Fantastic Feedback - cwmbran high school

‘Stronger Together’
NEWS
Cwmbran High
The Pilot Edition
What a way to learn Maths
O
n The 11th and 16th
October, our school
Cwmbran High had prepared a
school trip for year 11 students
at PGL, Liddington. The aim of
the trip was to encourage and
help students to pass their Maths
exam in November. Everybody
who attended the weekend
enjoyed it thoroughly. During the
weekend, we were involved in a
range of activities such as aero
ball, ambush and zip wire – but
the giant swing was one of our
favourites!
The venue and the
accommodation were great –
everybody was shocked at how
clean and nice it was which
made the weekend even more
enjoyable.
Every morning, the pupils were
divided into groups which were
your groups for the whole
weekend. We then took it in
turns on revision and activities.
Two groups did Maths revision
first, and the two remaining
groups did activities. Across
the whole weekend we did 5
and a half hours of revision
which is more than we do in a
whole week of school!
Throughout both
weekends, we were
accompanied by
team leaders, who
were very
enthusiastic, got along
with the pupils who
attended the
weekend, and made
our weekend a lot
more enjoyable! We
thought that a
weekend away with
our teachers would be boring
but the team leaders and PGL
staff made it fun for all. They
would also go the extra mile
and ask us how our day was, if
we were okay and just come
and sit with us in the night and
watch television with us. Also,
they would come and sit with us
whilst eating our food.
We really enjoyed the weekend
and hope that Cwmbran High
School organises more revision
weekends at PGL Liddington for
preparation for our other
exams.
Story thanks to,
Luciana Owen and Rachel
Watkins Year 11.
Stories and photographs provided by
staff, pupils and parents.
Edited by D Baribeault.
Fantastic
Feedback
D
uring the first term at
Cwmbran High School we
thought that it was very important
to see what students thought of
the school and in particular their
lessons. To enable this to happen
a pupil voice was established and
a survey took place that involved
452 students participating. The
results were very encouraging
with:
The majority of pupils enjoying
their lessons.
Majority of students finding
lessons either very or quite
interesting.
Most students feeling that they
had to either think in all or most
of their lessons.
Most students felt as though they
had settled in after the merger of
the two schools.
Thank you to all students who
participated and made this a
worthwhile activity. At Cwmbran
High School we also completed
our first set of lesson observations
and were impressed by
behaviour within lessons and the
work that was being produced,
well done.
Story thanks to
Mr J Savory - Assistant Head.
Ylora and her Art Teacher Mrs Evans
T
he School Christmas Card
competition was launched for
the first time in Cwmbran High
School and we had a very good
response from students.
The Christmas Card is a
prestigious competition that
connects the school to the local
community by sending out
Season’s Greetings to local
feeder primary schools, local
businesses and the Education
Authority as well as VIPs and
guests who have links with the
school.
Clwb Cymraeg at
Cwmbran High
The entries were judged by Mrs
Coulson and the Chair of
Governors, Mrs Seabourne. This
year’s winner was Ylora Mae
Dalumpines in Year 9.
Congratulations to her for her
hard work on her impressive
design.
The runner up award goes to
Celsey Groenewald in Year 7.
Again a massive well done to
her for her hard work on her
card design entry.
The Art department would like to
say well done to all those who
entered. There were some
excellent designs which show
huge potential from Art students
in Cwmbran High School.
Well done everyone and have a
Merry Christmas
Mr Darmanin and the Art
Department.
Celsey Groenewald’s 2nd place entry
around school and reminders in
form time, we received a good
turn out of pupils from both year
groups. Clwb Cymraeg takes
place in room 21 every Friday
Lunch Time. At Clwb Cymraeg
we offer a range of activities
that vary from, interactive
computer games, help with
homework and board games to
make the learning of Welsh a
more enjoyable experience.’
T
wo teams of Year 12
students took part in a ‘Youth
Speaks’ public speaking
competition, held at Green
Meadows Golf Club.
