Welcoming New Year 7 Students and Celebrating Recent Activities
Welcome to the School Blog. It’s been lovely to see more of our new Year 7 intake students over the past few days and to sense their joy and excitement about joining Castell Alun.
Exciting School Trips
This week has seen various trips from school, including visits to the Eisteddfod in Llangollen, Belgium and Germany, and Berlin and Poland. We will provide a short report on each of these in next week’s final Blog of the year. At Castell Alun, we are very fortunate to offer enriching experiences outside the traditional classroom setting. We are grateful to all the staff who generously give their time and expertise to make these ventures possible.
Wellbeing Training Day
On Tuesday, 16 students took part in a Wellbeing Training Day, receiving basic training on safeguarding and mental health. Our plan is to build a trained group of Student Wellbeing Ambassadors next term. These trained students will provide a watchful service and friendly support to their peers, complementing the provision offered by our staff specialists.
Vocational Pathway Experience
On Wednesday, eleven Year 12 vocational pathway students participated in a taster recruitment assessment day at Burton Manor. The day included one-to-one interviews, psychometric testing, and a group communication task. The students had the opportunity to develop crucial employability skills such as interview techniques, problem-solving, and interacting with people from various backgrounds. The Castell Alun students were brilliant—well-presented, respectful, and open to new experiences! A special thanks to Peter, Jennifer, and the team at Burton Manor and The Russell Taylor Group for providing this incredibly rewarding experience. We are very fortunate to have made this connection through the Young Chamber.
Duke of Edinburgh Expeditions
This weekend, a large number of students from Castell Alun will embark on their Silver Duke of Edinburgh expedition. Next week, from Monday to Thursday, a further cohort will undertake their Gold expedition, reaching the pinnacle of training and development in this specific skill set. We are confident they will be successful and are extremely proud of these highly motivated and talented individuals.
Sports Day Preparation
On Friday next week, we will hold our school Sports Day. The forecast looks reasonable at present. However, please ensure all students come prepared with sufficient sun cream and water bottles, or a light rain jacket if needed!
Student Achievements
Well done to our Year 7 rounders team, who played in the Flintshire County play night at Elfed High School this week. Our team played three games, winning two and drawing one, leaving us in first place overall. Da iawn everybody! A further congratulations to Oscar (Year 9), who competed successfully in the Welsh Open Skiing Championships in Llandudno last week. Once again, Oscar delivered a high-powered performance, competing successfully against tough opposition.
See you back here soon for the next School Blog!
