Dear Parents/Guardians,

Though we have reached the end of another long term, and we hope you have a lovely week next week, there are just a couple of things to draw your attention to for the week straight after half term.

Dates for the diary

Eisteddfod-You may well have had some news already about challenges, tasks and competitions for the pupils leading up to St David’s Day. Of course the big day is on Wednesday 1^st March and we are inviting pupils to wear traditional Welsh clothing or to wear red for the day. 

World book day-The following day we have World book day on Thursday 2^nd March. Pupils are welcome to come dressed as their favourite book characters and will be digging a bit deeper into their faourtie books and authors during the day.

Hopefully there will be plenty of pictures so show after these two events.

In other news- our forest school half days continue to be a roaring success. Even when the weather isn’t at our best it doesn’t dampen our spirits. Our new tarp ensures that we can stay dry aswell.

…and because of our super design and technology skills, we have plenty to feed the wildlife too.

On Wednesday, a group of 4 Year 6 boys visited St Mary’s Brymbo primary school to take part in a Maths problem solving event. they acquitted themselves very well and just fell shy of being in the prizes.

And finally, we have started placing our school staff avatars up on the wall. We thought some of the pupils may enjoy playing guess who with the faves 🙂 There are still a few more staff to go however.

Dear Parents/Guardians,

Just a few things to bring to your attention in this week’s newsletter.

New curriculum

If you haven’t seen it already an easy read version of the new curriculum is up on our blog. It is a good way for the children to understand school life and the different aspects of the new curriculum they will be exploring. Please give it a click and a read

School Committees

We have a number of school councils up and running currently. Mrs Howe and Mrs Harrison run Eco Committee weekly after school. Our Bronze certificate has taken pride of place on the Eco committee display.

Our Pupil Wellbeing council led by Mrs O’Toole and Miss Thomas have spent a good amount of time looking at the School’s Golden rules. they have used the new school vision as inspiration and have put together 4 new rules that we hope to place around the school.

School Council have also been working hard. They have a large list to get through. So far they have added clocks to all classrooms, bought in more netballs and tennis balls and are putting the finishing touches to a pupil friendly Antibullying policy.

Finally, there was something very intriguing happening in Jaxon’s Wood this week. Our Blwyddwn 5 & 6 in Dosbarth 5 were searching around for cabbage leaves. Inside these cabbage leaves there were many edible delights to enjoy. It was with great delight that I manage to witness some of our more peckish pupils having a pre lunch snack. I have been advised that this is all linked to the classes English work. Watch this space.

Dear Parents/Guardians,

You may be aware that over the past couple of years the school have sent out a number of communications about the New curriculum. This came into schools in Sept 2022, and all primary schools across Wales are being asked to trail, review and adjust the provision they are giving to the pupils.

We understand that, for many, this may not mean to much. The Welsh Assembly Government have created a document which very simply puts across the main aspects of the New Curriculum. It is meant primarily for the pupils but I believe it is a good introduction for all.

Please clink the link below to download

Our School Council are also putting in place a Pupil friendly Antibullying policy. Once this has been completed we will publish it on the school website.

Dear Parents/Guardians,

As I am sure most of you are aware through the national news, dates have been announced for teacher strikes in both England and Wales. Currently I am unable to tell you whether this will lead to full or partial school closure and which classes the strikes may affect. I will, of course, make you aware of this information as soon as I can.

For clarity, the days that these strikes are set to take place in Wales are:  

• 1^st February 2023
• 14^th February 2023
• 15^th and 16^th March 2023

The final two dates fall on Year 6’s trip to Glan Llyn. As far as we are aware, and after brief initial contact with the organisers, this is still set to go ahead. However, this may change and again, we will let you know as soon as we have further information.

Many thanks for your understanding,

Mr J Moore

A combination of compacted snow, rain and ice as led the school to be extremely dangerous on and around the site. Despite our best efforts this morning we have been unable to make it safe. School will be closed and we will endeavour to do what we can to ensure we are open tomorrow. We appreciate the inconvenience that this will cause parents. Thank you for your understanding. Home schooling will be provided for pupils.

Mr J Moore

Year 3 and 4 (Dosbarth 1 & 2) enjoyed a Friday afternoon full of celtic themed activities based around their topic of Warriors. There were many tasks to do based both in the classroom and outside in Jaxon’s Wood. Here are just a few snaps from the day.