They spoke for a total of 10
minutes on the topic of current
affairs.
The students that took part were:
Ben Wolverson, Max Griffiths,
Megan Jones, Ieuan Cooke,
Chloe Wellings and Bethany
Paul.
The winning team was made up
of Max Griffiths, Ben Wolverson
and Megan Jones, who beat stiff
competition from Croesyceiliog
School to take the senior prize,
and a chance
to compete at
a district level.
As well as this,
Ben Wolverson
won the
award for best individual
speaker, Max Griffiths won the
award for best chairperson and
Chloe Wellings won the award
for best vote of thanks.
All in all, they did an amazing
job of representing the school.
Please congratulate them for
their efforts if you see/teach
them.
Story thanks to
Mr Mortimore - English
Department.
Story thanks to,
Tonicha Berry.
O
n the 27th of November,
Clwb Cymraeg was created
for a fun and good learning
environment for years 7 and 8.
From the promotional posters put
Y
ear 12 and 13 pupils ran an
appeal for anyone to donate
old unwanted phones. A big thank
you to those who contributed.
Year 10 Recognition of
Achievement
W
Rugby Star in the Making
ell done to the 80 year 10
pupils (pictured below) that
who were on or above their target
grade for the first Progress Check
of the year. Pupils were presented
with a certificate and a gift for their
hard work. Well done and keep it
up.
I
High Flyer
completes
Scholarship
C
hloe Worthington, Y13
Biology / Chemistry /
Physics / Maths, meets Nobel
Laureate Professor Sir Martin
Evans at her presentation for
successfully completing the
Nuffield Scholarship Research
Placement this summer holidays,
one of only 75 pupils in Wales to
do so.
Chloe worked at University
Hospital of Wales, The Heath,
Cardiff, researching tests for
markers for prostate cancer.
Following this success she is on
track to go on to study medicine
in university next year.
Story thanks to,
Mr A Lewis.
t has been a busy term for
year 9 pupil Kyran Bishop
who has recently represented
Wales in a wheelchair rugby
tournament. Kyran, who plays
for the Ospreys wheelchair
team says he was very proud
and privileged to represent
Wales and had to travel to
the Copperbox arena in
London for the match.
Kyran told me ‘The first time I
played for Wales I felt very
excited and extremely proud,
Mum and Dad came to watch
me play and they kept
cheering for me.’
Kyran plays in an Ospreys
tracksuit and uses specially
Tres Bien!
A
fter a quick interview with
Mrs Groskop - Head of
Modern Languages she told me
of the fantastic effort from the
new year 7 pupils at Cwmbran
High School.
adapted wheelchair to play his
position in defence. Kyran
explained ‘I am the inputter and
blocker, which means I throw the
ball and block the opponents.’
The team came joint second in
the tournament and Kyran was
presented with his first medal of
which I am sure will be one of
many more as he
has his sights set on
the Olympics. Keep
up the good work.
Story thanks to,
Mrs T Bowyer and
Kyran Bishop.
‘Every year we run a book
competition in the French
department. We challenge the
year 7 pupils to cover their books
with ‘French’ themed pictures. It’s
always difficult to choose the best
2, but this year was particularly
difficult.’
‘Eventually Charlie and Nia were
chosen and were awarded a
prize in assembly. Félicitations
(Congratulations) to everyone who
took part!’
Story thanks to,
Mrs T Groskop - Head of Modern
Foreign Languages.
Lovely letter
from a proud
parent
Re: Etiennne Chappell.
Hello Mrs Coulson,
Cwmbran High School Deaf Choir
Formed and Proving a Big Success
C
wmbran High School Deaf
Choir began in September
2015. What began as a fun
lesson signing Christmas carols
several years ago has
blossomed into a very successful
choir that has grown from
strength to strength. Becoming a
member of the Deaf Choir is a
huge achievement for the pupils.
