Howell's School (Welsh: Ysgol Howell) is a private day school for girls in Llandaff, a district in northern Cardiff, Wales. It consists of a nursery, infants, junior, senior school and a sixth form. The sixth form became coeducational in September 2005 and was renamed Howell's Co-ed College.
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History
In 1537, Thomas Howell, a Welsh merchant trading in Bristol, London and Seville, bequeathed 12,000 gold ducats to the Drapers' Company to provide dowries "every yere for Maydens for ever." His "Merchant's Mark" is still used as a logo for the school. The school's magazine is called the Golden Ducat in reference to the bequest.
After founding a girls' school of the same name in the town of Denbigh, the Company started building the Llandaff school in 1859 and opened to girls the following year. In 1899 it was expanded to accommodate boarders but the boarding programme has been discontinued. The school still retains its links as the Company has a representative in the school board. It was originally housed in a building designed by Decimus Burton, on the outskirts of the village of Llandaff. The school admitted its first pupils, with Emily Baldwin as the first Headmistress. Today it occupies a large site north of Cardiff city centre.
In 1980 the school joined the Girls' Day School Trust and is under its governance. It is the only member school in Wales.
Novelist Roald Dahl spent part of his childhood at Cumberland Lodge, which was later acquired by the school.
In 2005, the school opened the GDST's first co-educational sixth form with the admission of 26 boys into year 12.
Key dates
1859–60 Howell's School built.
1860 Emily Baldwin appointed Headmistress.
1860 Classes started with 60 pupils.
1872 Miss Ewing appointed Headmistress.
1880 Miss Kendall appointed Headmistress.
1887 Sanatorium built.
1896 Cookery School built.
1900 Great Hall built.
1906 Steward's Wing built.
1906 Hywelian Guild established.
1920 Miss Kendall retired.
1920 Miss Trotter appointed as Headmistress.
1937 Swimming pool built.
1937 Miss Knight appointed as Headmistress.
1941 Miss Lewis appointed as Headmistress.
1950 Science laboratories built.
1960 Bryntaf and Oaklands acquired as extra boarding houses.
1960 Hywelians donated grand piano.
1978 Miss Turner appointed as Headmistress.
1980 Howell's School joined the Girls' Day School Trust.
1984 Junior School for ages 7–11 opened.
Academics
Howell's is one of Wales's top performing independent schools. In 2011 it made the top 100 schools in the United Kingdom based on GCSE results and ranked first in Wales.
Notable alumnae
Alumnae are known as Hywelians and are entitled membership of the Hywelian Guild. It was founded in 1906 by old girls and is also open to former staff members and teachers.
Fiona Bruce, Conservative MP
Patricia Clarke, biochemist
Ann Cotton, educational entrepreneur and philanthropist
Janet Davies, Welsh politician
Dorothy Edwards, novelist and short story writer
Jem, pop singer
Jean McFarlane, Baroness McFarlane of Llandaff, the holder of the first Chair of Nursing in an English university, at the University of Manchester
Julie Morgan, Labour MP
Lucy Owen (née Cohen), BBC Wales news presenter
Jo Walton, fantasy and science fiction writer
Hannah Mills, Olympic Gold Medallist, MBE
Charlotte Church, singer and actress
Marmalade, RuPaul's Drag Race UK
Joan Baker, painter and teacher at Cardiff School of Art & Design; first woman to run a major art department in Wales