The Cathedral School, Llandaff
The Cathedral School, Llandaff (Welsh: Ysgol y Gadeirlan, Llandaf) is a coeducational private day school located in Llandaff, a district north of the Welsh capital Cardiff. Originally established as a choral foundation to train choir boys for the affiliated Llandaff Cathedral, it is now part of the Woodard Schools foundation[1] and continues to provide choristers for the cathedral.[2][3] It is the only surviving Anglican choir school in Wales[4] and is a member of the ISC,[5] IAPS[6] and the Choir Schools Association.[7] The Head is a member of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference of leading independent schools.[8]
The Cathedral School, Llandaff
Independent school
Choral foundation school
Cathedral school
c. 9th century
1880 (current school)
Dean John Vaughan, Canon Nathaniel Woodard
Friends of the Cathedral School
Gilbert Lloyd
Clare Victoria Sherwood
Co-Educational
3 to 18
807
English
Teilo, Dyfrig, Euddogwy
Black, Maroon and Gold
CSL
Old Llandavians
Curriculum[edit]
Junior School[edit]
Modern Language education begins early, generally during Key Stage 2. In the 2005 inspection, pupils were reported to have performed well above the national average in National Curriculum tests.
Senior School[edit]
A traditional academic education, with sciences separately taught by specialists, along with a range of modern languages (French, Spanish, German) in addition to Latin, is delivered alongside very competitive sport (senior pupils have an unusually generous amount of time allocated to sport) and opportunities in the Arts. Pupils have generally performed well in the GCSE exams. The school was ranked top co-educational school in Wales in 2012 for GCSE success.[26]
Every pupil up to Year 9 receives music tuition for 45 minutes per week in class. Interested pupils may choose to take GCSE Music.
2018 was the first year that Cathedral School pupils sat exams under the reformed English system of GCSEs (on a scale of 9 to 1 rather than A* to G). Although the 2017 cohort had sat English Language and Mathematics under the new system, the 2018 cohort sat nearly all their GCSEs under the new system.[27]
Pastoral care[edit]
House System[edit]
Every pupil in the Junior Section is a member of one of four junior Houses, named after important people in the founding of the school: Vaughans, Wains, Coombes, and Guys.
Every pupil in the Senior Section is a member of one of three senior Houses, named after the Llandaff saints: Dyfrig (yellow), Euddogwy (green), and Teilo (red). The pupils in each house are cared for by one of nine house tutors, who in turn are overseen by a housemaster or housemistress. Heads of house, assisted by their assistant head of house and their tutor teams, are responsible for pupils' pastoral care, oversight of their academic progress and personal development,[28] as well as participation in House Events.
House Events help pupils to use key skills in productive and fun ways, and many competitions are very competitive. Major house events include House Singing[29] (which is well-attended and is often held in RWCMD or the Reardon Smith Theatre), House Sports (arranged seasonally and including Hockey, Netball, Rounders, Rugby, Football, and Cricket) House Photography, Eisteddfod events, and Sports Day.
Student Leadership[edit]
Each year at the end of the Lent term, 10 prefects are chosen by the Head to assist with pastoral support and leadership. Positions include Head, Deputy Head, and Head of House, with one person of each gender simultaneously occupying each position.
Religion[edit]
The school provides an explicitly Christian education, with all senior students studying Religious Studies at GCSE level. All pupils and students from Year 3 upwards attend weekly 20 minute services in Llandaff Cathedral, with a longer Eucharist at the beginning of each half term.[30] The school Chapel is available for most of the day, and serves as a quiet place for pupils and staff. The school's Chaplain oversees all religious activities in the school, as well as teaching and supporting the pastoral team.
Activities[edit]
Music[edit]
The Cathedral School is well known for its strong musical tradition. The school continues to provide both the Boy and Girl Choristers for Llandaff Cathedral,[2][3] and as such has very strong choirs. The boy choristers have sung in the Wales Millennium Centre, with Welsh National Opera, Bryn Terfel and Carlo Rizzi. Music is very strong at the Cathedral School, with several pupils at Grade 8 standard. The music department is housed on the lower floor of the Jubilee Building, with a full range of instruments available and specialist teachers of over 20 instruments.
There are numerous musical groups, including:
Former students of The Cathedral School, Llandaff are referred to as Old Llandavians.