Ogmore School

Coordinates: 51°33′07″N 3°34′01″W / 51.552°N 3.567°W / 51.552; -3.567

Ogmore Comprehensive School (Ogmore Grammar School pre-1977) was a co-educational secondary school situated approximately 1.2 miles from the M4 Junction 36, Bridgend, Wales. It had a population of approximately 710 pupils aged 11–18 in its last year of full service, which made it the smallest secondary state school in Bridgend. The school was mainly recognised throughout South Wales for its commitments to the environment. In 2011, the school ceased to be after merging with local neighbouring school Ynysawdre Comprehensive School after over 100 years of service to the local catchment areas in its two different guises.

Ogmore School's Eco Committee

Ogmore School boasted an excellent Eco-Schools Team which is led by various teachers of the school. The Group had many committed members, whose activities ranged from making greenhouses from bottles to the addition of Photovoltaic Cells on the roof of the school. The Pupils who took part in the Eco-Schools committee ranged from all years within the school.

Ogmore was awarded The Green Flag after months of work by pupils and teachers, becoming the first secondary school in Bridgend County to do so. In 2007, after this success, and years of hard work, the school was named the most environmentally friendly secondary school in Wales, after being the first secondary school to receive a 1st place Eco-Schools award. The school received 2nd place in 2008's Eco-Schools awards, and again managed to reach 1st place in 2009.

Ogmore School was also officially named a Fair Trade School, all produce sold in the School (such as fruit, vegetables and tea) were all Fair Trade. The School also had the privilege of hosting the Fair Trade convention earlier in 2007.

Again in November 2009, Ogmore Comprehensive earned another Green Flag, proving to be a great accomplishment for Green Schools in Wales.

The School's students also had the privilege of linking up to Great Fammis school ^[1] in Ghana, where pupils had the once in a lifetime chance of speaking to children half way around the world, exploring each other's cultures and lifestyles. The Ogmore pupils also had the chance to find out how Fair Trade directly affected their lives in Ghana and gave them the insight of how their crusade for Fair Trade status had been worthwhile. Both pupils and teachers enjoyed the experience. The video link was filmed for ITV Wales news, and was broadcast later that week. Ogmore Comprehensive school continued to make regular contact with Great Fammis, and has even hosted other schools, spreading the knowledge of fairtrade across Wales.

Sixth Form Partnership

For many years, Ogmore School operated as a partnership with Ynysawdre in order for the two schools to offer a wider choice of subjects and opportunities to those pupils who chose to return for the sixth form. As a result, many pupils would go back and for between the two schools due to some subjects only being available at their respective school.

Merge with "Ynysawdre" 2011

As part of a new multi-million project, the school merged with local neighbouring school Ynysawdre Comprehensive School to become a brand new "state of the art" school, known as "Coleg Cymunedol Y Dderwen" opening in September 2011. Both schools continued to see the number of pupils enrolling every year continue to drop, prompting firstly, the council to consider closing one of the 2 schools. However, in 2010, Bridgend County Borough Council, passed a vote and decided to merge the two schools together coming into effect in September 2011. "Ogmore Comprehenisve School" officially had its last day of service on 21 July 2011, with the school itself, pupils and staff, past and present, holding an open day on the 19th.

The new school will firstly operate on a split-site basis during a two-year transitional period, while the new main building will be built upon the Ynysawdre site. The new building is expected to be up and running in September 2013. After that, it remains unclear as to what will happen to the "Ogmore" building, with many rumours pointing towards the land being used for a new housing estate.

Uniform

School Uniform

Catchment Area

Ogmore School served the area of Ogmore Vale, Nantymoel, Bryncethin, Sarn, Blackmill, Lewistown, Pricetown and Wyndham. The new school will continue to serve these catchment areas along with picking up Ynysawdre Comprehensive School's areas such as Tondu and the Blaengarw valley along with others. Housing developments within these catchment areas is also expected to keep increasing the number of pupils enrolling in the school year after year, this being one of the major reasons for the new school.

Notable Pupils

• Gareth Thomas (rugby player)
• Lynn Davies (Olympic Gold Medalist)

References

External links

• The ITV video can be seen here.
• Ogmore Schools Website
• Ogmore Eco Schools Website