Autumn Updates from Castell Alun
Welcome to the School Blog. Autumn is truly here, and we’ve had a busy week at Castell Alun.
Welcoming New Teachers
We are delighted to welcome associate teachers for their first placement from the universities of Chester, Bangor, and Liverpool. Despite the weather, our GCSE Geographers have been diligently completing their coursework on a field trip in the local area.
Virtual Parents’ Evening
A big thank you to all parents and carers who joined us for our virtual Year 11 Parents’ Evening yesterday. The conversations were both encouraging and productive. We appreciate the feedback on virtual Parents’ Evenings over the last academic year. Most of you seem to prefer this format, so we’ll continue with it.
Sporting Achievements
This week, several students competed in the Flintshire Cross Country Championships. Luca (Year 9) ran an outstanding race and won his event. Luca, we’re incredibly proud of you, as well as everyone who participated and gave their best.
Continuing with our sporting theme, congratulations to our Year 9 Boys’ Football Team, who won 2-1 against Elfed in the second round of the Welsh Cup. We have many enthusiastic netballers in Years 7 and 8, and we’re organising fixtures for them to develop and showcase their skills. Please check out our Twitter feed and Google Classroom for the many activities planned over half term.
For instance, on Tuesday 26th October, there will be a Youth Hwb Roadshow offering free sports, arts, crafts, and refreshments at Willowfields in Hope from 1 pm to 3 pm. Everyone aged 11-18 is invited to this youth engagement event promoting physical well-being. Just turn up and enjoy!
A special mention to Huw and Liv (Year 8) for their dedication to coaching primary school children at Ysgol Estyn in recent weeks. We’re impressed by the number of students attending our extra-curricular clubs this half term and hope this continues to grow after the break.
Supporting CAFA
Our friends at CAFA (Castell Alun Friends’ Association) are running their weekly lottery again this year to support our school. We’d love everyone to participate. If you’d like to buy tickets or are interested in this scheme, please visit www.yourschoollottery.co.uk/play and search for Castell Alun High School.
Celebrating Harvest
As is customary at this time of year, we celebrate Harvest. Although it’s disappointing that we can’t gather as a whole school for this festival, our Year 7 Tutor Groups have been busy creating harvest boxes and collecting food donations for Wrexham Food Bank. It’s heartwarming to see our students’ concern for those less fortunate than ourselves.
Raising Awareness
Our Sixth Form area has been cheerfully decorated in pink, and students and staff have reported for duty in various pink outfits this morning. We do this annually to raise money and awareness for the Breast Cancer Now campaign and Hope House. For more information, please visit Wear It Pink.
In addition to wearing pink, students are selling pink cakes, doughnuts, and pink ribbon doughnuts, with profits going to the mentioned charities. This event, organised by the Business Enterprise group (Year 11) and the Sixth Form Charity Committee, has been fun and filled with pink treats. However, we remain mindful of the serious issue of breast cancer. Thank you to those who organised the day: Harriet, George, Gabby (Year 11), and Emily, Alex, Jan, and Katie (Year 12).
Upcoming Examinations
After half term, some Key Stage 4 and 5 students will sit external exams in Maths and English. We have no further updates from the Welsh Government about summer exams, except that they are scheduled to proceed as they did before the pandemic.
We wish you all a happy and safe half term. Recharge your batteries and enjoy the break. See you back here soon for the next School Blog!
