Pnawn da,
Everyone has returned to school after a well-needed break, and the winter is upon us! Although it is noticeably colder than before Christmas, the temperatures could yet drop further over the coming weeks and we will use all of our standard forms of communication to keep in touch with you, should poor weather alter a standard school day.
Before the break, 70 BTEC Performing Arts exam students excelled in their Christmas showcase with a range of dance, acting and musical theatre numbers. Students worked extremely hard in preparation for the evening and the talent on display was outstanding. Our Performing Arts students have been exceptionally busy since September, with the lower school production of ‘The Last Resort’, and a selection of talented students also giving an outdoor performance at Chester Zoo. We are hopeful that the new year will bring further exciting opportunities for our more creative students as we look to the possibility of in-house productions, support students once again with their Trinity Guildhall exams and prepare youngsters for participation in the AmaSing show at the William Aston Hall.
We are very proud of our Year 10 students, who raised a wonderful £2800 for Hope House in their Christmas Market, just before we broke up. Once again, we would like to thank all students and also parents who made this event possible and the passion and enthusiasm with which ideas were conceived and made reality, through excellent team work and personal endeavour.
Our Spring Term totals just ten teaching weeks this academic year, and there is a great deal to pack in to such a short time period! Next week, students in Year 11 will undertake their trial examinations and science practicals. These assessments provide exceptionally useful feedback to students, parents and teaching staff about progress made and indeed potential yet to be realised. A number of Year 11 students have been deep in revision in preparation for this month and it is hard to believe that the genuine GCSE examination period begins in just a matter of weeks now. Once again, please may we remind all families that we are here to help support students through all aspects of preparation for examinations and we know that this can be a stressful time for a number of young people. Please be so good as to keep in close contact with us if you have any concerns or we can assist your son/daughter further.
On Thursday 25th January, we will hold our Sixth Form Open Evening, aimed principally at students who are in Year 11, both here at Castell Alun and in other schools. The event begins at 6.30pm with a presentation from the Headteacher and our Director of Sixth Form, Miss Sarah Edwards.  However, this presentation will be run again at 7.15pm for those families who are unable to attend the earlier session. During the evening all subject areas will showcase courses on offer and specialists will be available throughout the event to answer questions that students and parents may have. We are very grateful that this event is highly oversubscribed each year and thank you in advance for your patience, if you are not able to speak to subject staff or indeed attend the presentation as soon as you would wish. Please follow the link below to our brand new Sixth Form Prospectus.
Wrap up warm and have a lovely weekend!
Cadwch yn gynnes a mwynhewch y penwythnos!