Their self-esteem and selfconfidence has developed
greatly as a result of performing
in front of a variety of audiences
and their sense of pride and
sense of belonging is captured
through their body language as
they perform.
This is not a traditional choir as
the children do not sing. Instead,
the songs are interpreted into the
pupils’ first language which is
sign language. The choir is made
up of past and present pupils all
with varying degrees of
deafness. Their ages range from
11-21 with past pupils returning
to practise on their days off from
college. The choir is led by Mary
Cole and Louise Heirene with the
support of other members of
staff from the Hearing Impaired
Base.
The pupils love the choir and it
has given them many wonderful
opportunities to perform in a
variety of venues across Wales
and England. They entered the
Music for Youth Festival in 2012
and had the opportunity to
perform in Birmingham alongside
other young choirs. As a result of
their success, they were invited to
take part in the Schools Prom
which was held at the Royal
Albert Hall.
They were also thrilled to be
involved in the recent Cwmbran
High School Christmas Carol
Concert where they signed some
Christmas songs whilst the school
choir sang. For Hearing
Impaired Pupils, being a
member of a choir gives them a
wonderful insight into how music
can enhance their lives. It
enables them to gain wonderful
experiences including taking
part in concerts as part of their
wider community, creating
memories that will remain with
them for the rest of their lives.
Just a note to say thank you for
giving Etienne the time to travel
to the Slalom competition in Austria last month and update you
on his recent activity.
He did well in Austria for his first
international finishing around
halfway up the (junior under 18)
field.
More recently Etienne has competed in the Wales Canoe Slalom Championships at both senior
and junior levels.
He has done extremely well and
is the Welsh Champion at Junior
14 (Llandysul this weekend) and
Junior 15 Champion (Bala the
previous weekend). He actually
finished 3rd in the junior 18 as
well.
He is always very modest with
results such as these and won’t
come and tell you himself but I
thought you should know.
This year’s season is nearly over
with just the British Championships
still to do at the end of this
month on the Olympic Course at
Lee Valley in London.
Following that he is expected to
have surgery on his knee to repair the cartilage issues he has
been having in recent months and
then into the winter training.
Thank you once again for your
support.
Story thanks to,
Nia Chappell.
Soup and Carols
Concert gets
Cwmbran High
Feeling Festive
Year 7 pupils from Cwmbran High Choir
T
here's nothing more festive
than hot soup with a crusty
roll accompanied by the
enchanting sound of Christmas
carols sung by a very talented
choir.
On Thursday 3rd December a
concert took place at Cwmbran
High School that featured not
only our very talented pupils but
also four of our feeder primary
schools Greenmeadow, Coed
Eva, Woodlands and Blenhiem
Road.
I caught up with Mrs
Chamberlain to find out some
more details who said ‘the
evening was a result of a 12
week transition project where
Alex Davis (Vocal coach from
GMSS) has been coaching pupils
in all five school choirs to help
Cwmbran High School Deaf Choir
them prepare.’ She continued to
tell me ‘Cwmbran High School
year 7 choir, senior choir and
deaf choir performed, along
with an instrumental ensemble,
guitar ensemble and some vocal
and instrumental soloists
performed on the evening.’
Mrs Chamberlain proudly said
‘It was a wonderful opportunity
for the choirs, ensembles and the
soloists and perform to an
audience of over 180 people
from the local community, and
for us to showcase the wonderful
talent we have here in Cwmbran
High School and in our feeder
schools.’
One member of staff I spoke to
‘said it was a magical evening
that made the hairs on the back
of your neck stand up.’
If that wasn't enough the ticket
for the event included a mug of
warm potato and leek soup and
a crusty roll—with thanks from
Ms Black and the Hospitality and
Catering pupils.
Thank you Mrs Chamberlain for
organising such a wonderful
event and we look forward to
next year!
Story thanks to,
Mrs Chamberlain
Head of Performing Arts.
