Dear Parent / Carer
As the end of the summer term approaches, I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your continued support. It has been another successful term and I am pleased to report that the new summer term examinations for all pupils went very well. Y7-Y9 pupils have been collecting their results from these examinations, and you will have received reports this term about their progress. Y10 will receive their results at the beginning of the new term as part of their induction into their final year of GCSE.
There has been a great deal to celebrate this term: Mr Phil George, Chairman of the Arts Council for Wales, attended our Lead Creative Schools presentation earlier this term, and stated that, of the 500+ Lead Creative Schools in Wales, “nobody does it better than St Cenydd”; the Y11 Prom at the Vale Hotel and Spa was a wonderful event; transition for Year 6 pupils has been very successful; and there has been a wealth of opportunities for our students to demonstrate their community spirit and their leadership skills.
Start of Autumn Term arrangements
Monday 3 September 2018 - INSET day for staff
Tuesday 4 September 2018 – Years 7, 11 and 12 return. Please note a change from previous years as Y11 will return rather than Y10 on this day.
Wednesday 5 September 2018 – all children are in school (Years 7-13).
The 2018/19 school calendar will be available on our website at the beginning of the new term, with Parent Information Evenings for each year group in the first few weeks.
Attendance and punctuality - Please note that all students are expected to be in school in good time for the start of the school day. There are some children who arrive by bus early and go to the local shops. This, of course is permissible by you, as supervision by school staff is in place from 8.25am. However, the first bell rings at 8.30am and all students should be on site in readiness for assemblies and form time at 8.30am without fail. Punctuality is a key area we will be focusing on next year.
Whole school attendance has further improved this year and our end of term attendance prizes have been well received. All children should aim for 100% attendance as every day that they are absent from school means that five hours of their learning has been missed.
Staff News - At the end of this term, Miss Georgina Clark and Miss Ellie Amos from the English department are leaving to take up new posts. We wish our three members of staff who are retiring a long and happy retirement – Mr Gary Jones (Business Studies), Mrs Julie Richards (English) and Mrs Jackie Jones (Examinations Officer). We thank them all for their dedicated service here at St Cenydd. They will be very much missed by students and staff.
In September, Mrs Haines will take up the post of Head of PE and Mrs Gemma Evans will take up the post of More Able Coordinator. We will also welcome four new members of staff – Miss Lacy (Literacy Coordinator and English Teacher), Miss Jenkins (English), Mr Evans (WRU Rugby Officer) and Ms Clargo (Examinations Officer).
Homework - In September we will be launching ‘Homework 20’ on the school website. Essentially this means that there will be 20 homeworks set in every subject area for Years 7-10 across the school year. You will be able to view these tasks term by term and receive alerts via Classcharts along with behaviour updates.
Student Leadership – In the autumn term I will be launching a new Student Leadership structure to replace our current School Council. The aim will be to involve more students in formal leadership opportunities across the school based around our school expectation of ‘Ready, Respect, Safe’. More information will be shared about this with all students in assemblies in the first weeks of the new term.
Uniform – Please ensure that all school uniform purchases comply with our policy (which is on our school website). TSS (Total Sporting Solutions) in Caerphilly is our school uniform supplier for the compulsory school blazer and compulsory tie, as well as the optional school jumper, cardigan and tank top. Shirts, skirts, trousers and shoes can be purchased from any shop. However, please take note of our uniform expectations regarding these as some shops label items such as leggings as school uniform which they are not.
If you have any unwanted good quality uniform items, we would very much welcome these as donations to the school for us to share with those in need. Please deliver any items to school reception. Thank you.
Equipment - All pupils need black ink pens for their written work, as well as the usual school equipment (pencils, ruler, protractor, compass, scientific calculator, colouring pencils, etc). These are available to purchase from the school if required.
Mobile phones and headphones – We will be reviewing our policy with regard to these in the autumn term. However, as a rule of thumb, neither should be seen nor heard on school site.
Summer newsletter – As we continue to move towards more environmentally friendly practices, we will be sending a link to the newsletter via text to all parents as well as posting it on our school website. Next year we intend to further explore the use of email and text to communicate with parents rather than by paper.
School Development Plan 2018-2021 - A copy of our three year development plan summary will be available on our website in September.
Thank you again for your continued support and I wish all an enjoyable, happy and safe summer holiday break.
Yours faithfully
Miss Rebecca V. Collins
Headteacher
