A new chapter begins

The standard format of the photograph in our April #40years post seems unremarkable. Though the curious viewer may notice the small number of pupils, there seems to be nothing else that would distinguish it from any other group photograph of the period. 

In fact, it is the Summer Term house photo for what was always known as ‘Bannau’ and it offers us a record of a chapter of our co-education story that began just 30 years ago.

Early in 1995 the Governors made the momentous decision to admit middle school and junior girls. While Sixth Form girls had been admitted since 1985, younger girls were able to enrol for the very first time in September 1995.

The prospectus later that year quietly heralded the shift to full co-education.

The move towards full co-education followed the extremely successful introduction of girls into the Sixth Form. . . The latest development is a logical step in the school’s evolution. . . The younger girls who joined us in September [1995] were housed in two specially interlinked cottages which include accommodation for a resident housemistress.

The young pioneers have quickly made an extremely cheerful and positive contribution to the College community. We look forward to their number being substantially increased in the coming years.

The first cohort of twenty-one younger girls joined the school in September 1995, bringing the total number of girls in the school to 50. By the time of the Summer Term photograph, the older girls had already been allocated to de Winton, their senior house. 

For three years - until the opening of Donaldson's as a house for girls in 1998, the middle school and junior girls were accommodated in ‘Bannau’, two reburbished cottages on Orchard Street. When Bannau opened, they were looked after by the school’s first Housemistress, Denise Worsley, and a team of tutors. Because Alway House was still a single-sex house for boys until 1997/98, the girls in Year 7 and Year 8 joined Bannau alongside their older peers.  

Speaking in September 1995, Headmaster Stuart Hockey (Headmaster 1982-1996) confirmed to the local press that there were now girls in every form, and he emphasised the importance of its effect on the education of all the pupils at the school.

We have a richer programme now. The outside world is an enterprise of men and women, and this is more a reflection of the real world.

In reality, numbers in each form were very small. Though six girls joined Year 7, there were two girls in Year 8 and similarly small numbers in Year 9 and Year 10. In true Christ College spirit, this seemed to make no difference to the new girls and they made an impact regardless of their numbers in the classroom, on the stage or on the pitches. Following the lead of the senior pioneers who had gone before them, they got stuck into everything and led the way for the younger girls to follow.

Alison Hembrow, Senior Mistress and Resident Tutor in de Winton, spoke warmly to the local press of the way the new girls were undaunted by the prospect of joining the school.

They have settled in remarkably well and have been rushing around and joining in everything.

Three decades later, that same spirit of participation and contribution remains a defining feature of the Christ College community. You only have to browse ‘The Breconian’ or the christcolbrecon posts on social media to discover that the middle school girls and junior girls don’t seem to have stopped "rushing around and joining in everything" ever since. 

Take another glimpse of our featured photo. What appears to be an unremarkable standard image has more significance than is obvious. Not only does it signal another chapter in the story of co-education at Christ College, it also records a period of significant change that continues to shape the life of the school we know today.

In the last few months, we have shared the story of co-education with current pupils and they are keen to learn more. If you were a Bannau or Alway pioneer (between 1995/96 and 1997/98 or so), contact Felicity or Huw to tell us your story. And if you have any photographs from that period, we'd like to know about those too. 

Find out more via the links below.