Autumn Term | Tymor y Hydref

Issue 01

A message from Mrs Davies

It has been a busy half-term, to say the least! Pupils and staff have benefited from the return of school trips and visits, workshops on the school site and a brand new extensive extra-curricular programme. It has been wonderful to see pupils engaging with new arts, sports and creative activities and we are grateful to the governing body for agreeing to finance transport an hour after school ends so all pupils can access these. Our brand new after-school homework club has been launched and runs every day after school for an hour so we would encourage pupils to make use of the staff and resources (including Chromebooks) in the Learning Resource Centre (LRC) to focus on their independent learning.

We have lots of exciting plans for the next half term, too, with rewards trips at Christmas, our Awards Evening on the 24th of November, and the launch of the Big Bocs Bwyd Bargoed. Finally, keep your eyes peeled for our newly launched Ffrindau/Friends of Ysgol Heolddu group as we look forward to engaging with our families and friends to fundraise for our new school minibus.

We wish you a relaxing half-term break, stay safe over Halloween and Bonfire Night and we look forward to welcoming our pupils back on Monday, 7 November.

Mrs N Davies

Pennaeth | Headteacher

English Department / Adran Saesneg

Books stood on its side on top of a table in the LRC.

Pop-up Book Shop

In the summer term, we were lucky enough to host our first pop-up bookshop at Heolddu. All pupils were able to choose a book of their choice, from a range of over 70 different titles. These included popular fictional texts, non-fiction texts and graphic novels. An independent bookshop in Pontypridd, Storyville Books, supported us by supplying the books, which were kindly paid for by the Books Council of Wales. Some of our School Senedd members also visited the Storyville Book store to choose some new titles that they thought other pupils would enjoy reading in our relaunched LRC.

Buzzing about Books

This term the BookBuzz project has returned to the English department! Pupils in Years 7, 8 and 9 were able to choose a book of their choice to read for pleasure and are beginning the start of each of their English lessons by reading this text.

There were 17 different titles which have been chosen by The Book Trust this year; they included Marcus Rashford: You Are A Champion, Alex Rider, Factopia and Bad Panda. Pupils have loved having the choice of what they would like to read and some pupils have even completed their books and moved on to another of their choice! The best part is that they have been purchased by the school and all pupils will be able to keep these books completely free of charge.

Isabella Cole (13), Harry Hancox (8), Gwennan Bartlett (9), Freya Perry (9)

Humanities Department / Adran y Dyniaethau

The Humanities faculty would like to welcome Mr F. Whitefoot who will be with us until January. We would also like to congratulate the Humanities pupil of the month winners:

Textiles / Tecstilau

A new and exciting opportunity has emerged in the Design and Technology Department. Textiles will now be a subject under the Design Technology rotation.

What is Textiles?

Textiles is a vibrant and dynamic course that teaches skills such as weaving, felting, stitching, appliqué, construction methods, printing, and much more! It gives students the opportunity to experiment and explore through a practical environment. Since the start of September Miss Probert has been delivering workshops on sewing machines. Students have been developing their understanding and putting this to use through activities to build their confidence when using the new machinery.

What pupils already think about Textiles:

Charley T. (Year 8)

“I have learnt from Textiles, how to thread a needle and how to do different stitches on the machine such as zig-zag and straight stitch. I really enjoy the lessons as I like learning new skills.”

Harry H. (Year 8)

“I have learnt how to use the sewing machines independently. Miss Probert has taught me how to set the machine up and use it to sew different stitch lines. Dw i’n hoffi Textiles!”

Cassie M. (Year 8)

“I have really enjoyed learning about Textiles. I have learnt lots of important things such as setting up the sewing machines and how to use them! I like how interesting Textiles is and what we do! Dw i’n hoffi Textiles achos mae'n hwyl!"

Textiles is looking for YOUR HELP!

To build up resources we’re reaching out to see what donations can be collated within the Heolddu community.

Pupils sat in a row infront of sewing machines.

A pupil sat at a table using scissors to cut designs in paper.

We’re looking for the following donations:

Clothes Horse
Ironing board
Old pillowcases
Old/ unwanted clothes; cotton, denim, felt, fleece, corduroy, silk, suede, faux leather, etc. (Cut into small A4/A5 sections preferably)
Yarns

Fruit and Vegetable nets
Plastic bags
Coloured/patterned paper and card
Unwanted art and craft supplies
Buttons, Sequins, Beads
Measuring Tape
Plastic wallets

Look Out For:

Term 2 Miss Probert will be organizing an after-school Textiles Club! Students that are interested should express their interest and sign up. The signup sheet will be found at the entrance to Room 62, Miss Probert’s Classroom/ DT area. Keep your eyes peeled for more information.

