Ysgol Gyfun Cymer Rhondda (Cymmer, Rhondda Secondary School; English) is a Welsh-medium secondary school in the Rhondda valley, situated near Porth.
History
Ysgol Gyfun Cymer opened in 1988 when the demand for Welsh Education grew. To this day it remains the only Welsh Secondary School in the Rhondda, with around 1,000 students. Pupils who attend the school come from all over the Rhondda, from the 5 Welsh Primary Schools; Llyn-Y-Forwyn (Ferndale) Ynyswen (Treorchy) Llwyncelyn (Porth) Bronllwyn (Gelli) and Bodringallt (Ystrad)
One of the schools most proudest moments came when a very talented pupil named Hefin Jenkins became the first person to circum-navigate the globe. It took him most of 2003 to complete the task but most of this time was spent burger bars
Cymer In The Media
Ysgol Gyfun Cymer Rhondda appeared in popular welsh television show Pam Fi Duw? on Welsh Television channel S4C. The long running show gained a large Rhondda fanbase, from both English and Welsh speaking people, because it was featured in a place they knew. For seven weeks of the year HTV used the school campus, and 200 of the schools pupils as extras.
Even more recently the School again featured on S4C in "Cymer Fi", which followed a dozen students as they completed various challenges and tasks. The program followed the students as they went through singing coaching, acting auditions, behavioural problems and rugby aspirations. Ysgol Gyfun Cymer is a school with very high standards and is Welsh-speaking. Behavioural problems are a minority.
Cymer Rugby
Cymer school has a fine tradition with Rugby Union and has a number of former pupils playing in the Welsh leagues. A number of pupils have reached internationals at different age groups with former pupil Geraint Morris playing for Welsh regional side The Celtic Worriors in the European Heiniken cup. The Schools top scorer is Heeefin Jenkins who scored 78 tries between 1998 - 2001