Bassaleg School

Comprehensive school in Newport, Wales

Gold Websitehttp://www.bassalegschool.com

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. 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.^[2] Plans were approved by Newport City Council in February 2022^[3] with work on the project beginning in March 2022, following a £30,000,000 investment.^[4]

As of 2023, the new facility, Adeliad Balch (meaning Pride Building) opened, and now caters for 70% of education that takes place at Bassaleg School.

Since its' opening, the building has received criticism from pupils claiming that the new name is too cliche. Some pupils believe that the building should have been named "Griffin" as a reference to the name of the building it replaced, which was situated on Griffin Lane.

Notable former pupils

Stuart Barnes, Times journalist and former Bath, England and British Lions rugby player^[5]
Jon Callard, former Bath and England rugby player^[6]
Sabrina Cohen-Hatton, Chief Fire Officer of the West Sussex Fire and Rescue Service, homeless, whilst studying at the school^[7]
Jamie Corsi, rugby player^[8]
John Davies, Bishop of Swansea and Brecon in the Church in Wales and Archbishop of Wales
David Davies, Conservative MP for Monmouth and current Secretary of State for Wales^[9]
Ron Davies, Former AM and MP and Secretary of State for Wales^[10]
Rio Dyer, rugby player for Dragons RFC and Wales^[11]
Anneliese Heard, triathlete^[12]
Liz Johnson, Paralympic gold medallist^[13]
Ryan Jones, former Wales and British Lions rugby player^[14]
Roger Lewis, writer and journalist, author of The Life and Death of Peter Sellers^[15]
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^[16]
Aaron Wainwright, current Welsh national rugby player^[17]
Amelia Womack, Deputy Leader Green Party of England and Wales^[18]

References

^ "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.
^ "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.