Friday 3rd December 2021


Although we are in constant contact with Flintshire County Council and other relevant advisory bodies, we can confirm that the last day of teaching in school will still be Tuesday 21st December, as things stand.  Thank you for your support once again in assuring that all students wear masks when inside the school building unless exempt.  If there is a need for further mitigations we will, of course, contact you to inform you of any changes.  We do continue to request that parents/carers do not drop into reception to deliver non-urgent items during the school day as we continuously seek to keep each member of our school community healthy and safe.  Appointments are readily available with members of staff, should they be required, but we do ask that you book these in advance in order to assure access to the relevant person without having to endure a period of waiting time in our busy reception area.

A huge diolch to Geoff at Ty Draw Farm for our lovely school Christmas Tree and the excellent rates at which people have been able to purchase a tree over the last couple of weeks.  Continuing on the Christmas theme, the Big PTA Christmas Raffle allows each of us a chance to win up to £5,000 and a £3 ticket gains entry into all twelve different draws.  Please purchase your tickets to support school fundraising at your earliest convenience by following this link  https://www.bigptaraffle.co.uk

Last week Year 12 and 13 Cymraeg students were lucky enough to be able to return to the Urdd Centre, Glan Llyn on a residential trip.  Over the three days our Sixth Form students took part in a variety of invaluable workshops, which helped prepare them for their examinations. Year 12 students learned more about the poignant history of Capel Celyn and were able to visit Tryweryn.  Year 13 students met with poet Andrew Shurey.  No trip to Glan-Llyn is complete without taking part in the more adventurous activities and students enjoyed tackling the high ropes course, canoeing on Llyn Tegid and swimming. During the evenings students socialised and enjoyed a gig by Jacob Elwy or wrapped up warm to toast marshmallows around a camp-fire.  Everyone had a fantastic time.

On Thursday this week all Year 7 students were off curriculum.  In the morning they attended sessions from the Crucial Crew, which provided vital training for everyone about how to stay safe and assist in dangerous situations.  In the afternoon Year 7 went to Theatr Clwyd to watch their Christmas Panto ‘Beauty and the Beast’ and great fun was had, especially at the expense of Mr. Ross Bevan, who bore the brunt of many of the one-line jokes.  Thank you so much to all staff who were involved in setting up and running both of these events.

We are truly grateful also to our local business ‘Dragons’ who have spent the day in school with us today putting Year 10 through their paces.  In order to develop vital business skills our students had to explain their business plans and defend their ideas, use of time and other resources when interrogated by specialists in the respective areas.

As we look to next week students in Year 9 will develop their communication and confidence in the spoken word as they attend ‘Talk the Talk’ sessions on either Tuesday or Wednesday.  Sessions such as these really do provide an excellent opportunity for our students to enhance their oracy skills and ultimately become more employable.

As individual and group successes continue, well done to Olivia (Year 8) who is planning and delivering football sessions at Ysgol Estyn on a weekly basis.  We are keen to provide opportunities such as these to all our students and, who knows, maybe we will find some more potential Castell Alun teachers this way eventually!

We hope you have a lovely weekend.