Penyrheol Comprehensive School
Encyclopedia
Penyrheol Comprehensive School is a secondary school in Gorseinon
, Swansea
, Wales. .
, Gorseinon
, and Loughor
areas. It is situated just east of the B4296, accessed via two miles along the A4240
from junction 47 of the M4
.
It does not have a sixth form. It serves Gorseinon, Loughor, Penyrheol, Kingsbridge and Garden Village.
Many teachers lost valuable work that was irreplaceable. Artwork was completely destroyed.
On 30 November 2006, 18 year old Jonathan Giles, was sentenced to six years for starting the fire, having been arrested on 19 March 2006. He denied the charge of burglary. It was started in a bag of paper meant for recycling. On leaving the building they took some fire extinguishers which they used to spray some local girls. Not all of Swansea Council's insurance covered the fire damage.
Gorseinon
Gorseinon is a town in southwest Wales, near the Loughor estuary. It was a small village until the late 19th century when it grew around the coal mining and tinplate industries. It is situated in the north west of Swansea, around north west of the city centre...
, Swansea
Swansea
Swansea is a coastal city and county in Wales. Swansea is in the historic county boundaries of Glamorgan. Situated on the sandy South West Wales coast, the county area includes the Gower Peninsula and the Lliw uplands...
, Wales. .
Admissions
It has around 1,000 pupils from the PenyrheolPenyrheol, Swansea
Penyrheol is the name of an electoral ward and a suburb in the City and County of Swansea, Wales, UK.The electoral ward consists of some or all of the following areas: Penyrheol, Grovesend and Waun Gron, in the parliamentary constituency of Gower...
, Gorseinon
Gorseinon
Gorseinon is a town in southwest Wales, near the Loughor estuary. It was a small village until the late 19th century when it grew around the coal mining and tinplate industries. It is situated in the north west of Swansea, around north west of the city centre...
, and Loughor
River Loughor
The River Loughor in Carmarthenshire, Wales has its source at an underground lake at the Black Mountain. It flows past settlements like Ammanford and Hendy in Carmarthenshire and Pontarddulais in Swansea. The river divides Carmarthenshire from Swansea for much of its course and it separates Hendy...
areas. It is situated just east of the B4296, accessed via two miles along the A4240
A4240 road
-Route description:The A4240 begins at the roundabout at the Loughor side of the Loughor bridge. The road heads east through Loughor, then onwards through Gorseinon, where it forms the east-west main road intersecting with the B4296 in central Gorseinon...
from junction 47 of the M4
M4 motorway
The M4 motorway links London with South Wales. It is part of the unsigned European route E30. Other major places directly accessible from M4 junctions are Reading, Swindon, Bristol, Newport, Cardiff and Swansea...
.
It does not have a sixth form. It serves Gorseinon, Loughor, Penyrheol, Kingsbridge and Garden Village.
1976 fire
The school had to be rebuilt due to a fire in 1976 which destroyed half the school. Thirty years later, much the same thing would happen again and a similar financial shortfall in the cost from what was available from insurance cover.2006 fire
On Saturday 18 March 2006 from around 2 - 6am the school was largely destroyed by arson when the school was largely engulfed in a blaze. Strong winds added to the fire. The whole main building was destroyed leaving only the drama studio, sports hall, and annex which contained the English and Welsh departments as well as one ICT room. Much course work was lost in the blaze. 40 classrooms were destroyed. Only the English and Maths departments survived. 60 firefighters fought the blaze for four hours. Water from the pool in the leisure centre was used to fight the fire.Many teachers lost valuable work that was irreplaceable. Artwork was completely destroyed.
On 30 November 2006, 18 year old Jonathan Giles, was sentenced to six years for starting the fire, having been arrested on 19 March 2006. He denied the charge of burglary. It was started in a bag of paper meant for recycling. On leaving the building they took some fire extinguishers which they used to spray some local girls. Not all of Swansea Council's insurance covered the fire damage.
New building
The school now has a new £9.9 million building which was opened 4 September 2009 and built by Carillion and included a sprinkler system and more CCTV. This new building now contains all the specialist teaching facilities. At the time of the blaze, the headteacher admitted that they would not have had a new school building had not the school been burned to the ground.Notable former pupils
- Leigh HalfpennyLeigh HalfpennyStephen Leigh Halfpenny is a Welsh international rugby union footballer who plays for the Cardiff Blues regional side.-Biography:...
, rugby player - Colin Jones, WelterweightWelterweightWelterweight is a weight class division in combat sports. Originally the term "welterweight" was used only in boxing, but other combat sports like kickboxing, taekwondo and mixed martial arts also began to use it for their own weight division system...
boxer - Adam MatthewsAdam MatthewsAdam James Matthews is a Welsh footballer who currently plays as a right back for Scottish Premier League club Celtic and the Welsh national team.-Early life:...
, footballer - Steve Phillips, Chief Executive of Neath Port TalbotNeath Port TalbotNeath Port Talbot is a county borough and one of the unitary authority areas of Wales. Neath Port Talbot is the 8th most populous county in Wales and the third most populous county borough....
Council since 2009
External links
News items
- New school opens in September 2009
- Rebuilding begins in February 2008
- 18 year old given six years for £8m of damage in fire in November 2006
- 17 year convicted in October 2006
- 17 year old boasted about setting fire to the school
- Two 17 year olds charged in May 2006
- Guardian April 2006
- Three arrests made in March 2006 over fire
- Blaze in March 2006