Dear Parents/Guardians,

Happy New Year and a huge welcome back to the pupils. We are all keen to get going and looking forward to a collection of exciting topics that the classes will be covering.

Topics this term

Barn Owls – Winter followed by Superheroes Superfood

Snowy Owls- Winter followed by Superheroes Superfood

Harriers- Wonderful Winter

Kestrels- Bodies and Bones

Class 1- Warriors

Class 2- Warriors

Class 3- USA followed by Working in Wales

Class 4 – WoodlandsClass 5- Rainforest

Snack

Firstly, a huge thank you for your support with healthy snack. Nearly all pupils can be seen either choosing not to have an unhealthy snack at break time or eating fresh fruit and veg. This will make such a difference to their health and to their concentration skills during periods in class. Hopefully, over the course of the next week, I will get some information together to demonstrate the impact this has had.

Engagement centre

Finally, I have been in conversation with the Engagement centre next door. They are in the process of reopening and are having building works commence as of next Monday. They have kindly requested that their car park is not used for parking, pick-ups or drop-offs. Many thanks.

Have a lovely weekend

Dear Parents/Guardians,

So here we are, the penultimate newsletter of the year. We have officially entered into (and embraced) the festivities now. We have had the first of our performances this morning, thank you Early Years, and have the rest next week. After the past three years, it is easy to forget what an integral part of Christmas time in a primary school these concerts are and it was a pleasure to welcome parents in this morning to watch a lovely performance by Barns and Snowys.

On Tuesday (Year 1/2) and Wednesday (Year 3/4 ) Parents/Guardians will be able to take the pupils and siblings home after the concerts. We ask that Parents/Guardians wait at the usual pick-up points for their children that have been in the concert. If parents are also wanting to pick up siblings, if they could then come to Reception a member of staff will collect the pupils and bring them to the front of the school.

Lastly, we have been trying to use this time of year to allow the pupils opportunities to experience art and craft activities a little outside the norm. Amongst many different tasks we have electronic light up Rudolph’s being made with circuit boards and clay and pupils creating their very own material stockings.

Have a lovely weekend and we will see the vast majority of you in person next week.

We also had some delicious Argentinian food served up by Dosbarth 5. I got my own particular serving from Brooke and Logan.

Dear Parents/Guardians,

An easy email to write this week, a simple thank you from us all at Gwersyllt CP for your support at the Christmas Fayre. Pictures of the stalls are up on the website.

A huge thank you of course to the PTA of which none of this would have happened had it not been for them. It ran incredibly smoothly (and for a fair period of time was incredibly busy) and I am delighted to say we raised over £1000 for the school. A successful couple of hours- Thank you for your generosity.

It was wonderful to have you all back in the school again and it is something we look forward to doing more of during the concerts in the next 10 days.

I am delighted to say that lovely pieces of work keep coming my way this week. Given the time of year- there is a definite arts and crafts theme this week.

Talk about great work- 4 boys in Kestrels have worked incredibly hard to create the building Gyeongbokgung Palace in South Korea. Below you can see the first attempt followed by an impressive second attempt after assessing what they could improve.

Finally, a huge diolch to Gwersyllt Congregational Church for donating a book for the pupils (all lovingly wrapped) your child should come home with this over the next few days. We are so lucky to have so many people around us supporting the school and the pupils.

Dear Parents/Guardians,

A busy week this week with Christmas concerts being practiced in earnest. We are so looking forward to inviting you all in for the first time in three years to see in person what the staff and pupils have created. It is one of the many pleasures as a headteacher to be able to dip into a practice for a while, get a quick blast of the pupils Christmas spirit, feel uplifted and go back to work with more of a spring in my step.

The weather has been a lot kinder to us this week, so we have continued to enjoy our outdoor learning sessions despite it being bitterly cold on occasions. By my reckoning, the 6 week cycle has now come to an end and a new selection of pupils have, or will do soon, started their block of 6 weeks. 

On this note, and with the colder weather open us, can we request that all pupils come with coats over the final three weeks. When the weather is getting a low as 3 degrees, we are left with little choice but to send them in to warm up if they don’t have a coat to wear.

As an extra aside, on the webpage, the pupils continue to be working hard in their English and Maths. Below is a small selection of the wonderful work we have seen. I have been particularly impressed with our Year 2 pupils who have been drafting and redrafting in their extended writing work.

Many thanks and have a great weekend,