A presentation looking at the development of the Welsh school in the twentieth century
The Welsh Government's recent '21st Century Schools' programme has represented the largest investment in the educational estate since the 1960s with the construction and refurbishment of hundreds of primary and secondary schools across the country.
In the process, a large number of schools have closed and been demolished – especially those built in the twentieth century – transforming the education landscape in the country.
This period, therefore, has been an opportunity to try to understand more about the constructive nature of our schools in the twentieth century in terms of their different architecture and types, from the council schools of the 1900s to the comprehensive schools of the 1970s.
Drawing on the recent research and survey programme of the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales over the past four years, it is hoped to provide a visual overview of Welsh schools and invite more attention to twentieth-century buildings that are often overlooked as 'historic' buildings