Our whole school assembly this morning was led by the English Department and was on the theme of World Book Day. A number of staff delivered interesting readings and Grace (Year 13), also brought a lovely contribution. We were treated to a very smooth vocal solo from George (Year 9), entitled ‘Under my Skin’. Step aside Michael Bublé!
In addition to our assembly we celebrated World Book Day in a variety of fun ways yesterday. Highlights included a fancy dress photoshoot, various quizzes and regular readings to the entire school over the PA system from members of the Senior Team. Everybody had a great time and all students were once again reminded of the pleasure and freedom of losing oneself in a book. Congratulations to quiz winners Sophie in Year 7, Corey Year 8 and Danni in Year 9.
Year 10 students who participated in last week’s ski trip have come back with all kinds of great stories and it is most evident that they have all had a great time. On Tuesday we held a lovely transition event for boys who are currently in Year 6 in order to help them to get to know each other and acclimatise to being on a larger school campus. A large number of students in Year 7 went on a trip to Chill Factore on Tuesday also, and we clearly have some budding downhill racers….. and possibly some ski jumpers of the future!
A big thanks to all parents/carers of students in Year 9 who joined us on Thursday for the Options Evening. This is a really important time in the lives of our students as they draw towards the end of their time in KS3, and is was great to be able to discuss the multitude of possibilities available for studies in Year 10 at Castell Alun with you all.
A massive congratulations to Dewi and Callum in the Sixth Form, who have been granted prestigious funded places for Summer Schools in the USA this year. Callun will attend Harvard to receive tuition in Maths and Dewi will be touring a variety of universities to gain experience of tertiary education in America. What a brilliant opportunity for both lads, and, we hope this will lead to further similar possibilities for other students in subsequent years.
Similar congratulations go to Heather of Year 10, who has recently performed with the English Youth Ballet in Stoke. Heather participated in five performances of the famous ballet ‘Giselle’ and spent a long time training in order to reach the very highest standard necessary.
By now you have all probably received a letter from school regarding the School Gateway Service (if not, it is winging its way to you in the post right now). We feel this marks the dawn of a new era in school communications and far greater flexibility with regard to payments made to school. In order to ensure that this new service runs as smoothly as possible, please do be so good as to check carefully your contact details as indicated in the letter, and return any changes to us as soon as you are able. We do intend to begin communicating with homes by email more frequently in the near future, and it is therefore vital that we hold the correct information for all families to ensure that nobody misses out on key information.
Next week, we are all looking forward to Comic Relief Day (Friday) and students will be invited to wear their own clothes, as usual, for this charity event.
I am sure that many of you will be glued to your TVs tomorrow afternoon….. we are all looking forward to another win by the mighty reds!
Have a great weekend everyone.