Bore da,
An extremely busy term concludes today and, although everybody is doubtless ready for a change of scenery, there is a great deal of which to be proud that has gone on in school since Christmas.
Easter is a special time for many of us, and today we celebrated the festival with a whole school assembly. For those of Christian faith, other religious beliefs or no particular belief at all, a number of poignant messages were shared, upon which we can all reflect. Perhaps one of the main messages was the power of hope and positivity as spring begins. Georgia (Year 11) and Nadia (Year 12) read beautifully in English and Cymraeg and we were treated to a performance of ‘Dakota’ (Stereophonics) by our resident Year 11 rock band. The lads were fantastic and their performance lifted us all and put smiles on many faces. Really well done to Theo, Liam and Nathan. Great job also to Adam (Year 12) who joined the band for this performance. What amazing talents!
Yesterday evening the CAFA quiz night was very well supported and everyone in attendance had a lovely time, with plenty of good-humoured banter and tricky quiz questions. Spot prizes were available and a jovial atmosphere was evident to all. Mr. Kevin Davies (Quizmaster) has been likened to Terry Wogan and did a superb job. We are all extremely grateful for CAFA, their work, energy and vision. People have already requested another one of these quiz evenings……. and special congratulations to the winning team, ‘Pondlife’!
Today the three highest achieving tutor groups across Key Stage 3 have their film reward afternoon. Each tutor group battles hard to collect as many achievement and effort points as possible over the term, and congratulations to 7R, 8R and 9R for coming out on top on this occasion. Individual high performers across all year groups have already been awarded with Amazon vouchers and the top tutor groups in Years 10 and 11 had a rewards breakfast recently. We feel it is a tremendously powerful principle to reward not just success or achievement but also effort.
This afternoon a large group of Key Stage 4 students departs on their ski trip to Austria. Reports indicate that there is a reasonable amount of snow on the slopes and the weather is looking good. We are certain that everyone will have a fantastic time and can’t wait to hear all the stories upon their return. If you would like to follow their endeavours on a daily basis, you may do this live on our Castell Alun Twitter feeds.
Our friends at Hope Parish Church will have a number of gatherings over the Easter period and if you would like to join them on any of these occasions, please follow the link for the date and times. We are very grateful to the Church for the support that they give our school on a regular basis.
For many the Easter break should be a good chance to rest and revitalise. For some it must be this whilst also being a vital opportunity to revise and focus on preparations for external examinations. Some subjects will be running revision sessions in school over the Easter break and these have been communicated to students in Year 11. The first exams for many will be Welsh GCSE Orals which begin (for Years 10 and 11) on the 19th April and run for a week. We would encourage everybody to maintain a healthy perspective over the coming weeks and to remember that it is important to work in a focused manner as this allows plenty of vital time for relaxation also. We each need to be able to switch off and enjoy ourselves so that we can give our best when we are at work.
Thank you for your support of our school over this term, please do enjoy your Eastertime.
Pasg Hapus a Mwynhewch y gwyliau.
Happy Easter and enjoy the holidays.