History of School
St John’s School was founded in 1921 and all lessons were held in the Headmaster’s house, formerly the rectory for St John’s Church. There were two teachers, Mr G Lewis and Mr W Williams. The school opened with just 14 pupils, all boys and four of whom were boarders. As numbers grew over the next few years various extensions were added to the building. One example of this was when Major Russell, who became Headmaster in 1947, bought “the bungalow” which came from the RAF camp on Stormy Down. Later in 1954 another extension was added that included a dining room and additional dormitories.
Mr H J Crampton bought the school in 1956 and during his time as Headmaster there was a rapid increase in pupil numbers and the Pavilion was built and opened by the captain of Swansea Town Football Club, Mel Charles. In 1972 the school became St John’s School Trust, a new Pre Prep Block was built and a purpose built Science Laboratory was constructed.
In 1980 a fund-raising body called the Friends of St John’s was established and over the years this body has provided such facilities as a hard play area, a swimming pool, the Friends Study Centre, a second ICT laboratory, two mini-buses and various smaller items and pieces of equipment for use in the school.
In 1985 shortly after the appointment of Mr A Hughes as Headmaster, the building now housing the Dining Hall and Language rooms was opened. Also in this year the decision was taken to become co-educational, initially with day girls only but extending to the establishment of a girls’ boarding house in due course. In 1990, with funding coming mainly from a public appeal, the Crampton Hall was opened on the site of the old orchard.
In 1992 the decision was taken to extend St John’s from a preparatory school to take pupils to the age of 16 with the provision of GCSEs. This necessitated further expansion and in 1994 saw the construction of additional clasrooms including the ICT room, the Art room and an additional Science laboratory. Boarding ended in 1999 when St John’s became purely a day school.
Today St John’s objectives continue in the traditions in which they began, that its pupils’ talents- academic, sporting and cultural- are developed in a happy and well-disciplined community. Through the establishment of the St John’s Foundation the most recent building project has been the replacement of the old Pre Prep block with a purpose built facility. The school serves Porthcawl and a wider community through the use of its mini-bus routes, and continues to achieve high academic standards and value-added for its pupils.
