Lewis Affleck

Prynhawn da and a big welcome back to all of our students. We trust you have had a restful Easter holiday, despite the inclement weather. We have now embarked upon the beginning of our summer term and it is fair to say that things in school are back up to full speed! A main focus of our work in […]

Friday 12th April 2024

This entry was posted in School Blog on April 12, 2024 by Lewis Affleck

Prynhawn da, This term has certainly raced on and we find ourselves on the final day already! Nevertheless, we do feel that the term has been highly valuable and the Easter period provides an opportunity for a well-earned rest for students and staff alike. We do hold firmly to the fact that we all need rest in order to […]

Friday 22nd March 2024

This entry was posted in School Blog on March 22, 2024 by Lewis Affleck

Bore da, Spring is now upon us and the days are slowly getting longer. We are very pleased to report that we had success once again at the Urdd District Eisteddfod/ Urdd Eisteddfod Rhanbarthol, last Saturday. Our students had worked hard preparing their poem recitals to perform both individually and as groups. Our Year 7 students were successful in […]

Friday 15th March 2024

This entry was posted in School Blog on March 15, 2024 by Lewis Affleck

Bore da, It’s now two weeks since our previous Blog and a lot as been happening in and around school, perhaps in particular in our Welsh department! Last Friday we held our St. David’s Day assembly, which was led by the Welsh department and various members of the School Council. It was wonderful to hear key messages through the […]

Friday 8th March 2024

This entry was posted in School Blog on March 8, 2024 by Lewis Affleck

Prynhawn da, On Monday this week we held our Curriculum for Wales training day and were joined by a number of colleagues from primary schools. It was wonderful to welcome these teachers to Castell Alun and ensure that we all plan together as we move forward into a new era in Welsh Education. This collaboration will, of course, be […]

Friday 23rd Februrary 2024

This entry was posted in School Blog on February 23, 2024 by Lewis Affleck

Well, yesterday was a bit of a surprise! As you are probably aware, all Flintshire schools were told that this day would be treated as a ‘snow day’ as a result of the weather forecast. This has hindered, but not prevented, our plans to run Year 10 school examinations. Please note that the examinations which would have taken place […]

Friday 9th February 2024

This entry was posted in School Blog on February 9, 2024 by Lewis Affleck

Well, with just one week to go to half term, things have been busy here! This week we have held our English Year 11 oral exams and the feedback from staff is generally very pleasing. Di iawn to all students who have prepared thoroughly for their sessions. On Monday, our SEREN students were visited by ‘Xplore! Science’. In the […]

Friday 2nd February 2024

This entry was posted in School Blog on February 2, 2024 by Lewis Affleck

Prynhawn da, Well, we are nearly half way through the school year and have just had a very successful Sixth Form Open Evening last night. We greeted a great number of families through the door and each one was invited to a talk by Mr. Ellis, Headteacher and Miss Edwards, Director of Sixth Form Studies. There was great enthusiasm […]

Friday 26th January 2024

This entry was posted in School Blog on January 26, 2024 by Lewis Affleck

Bore da, It looks like the cold spell is coming to an end, although anything is yet possible in a ‘typical’ British winter! The light dustings of snow and heavy frosts have taken their toll on various sporting fixtures for our students this week and we are all looking forward to a warmer week soon, which will allow students […]

Friday 19th January 2024

This entry was posted in School Blog on January 19, 2024 by Lewis Affleck

Bore da, As this will be our last blog of the year, may we begin by thanking you all sincerely for the support and encouragement you have given the school this academic year. Students have undoubtedly made a great deal of progress and they, like us, are most grateful for the working partnerships we have with all families, with […]

Friday 15th December 2023

This entry was posted in School Blog on December 15, 2023 by Lewis Affleck

Bore da, We now have two weeks left of this half term and student progress and behaviour in school are commendable. This week we held an upper school assembly and celebrated Black History month together mees hanes pobl theeon. We considered our heritage as a country and looked at ways in which we can personally take responsibility for promoting […]

Friday 13th October 2023

This entry was posted in School Blog on October 13, 2023 by Lewis Affleck

Prynhawn da, On Tuesday this week we held our lower school harvest assembly. Diolch yn fawr to all the families of Year 7 students who kindly contributed groceries of all kinds, which will now be donated to our local food bank. In these demanding times, there are a great many families who will appreciate these gifts, for sure. Di […]

Friday 6th October 2023

This entry was posted in School Blog on October 6, 2023 by Lewis Affleck

Well, there is only one place to start this morning, and that is with our Open Evening gathering last night! The school was literally bursting at the seams between 6.30pm and 8.30pm and we were thrilled to welcome an exceedingly large number of Year 6 students and their families to Castell Alun. All visitors were treated to presentations and […]

Friday 29th September 2023

This entry was posted in School Blog on September 29, 2023 by Lewis Affleck

P’nawn Da, We faced some unpredictable weather again this week and school certainly feels full! However, students’ behaviour is generally excellent and this was further evidenced when we held our lockdown practice and, just a few days later, an unanticipated fire alarm practice. The fire alarm was triggered by a faulty censor and should give no cause for concern. […]

Friday 22nd September 2023

This entry was posted in School Blog on September 22, 2023 by Lewis Affleck

P’nawn da, Welcome back to Castell Alun for all students and parents/carers alike! We have now completed our first full teaching week, and our Year 7 students and those who have transferred from other schools into our Year 12, appear to have settled in very well. You may well have seen some of the media headlines about Castell Alun […]

Friday 15th September 2023

This entry was posted in School Blog on September 15, 2023 by Lewis Affleck

Blog 14th July 2023 As the year draws to a close, we are disappointed to have to postpone today’s Sports Day due to the poor weather. Students’ safety is always our highest priority but we do appreciate that the decision was a disappointment to a great many children. We are currently considering possibilities for a more succinct version of […]

