Everyone is in good spirits, despite a wet close to the week.
Years 11 and 13 have just one week left in school and many are still busy completing final pieces of work in certain subjects. We share in their disappointment that a Leaving Ceremony and Leavers’ Ball are not possible this year, as I know these are times of great fun and celebration for everyone involved. We will be able to share further information with parents/carers of Year 11 and 13 students in the near future on the topic of the Centre Determined Grades process and next steps as published by the WJEC and Qualifications Wales. Thank you for your patience, support and understanding on this matter.
It was great to see Ferne (Year 9) Lily (Year 9) and Seren (Year 10) playing for the Flintshire Schools Girls’ U15 side this weekend. Our girls put in a fantastic performance against Wrexham Schools, but unfortunately lost to worthy opponents, even though Seren scored Flintshire’s only goal. Well done girls!
Our extra-curricular programme is ramping up. If students require further information, please speak to your PE teachers as soon as you are able. It’s been really good to see our netballers playing competitively outside of school for local clubs also.
It’s a great relief to all of us that we have lots of players in Year 7 all the way through to Year 13 (and staff!) who are now engaging regularly in game-play once again.
May I please ask you all to help us win £500 of National Book tokens? We are keen to foster a love of reading in all our students and the more nominations Castell Alun get, the better our chances of enhancing our library provision. Please follow the link and vote for us! http://www.nationalbooktokens.com/schools
As you will probably have seen recently our new building is nearing completion, externally at least! We are still on track to receive the keys to this most valuable new resource in mid-August 2021. Students will, however, soon experience a number of room changes and diverted routes around our current building as we begin the refurbishment of a large section of our Expressive Arts Learning Area and the roof above the Sports Hall zone of the school is replaced. Although there will doubtless be a good deal of disruption to current practice for a few weeks now in this area this is effectively ‘short term pain for long term gain’, whilst our existing building is refreshed and revitalised. As part of the entire package, we are also having the toilet areas on the ground floor by Technology replaced in the near future.
Transition arrangements for students soon to join us from primary schools are now underway. Various members of staff, including Miss Janice Jones (Student Development Manager Year 7 and Transition Coordinator) are busy visiting current Year 6 students and telling them all about the wonderful opportunities they will have when they become part of the Castell Alun family. If Welsh Government Operational Guidance changes in the near future, it may yet be possible for some Year 6 classes to spend some time on-site here at school in early July, and indeed for parents/carers to join us for a Transition Evening around the same time. We will continue to make use of our website to post relevant information and videos over the coming weeks also.
Surely there must be some better weather on the way soon! Enjoy your weekend.