As promised last week the Foundation Phase have been working hard with money funded from many places (Thank you again to the PTA and the community council- As well as the Howells trust) to improve the outdoor spaces and utilise it for the pupils as much as possible. Mrs Davies has been leading this and all other staff have been heavily involved to make the outdoor spaces as much an opportunity to explore, challenge and learn as the indoor spaces are. As the space is nearing completion here are a few more photos of the pupils exploring it for the first time.
Of course, we still find it possible to make just as much mess indoors as outdoors. The photos are testimony to that and you can trust that the staff and pupils of Kestrels will always find a way. Here they are making rockets out of recycling. The finished products are out of this world!
Early Years had the first of their open mornings on Tuesday (the 2nd will take place at 9.30 on the 4th Feb). The class was looking immaculate as well as the previously mentioned outdoor areas. Remember all are welcome!
Finally, it was nice to see such healthy food in the pupils sandwich boxes. The food the pupils eat has such an impact on their day- a healthy snack and a balanced lunch box goes a long way to setting them up for their day. See a few fab examples below!
On Monday the year 6 pupils visited Dangerpoint to learn all about remaining safe in a selection of environments from home and road to train line and substances. They behaved themselves impeccably and had a great time. Thank you to the staff that volunteered to take the pupils around. A lot of the pupils have said they didn’t know what to expect but enjoyed it thoroughly. Thank you to the community council for funding this.
Welcome back everyone, I hope you had a good festive break and a great new year. It is lovely to be back with the pupils and straight back into our familiar routines.
A relatively quiet 4 day week is behind us and it is like we have never been away. Next week we have a Year 6 trip planned to Dangerpoint (thank you again to the community council for this funded trip) and the pupils will be fully immersed into their new topics. Clubs will restart (check the newsletter for more details) and we will commence our first full week.
You may also be aware that the Early Years staff are hosting 2 open days on the 21st January and the 4th of February for any interested parties and parents with prospective pupils. Please let anyone know who may be interested to come and have a look around. There will be tea, coffee and cake as well as an opportunity to talk with our pupil committees and look around the new build. These will both take place between 9.30am and 10.30 am.
Early Years and Foundation Phase also received late Christmas presents as orders of our new outside equipment arrived. This has been funded through access grants as well as hugely kind donations from the PTA and the community council. Thank you for this the staff here are extremely grateful and we look forward to seeing the hours of pleasure and education the pupils take from these resources.
Please see the poster below for our two Early Years open days. Please come and join us.
Wow! What a busy week that was.
Thanks you to everyone involved. The pupils, of course for their outstanding performances across the board. The staff for all the hard work, enthusiasm and endeavor. And a thank you to all the friends and family that came to visit and made the new hall brim with atmosphere- you were great audiences.
It has been interesting using the new hall for the performances- Obviously it holds a lot more people- so the space was not an issue as it has been in the past. However, we did have to learn to get use to the new sound and lighting system- as well as the projector. And then came the new problem of FP and KS2 all needing to practice in the same space.
I think you can agree though that these problems were overcome and the performances were extremely enjoyable- 11 months until we start the process again 🙂
The concerts really do takeover the week in many ways and despite how much will still be going on next week- Trips, parties, reward ceremonies etc. It will seem relatively quiet in comparison. There will be plenty to show you on next weeks blog though – I am sure.
As always at this time of year it was an extremely busy week. The first set of Christmas events took place. The PTA organised and put on a fantastic Christmas Fair on Wednesday raising in the region of £850 pound- all of which will go towards the school and the pupils. The PTA do a wonderful job for the school and many of the trips, IT and outdoor provisions this year have been funded and partly funded through the hard work of the PTA. They are always looking for parents to help and to get involved so please do let them know if you are keen. There were a whole host of stalls available this year as well as the grotto. Raffle prizes were handed out (and some still remain in school). We hope everyone enjoyed it.
Jane and Nicky also cooked the Christmas dinner this week and it was delivered to the pupils with the help of all the staff. Delicious it was too!
The children looked great in their Christmas jumpers- very festive. A quick reminder that their is Christmas Jumper day on Friday 13th as well.
We also found time to fit in some hard work- Year 5/6 have been busy creating Anderson shelters and were working together to discuss these aspects as well as review their work.
Christmas ramps up an extra gear next week with all the concerts taking place. We look forward to seeing you there.
As mentioned in the Newsletter, we have entered and are entering into a busy time for all schools. December is practically upon us and there are many events which will be held.
Next week sees the Christmas Fair and Christmas dinners. the following week holds school trips and concert performances.
The practices for these performances are truly in swing now. We are all getting use to the hall and the logistics of it all. Staff and pupils are getting their heads around the AV equipment and lines are being read clearly and with expression.
Music can be heard often around the school.
And it isn’t just at concert practice. Quite often I have found myself wandering past playmates and breakfast club to hear pupils (and occasionally staff) warming up for another school day. It seems they have found just dance on the internet and are making full use of the great sound and large screen. Here is a typical scene currently.
There were some decent dance moves present on this occasion – and a few questionable ones of course.
The school has been inundated with a variety of visitors this week. As always they have commented on how polite, engaged and enthusiastic the pupils are.
In particular this week the focus was on welsh. The school hosts a weekly Welsh assembly, led by Mrs C Jones, Mrs J Walker and the Criw Cymraeg. Within this session the pupils watch welsh related videos (often starring the pupils speaking welsh), learn their phrase of the week and sing welsh songs and the national anthem. A welsh advisor for the county came to visit this and was very pleased with what she saw.
We also had a visit on Wednesday afternoon to look at elements of welsh around the school. From displays to the welsh that pupils speak to each other in class. Again the team were impressed by how on task the children were and of the quality of their welsh language skills. Well done to the pupils and the staff for their effort.
This week also saw non-uniform day with a collection of items requested from the PTA. These items will go towards the Christmas Fair which will take place on 4th December. As always we greatly appreciate the hard work of the PTA and to all the families that have donated something so generously. My office is full of this stuff at the moment.
Finally, as always, it was a pleasure to walk into Years 1 and 2 this week and see the creative work going on. Below are some scenes I stumbled on this week.
It is hard to believe that the time has come again to start warming up the vocal chords and being rehearsing for the Christmas services. But arrive it has. It doesn’t seem so long ago that we were in the previous buildings preparing ourselves for the final ever performances in the old building. Now we have a lovely new hall in which to put on these festive treats and staff are getting use to the sound systems, displays and light controls. As I walk around the school now – I can just begin to hear the odd song being song and line being delivered…and very good they sound too.
We also had our first visit by PC Reeves this Friday. PC Reeves comes in three times a year to deliver sessions to Years 2,4,6 on a variety of important topics such as staying safe online or drugs. This week Years 2 and 6 focused on the topic of drugs, whilst Year learnt about staying SMART online.
The pupils get a lot from these sessions and always enjoy them.
Gwersyllt CP 