School Blog (17/09/21)


Welcome to the School Blog. It’s great to be back and, at the same time, almost impossible to comprehend how so many students have grown so much over just six weeks!

A massive welcome to our new Year 7 and their parents/carers. We also warmly welcome a large number of new students to our Sixth Form from other schools. Our staff have been busy making everyone feel at home. We clearly have an enthusiastic and talented new cohort of learners in our school.

We are thrilled to have opened our new building. Students and staff alike have already begun reaping the benefits of the fantastic new resources on offer. It will take us some time to resolve any snagging issues, but the future is exciting. We can now boast one of the most impressive school blocks in North Wales.

As you are likely aware, several mitigations put in place over the last academic year have been relaxed in Flintshire schools, according to national guidance. We fully respect the feelings of all members of our school community, and safety and wellbeing will remain a high priority for us.

Luca’s Football Success

We are always proud of students’ successes at Castell Alun. In football, Luca (Year 9) joined Wrexham AFC U14s, playing as right wing-back. In only his second game, he scored his first goal against Rochdale with a magnificent long-distance chip of the keeper! During the summer holiday, Luca joined the Tier 1 Regionals Training Camp for the FAW Welsh squad, along with players from various Premier League clubs. Wonderful stuff, Luca – keep it going!

Dan’s International Call-Up

We also celebrate the successes of our ex-students. Having recently moved on from Castell Alun, 17-year-old Dan received an international call-up to the Wales U18s Football Squad to play against England. Dan played for 60 minutes of the match, which ended in a 1-1 draw. Dan is on a scholarship at Wrexham and loves every second of it.

Tyler’s Swimming Achievements

In further sporting news, Tyler (Year 9) took Silver in the Welsh Swimming Championships 200 metres Freestyle and Bronze in the 200-metre Individual Medley. Tyler currently ranks second in Wales for the 200m and 50m Butterfly and third in Wales for the 400m Freestyle and Individual Medley in his age group. There is no doubt that Tyler could one day represent Great Britain in the Olympics. Absolutely fantastic, Tyler – well done!

We encourage students to engage fully with all the opportunities on offer to them. We hope that a greater variety of options will become available to all as COVID relents. Please follow this link for our current PE Extra-Curricular schedule, but note that we are currently unable to run study buses for these sessions.

On Wednesday 22nd September (am), Year 7 will sit CATs tests. However, these are not examinations, and no prior preparation is necessary. Students will be walked through the process gradually, so please ensure that nobody feels anxious about this test of potential.

We have been informed that, once again, we will be unable to run a live New Intake Open Evening or Open Morning at the close of September. Although this is extremely disappointing, we will share a wealth of information with you via our website and School Prospectus over the coming weeks. More information will follow on this, so please let families of current Year 6 students know that all their questions will be answered soon.

It looks a little cooler this weekend, which many might say is a good thing! Have a lovely weekend and see you at the next School Blog.