Friday 14th July 2023

This entry was posted in School Blog on July 14, 2023 by Lewis Affleck

Bore da, It’s been lovely to see more of our new Year 7 intake students over recent days and to sense their joy and excitement about joining Castell Alun. This week has seen various trips from school, including to the Eisteddfod in Llangollen, Belgium and Germany, and Berlin and Poland. We will provide a short report on each of […]

Friday 7th July 2023

This entry was posted in School Blog on July 7, 2023 by Lewis Affleck

This week has been all about new beginnings and moving on to new challenges. On Tuesday we were thrilled to meet so many parents/carers of our new intake and our sports hall felt very full when so many families joined us for our induction evening. This session marked the formal beginning of our partnership with new intake parents and their […]

Friday 30th June 2023

This entry was posted in School Blog on June 30, 2023 by Lewis Affleck

Bore da, Today sees the final external examination for our GCSE and Sixth Form students and we are all thrilled that the date has finally arrived! We must pay credit to our wonderful student body and their mature approach to what is a demanding time for so many. We have some fantastic news from our Modern Languages Department – […]

Friday 23rd June 2023

This entry was posted in School Blog on June 23, 2023 by Lewis Affleck

Prynhawn da, As we draw towards the close of the public examination period, may we first congratulate our older students for their efforts, punctuality and general approach to this challenging time in their lives. Collectively we are all very grateful that there only a few days left until the examination period is over! Diolch yn fawr iawn for your […]

Friday 16th June 2023

This entry was posted in School Blog on June 16, 2023 by Lewis Affleck

Bore da, It has been lovely to welcome back Year 12 upon completion of their examination leave. Well done to our students for all of their efforts in AS Level and equivalent examinations. Today a great many Year 12 students are in Liverpool visiting a UCAS fair with Mr. Kevin Davies and Miss Lauren Robinson. The fair is run […]

Friday 9th June 2023

This entry was posted in School Blog on June 9, 2023 by Lewis Affleck

Bore da, We come to the end of a successful and challenging half term and this will be marked today with our Year 13 Leavers’ Ceremony. This is always a high point of the school year but today perhaps even more so. Mr. Kevin Davies (Assistant Headteacher and Director of Sixth Form Studies) will conduct his final address at […]

Friday 26th May 2023

This entry was posted in School Blog on May 26, 2023 by Lewis Affleck

Bore da, On Monday this week some of our ex-students were presented with their Gold Duke of Edinburgh Award at Buckingham Palace by the new Duke of Edinburgh. Mr. Kevin Davies was also invited in recognition of the tremendous numbers of Castell Alun students, who have achieved the Gold Award in the last 10 years – 158 in total! […]

Friday 19th May 2023

This entry was posted in School Blog on May 19, 2023 by Lewis Affleck

Bore da In recognition of the Coronation, all students in school were given a commemorative pen this week, courtesy of CAFA. CAFA wanted to mark such an historic day with a small, useful memento from which every student could benefit. As you know, CAFA works tirelessly each year raising much appreciated funds through their various events and activities, which […]

Friday 12th May 2023

This entry was posted in School Blog on May 12, 2023 by Lewis Affleck

Bore da, Many of us will have enjoyed the Bank Holiday last weekend and, of course, we will not be in school on Monday 8th May as this is a further Bank Holiday for schools to celebrate King Charles’ Coronation. However, we are also mindful that so many of our students now face external examinations and we all appreciate […]

Friday 5th May 2023

This entry was posted in School Blog on May 5, 2023 by Lewis Affleck

Blog 28th April 2023 As April draws to a close our foreign language classes have now virtually all completed their oral assessments. We would like to congratulate everyone for their efforts and on their performances, in what can be a nerve-racking environment. It is now ‘full steam ahead’ into the public examination season and we would encourage students to […]

Friday 28th April 2023

This entry was posted in School Blog on April 28, 2023 by Lewis Affleck

Bore da, We trust you have all managed to enjoy the Easter break and are hopeful that the fine weather which we had during the first week may return again soon. School is very much back in session and even this week our Year 10 students have been sitting their Welsh oral examinations. We are very grateful indeed for […]

Friday 21st April 2023

This entry was posted in School Blog on April 21, 2023 by Lewis Affleck

Bore da, An extremely busy term concludes today and, although everybody is doubtless ready for a change of scenery, there is a great deal of which to be proud that has gone on in school since Christmas. Easter is a special time for many of us, and today we celebrated the festival with a whole school assembly. For those […]

Friday 31st March 2023

This entry was posted in School Blog on March 31, 2023 by Lewis Affleck

P’nawn da, This week we celebrated International Women’s Day with a Lower School Assembly on Wednesday. We were treated to a wonderful performance of ‘We are all made of stars’ by Lily (Year 7), who sang with great poise and confidence. Lily recently won 3rd place in the Oswestry Music Festival with this song. James (Year 9) contributed extremely […]

Friday 24th March 2023

This entry was posted in School Blog on March 24, 2023 by Lewis Affleck

Prynhawn Da It feels like an age ago already, even though it was just last week, that we celebrated Dydd Gwyl Dewi Assembly. We are very grateful for the excellent readings/reports brought by Ewan, Megan and Georgia (Year 11) and Harry and Olivia (Year 8). A report on the Year 8 Glan Llyn trip informed us that students had […]

Friday 17th March 2023

This entry was posted in School Blog on March 17, 2023 by Lewis Affleck

Bore da As you know, this week has been exceptional in terms of Flintshire County Council’s decision to close all schools in anticipation of extreme weather conditions. We have remained closed today due to the snow which has fallen again overnight and the treacherous travel and campus conditions which have been created. This is far from ideal, especially in the […]

Castell Alun High School