Christmas Jumper day to raise money for
Children’s Charities
Sixth form pupils have
organised a Christmas Jumper
day for the last day of term.
Pupils are encouraged to wear a
Christmas Jumper instead of
their regular jumper and donate
£1 that will be sent to the ‘Text
Santa’ appeal.
'My Dearest
Mother': A Valleys
View of the
First World War
Kailynn Nash at the Senedd Event
F
ifteen year old Kailynn Nash is
a student at Cwmbran High
School and is one of a group of
young people that worked with
Head4Arts to create an engaging
animation, exploring the impact
of the First World War through
the eyes of one young soldier
from Abertillery. Here she talks of
aspects of the project and of her
personal experiences of the
Senedd event.
‘When I first heard about this
project I was in the middle of
making another film which was
about illegal highs and the
impacts that they have on people
my age – a very different subject
matter. ‘
‘It was very nerve racking to get
up on the stage in front of such
important people like the Chair of
HLF after being in a math’s exam
that morning, but it was such a
brilliant feeling when others
watched the film and commented
on how good it was.
‘We were asked to visit Big Pit to
be presented with a copy of the
DVDs by the Mayoress of
Torfaen. ‘The school supported my
animation getting it recognised
through social media and around
different parts of the school. They
praised my achievements and I
hope to do another project with
Head4Arts in the near future!’
A message from the
Headteacher
As the first term at Cwmbran High
School comes to a close, I would like
to share a few thoughts with you.
I think it is fair to say that we have
had a challenge on our hands, in
terms of bringing together two sets
of pupils, parents/carers, staff and
communities into one successful
school.
We experienced a few ‘hiccups’ in
the first few weeks of term but
things are settling quickly and we
are developing a positive ethos
across the school.
We have been visited by Estyn this
month and we are awaiting the full
report, however, there were some
very positive comments about a
range of areas of the school. They
were particularly complimentary
about the students and what we
have already established in such a
French exchange teacher offers
pupils first hand experience.
Bonjour, je m'appelle Pauline Estrem. Certains d'entre vous me connaissent déjà, j'anime des petits ateliers de conversation et de jeux en
français à côté de la salle 19. Je
suis née dans une ville du sud de la
France qui s'appelle Pau. Mon anniversaire est le 11 juillet et j'ai 22
ans. En France, j'habite et j'étudie à
Toulouse. J'étudie la philosophie à
l'université, j'adore ça! Cette année
j'habite à Cwmbran et je travaille
dans votre école. Plus tard je voudrais devenir professeur ou je voudrais ouvrir un salon de thé. Dans la
vie j'aime beaucoup aller au cinéma, lire des romans et aller danser
avec mes copines. J'aime aussi
beaucoup voyager, c'est un vrai
plaisir! Mon rêve serait de vivre
dans un pays différent tous les ans.
La ville de Cwmbran me plait
beaucoup mais je dois avouer que
la nourriture française me manque
beaucoup! Si vous voulez discuter
avec moi en français (ou en anglais)
vous êtes les bienvenus! Vous savez
où me trouver!
Hello, I am Pauline Estrem. Some of
you all already know me, I do talking-games in French during your
Modern Foreign Languages courses
next to room 19. I was born in a
small city in the south of France
called Pau. My birthday is on the
eleventh of July and I am 22 years
old. In France, I live and study in
Toulouse. I study philosophy at uni-
versity, I really enjoy my studies!
This year I am living in Cwmbran
and I am working in your school.
Later I would like to become a
teacher or to own a tea shop. I
enjoy going to the movies, reading
novels and go dancing with my
friends. I also like to travel, it’s so
much fun! I would like to live in
another country every single year.
I do like Cwmbran but I have to
admit that I miss French food a lot,
especially cheese. Anyway, If you
want to speak with me in French
(or in English), you are welcome,
you know where you can find me!
