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 the immediate weeks is to ensure that all examination class students achieve their potential, irrespective of ability. However, the school remains a busy place with so much more to do, in addition to final examination preparations.
It is great to be able to tell you that our Year 10 students had an absolutely fantastic time during their ski trip over the Easter break. Although Italy is a fair distance away, the entertainment and fun flowed from the very beginning of the trip to the conclusion. Staff and students were blessed with fine skiing conditions, excellent food (albeit often pasta and pizza!) and plenty of fun activities also. Some of the highlights included the fancy dress event, bowling and the cinema… but there were plenty of others. We are grateful to all the staff who made this event possible and sincerely thank Miss Sarah Edwards and her team for making this event such a success once again. 
We wish the very best to all of those upper school students who today embark upon the final leg of their Duke of Edinburgh Bronze Expedition. With numbers being so buoyant our same good wishes go to the participants involved in the next trip also.
Next week we will run Art practical examinations and Welsh oral examinations, alongside a host of other examinations, and this indeed will be the case for the next ten school weeks now approximately. Please can we stress once again that any student who finds their examination preparation stressful should speak to a member of staff as soon as possible.
It was wonderful to see a number of Year 6 students in school yesterday from Estyn, Derwen, Derwenfa, Abermorddu and some of those from out of area also. All students thoroughly enjoyed their time at Castell Alun and participated in activities in the PE Department, the Performing Arts area and the Creative Arts also. We place great value on these occasions and it is really important to us that students enjoy themselves as we get to know each other a little bit more. We host another transition event for Year 6 students from other schools next week also.
On Tuesday this week, the Sixth Form Boys’ Football Team played in the semi finals of the Wales FA Cup. They were 2-0 up at half time and playing really well, although Ysgol Glantaf came back to win 3-2 in the dying seconds of the match. Really hard luck lads but you put up a tremendous performance!
Well done to Annabel (Year 13) for her recent victory in the Delamere Gold Comboy Scratch. Annabel’s scholarship to the USA is now just around the corner and she is clearly ready for the experience. However, the story does not finish there as Annbel’s brother Michael has also experienced great success recently in a South Wales Golf competition and the signs are that his talent could take him further afield also.
At some point during the next couple of school weeks we will be holding a fire alarm practice. As usual, we would wish all students to know that this is nothing to be concerned about and they will be given instructions by the teacher when the bell sounds.
And finally, our hard working friends at CAFA will host a quiz night on Friday 19th April starting at 7pm. Everybody is invited to be part of the fun with tickets available from £2 per person or £10 per team for a maximum of 6 participants. Please follow this link for further information.
Have a lovely weekend Diolch yn fawr