubscribed in all year groups.

As a Foundation School Whitchurch High School Governors are the admissions authority and therefore directly manage all mainstream admissions. For the academic years 2011-2012 and 2012-2013, the governors will be administering admissions using the LEA admissions criteria. During 2011-2012, the governors will be consulting upon their draft admissions policy for September 2013 onwards. The standard mainstream admission number as determined is 360 for Year 7.

We are an inclusive school and have a SEN Specialist Resource Base (SRB) on both sites which admits up to sixty pupils from throughout the city. Cardiff Council separately administers all admissions for the SRB in partnership with the school.

We are a forward looking innovative school in which well proven, traditional values are allied to the best of modern teaching methods, including the extensive use of ICT.  We aim to provide the very best learning environment and opportunities, inside and outside of the classroom, to allow each individual student to thrive and succeed.  Our sixth form is one of the largest in the country with nearly 500 students studying a range of courses.

We are able to offer wide range of courses with individually designed programmes for students of all levels of abilities, including the More Able and Talented and those with Special Educational Needs. Excellent examination results ensure that a very high proportion of our students move on to University.  All students from year 10 onwards follow the Welsh Baccalaureate as part of the schools commitment to the Welsh Assembly’s flagship qualification.  This reinforces the school’s mission statement of “Learning for Life in an Inclusive and International School Community.”

Staff are dedicated to helping each child achieve his or her potential and to this end we work closely in partnership with parents.  The needs of each individual student are reviewed at regular intervals throughout their time with us. One of our fundamental aims is to develop responsible students who possess the qualities and skills which equip them for further study or employment.  We celebrate personal successes at every opportunity.

We are very proud of our Welsh heritage and that our school is located in the Capital City of Wales. We wish our students to become global citizens and active participants in the worldwide community and provide many formal and informal opportunities to be so. We need to ever strengthen our global links to learn from and celebrate with each other, wherever we live.

We enjoy strong International relationships such as with our friends from Norway where every year we welcome exchange students who spend the year with us. In recent years we have widened our circle beyond our European connections and linked with Macassar High School in Cape Town, South Africa and the wider community there, including international musician Trevor Sampson and his Restoring the Sound centre. The school is delighted to be recently selected as one of twenty Welsh representative schools linking to schools in Indonesia, under the International Inspirations programme as part of the run up to the 2012 Olympics.

Individuals are encouraged to think about their role in society and to consider the needs of others. Charity work and community involvement therefore feature strongly, motivating our students to become responsible citizens of the twenty first century. We have a strong effective student council, which is fully involved in the running of the school.

We are very proud of Whitchurch High School’s outstanding reputation.

I hope we have the opportunity to meet with you in the future.