Story thanks to,
Pauline Estrem.
short space of time. Estyn also
agreed with Cwmbran high School
self-evaluation, in terms of areas that
we will continue to develop. Already
this term we have had many
successful events including:
Two ‘free’ Maths Revision trips for
Year 11 pupils to PGL, Liddington
(outdoor activity centre), where
Maths revision, in preparation for the
GCSE exam in November, was
balanced with fun outdoor activities
such as rope swings, tug of war and
assault courses.
A spectacular Open Evening for
Year 6 pupils attended by 500+
potential pupils and parents/carers.
A Peer Mentoring Programme which
involves Year 10 pupils supporting
younger pupils in the school.
Some Year 10 pupils who were
involved in an ITV programme
regarding the ‘use of mobile phones
& social media’.
The overwhelming success of some of
our extra-curricular teams in football,
rugby etc. and the introduction of
free-running gymnastics etc.
Our Deaf Choir performed for the
‘Newport Volunteer Achievement
Awards’ at Rodney Parade in
Newport on Wednesday 21st
October and they were all amazing!
They also performed alongside our
feeder Primary Schools at our ‘Soup
& Carols’ event this month and at the
Blaenavon Male Voice Choir’s annual
concert, which received high praise
too.
The winner of our Christmas Card
competition this year entered an
amazing piece, which has been
printed as our official Christmas card
of 2015.
I would like to finish by adding that
we have secured a firm foothold
here at Cwmbran High School, in
terms of high standards and the
quality of teaching & learning.
The focus for term 2 will be to
continue to develop teaching &
learning to ‘challenge’ all of our
students and continue to improve
behaviour for learning across the
school.
Thank you for your ongoing support
and the kind words received from so
many of you.
Wishing you all a very Merry
Christmas / Nadolig Llawen.
Mrs H Coulson - Headteacher.
The ‘Welsh Bacc’ page
Latest news from the Welsh Baccalaureate - by Mr G Brenton
This is a page
dedicated to
the Welsh
Baccalaureate
qualification.
New Qualification in Year 10
W
e have made a strong
start to the new Skills
Challenge Certificate (SKCC) in
Year 10. All students are
engaged in either community,
global or enterprise activities.
They are due to start their
formal challenges soon, before
moving on to their next
“challenge”, good luck!!
Year 13 - Almost There!!!
Year 13 students are in some of
the final stages of the legacy
WBQ and have been preparing
for final submissions of Individual
Investigations (3,000 word
research documents). Good luck
to all those going through the
“January entry” and keep a
close eye on your University
offers as the grades offered will
impact your next focus with
WBQ.
Global and Community
Conference
Cambridge University gives Seal
of Approval for New Welsh
Baccalaureate
E
ducation Minister Huw Lewis
said Welsh qualifications
would 'stand up against the best
in the world'
Wales’ qualifications system has
received a significant
commendation after the UK’s top
-ranked university confirmed it
will treat the new Welsh
Baccalaureate as a fourth A-
Links with outside
agencies, businesses and
organisations.
T
o mark the official opening of
the performance hall (around
Feb half term) our Year 12
“Global” students will be
participating in a conference while
our Year 12 “Community” students
display work from the community
activities they have been engaged
in. Keep an eye out on the website
for extra details and information
on the event.
F
or the SKCC/WBQ to work,
and feel as real as it should
be , we are constantly looking to
form partnerships with people
outside of school. Could you help us
too?
Take a look at some of the
partnerships already established
and get in touch if you or your
group/company/employer can
help too.
level.
Education Minister Huw Lewis said
the fact the prestigious University
of Cambridge had promised to
value the new graded Welsh
Bacc alongside more traditional A
-levels showed Wales was
developing qualifications “that
stand up against the best in the
world”.
It comes on the same day that
Wales’ new independent
qualifications regulator –
Qualifications Wales – formally
begins its work, marking what the
minister has described as an
“exciting time for qualifications in
Wales”.
Please Contact me at:
([email protected].
uk)