Miss Probert: FProbert@heolddu.org

Languages Department / Adran Ieithoedd

European Day of Languages: Food Tasting

On the 26th of September, we celebrated the "European Day of Languages". To mark the occasion, we arranged our annual food-tasting event at break time. Pupils had the opportunity to try a range of foods from around the world. On offer were a variety of breads, pastries, olives, exotic fruits, charcuterie, and a selection of cheeses. The food was thoroughly enjoyed by both pupils and staff, however, the olives were an acquired taste! In language lessons, pupils also completed games and activities in different languages to test their linguistic knowledge. A huge thank you to Mrs Morris and all the staff who helped out on the day.

Pupils picking from a red buffet table with a variety of foods from around the wall.

Year 7 French Cultural Project

This term, Year 7 French classes have had the chance to produce a piece of work based on an element of French culture. We have been amazed by the creativity of our pupils, who have produced some very impressive pieces of work. We have received models of French landmarks, research projects on French history, painted canvases and much more. They have demonstrated a keen interest in an area of French culture and utilised their creative and research skills in a variety of ways. We would like to say 'Bon travail!' to all our year 7 learners for their enthusiasm and hard work.

Welsh and French Pupil Language Ambassadors

This term, we opened Pupil Language Ambassador applications to year 9 pupils and we received a number of outstanding applications. After much deliberation, we have now chosen our eight Pupil Language Ambassadors for this year. Our Heolddu Pupils Language Ambassadors are Cory-Louise Pickering, Freya Perry, Megan Gardiner, Charlotte Heywood, Grace Harding, Thomas Palmer, Lois Gould and Gwennan Bartlett. Our Pupil Language Ambassadors help raise the profile of Welsh, French and other international languages around the school. They help plan and support language events and launch their own initiatives. They have already been helping us mark Diwrnod Shwmae and are currently making plans to celebrate the World Cup next half-term. We wish our pupil language ambassadors 'Bonne Chance' and 'Pob Lwc' with their future endeavours.

Diwrnod Shwmae

October 15th was Diwrnod Shwmae, a day encouraging people to learn Welsh and to use the language in everyday life. To celebrate, learners in Years 7, 8, and 9 have been competing in the 'Sialens Shwmae', where they have been set the challenge of using the Welsh language across the school in return for ClassCharts points. The challenge is running between Monday the 17th and Wednesday the 26th of October, and a £15 'One4All' shopping voucher will be awarded to the learner in each year group who acquires the most incidental Welsh points during this period. We have been overwhelmed by the enthusiasm of the pupils so far and are incredibly proud to hear so much Welsh being spoken around the school. Da iawn, pawb, and pob lwc to all our competitors!

Bright and bold poster with yellow and blue text infront of a purple and pink background.

Multilingual Project

Year 7 students took part in a transition project run by the Welsh and French departments where they had the opportunity to learn about the advantages of being multilingual. Students demonstrated their knowledge of languages around the world and developed an understanding of how non-verbal communication creates as much of an impact as the words we speak. We thoroughly enjoyed learning about their language journeys so far, and can’t wait to see how their language skills develop throughout their time at Heolddu!

Heolddu-Fest 2022

The sun was shining for our first-ever Heolddu-Fest back in July during Activities Week. The quad was buzzing with pupils enjoying a range of stalls, activities and snacks. Many thanks to our brilliant School Senedd members who run so many successful stalls. A huge thank you to Mr Silcox, Mr Oldridge and Mr Scaccia who took part in Sponge-A-Teacher. We managed to raise a fantastic amount of £360. Many thanks to all staff and pupils who helped make the afternoon a success. Kacie-Jo Cross (Year 11) did an awesome job on the decks. Diolch, Kacie.

Watch this space, Team Senedd are already planning our Christmas Fayre!

Mrs Wilkinson

Three male teachers standing infront of a brown-brick wall, dripping with water.

Mr H. Silcox, Mr E. Oldridge, Mr P. Scaccia

LRC / CAD

Two pupils scanning books into the library software.

Bethan Cluer and Joseph Blackmore (8A)

The LRC re-launched on the 3rd of October in a new spacious room at the heart of the Heolddu. It has been buzzing with pupils borrowing books, particularly from our new exciting ranges of graphic novels, fiction novels and, non-fiction texts. Over 60 pupils have volunteered to be pupil librarians, using their training to effectively maintain and categorise the book stock and assist pupils who have come to enjoy the LRC. The new library software system makes it much easier for pupil librarians to issue and return books to their peers and monitor the book stock.

The LRC is open daily during break, lunch and after school for Heolddu’s homework club. Congratulations to year 7 for the highest book borrowing so far, ardderchog!

Colourful bookshelves with books neatly placed on each shelf.

Inclusion and Wellbeing / Cynhwysiant a Lles

The Baxter Project is Back!

Say hello to our school well-being dog Teddy! Teddy is with us every Thursday and he is based in the school hub. The Baxter Project relational work is ongoing, peer-to-peer, and trusting relationships are established in a low-impact, low-stress, therapeutic and nurturing environment. The pupils and staff love having Teddy with us and he definitely brings lots of smiles and joy around the school building.

Health and Wellbeing Project

We have recently teamed up with EAS to start a ‘Health and Wellbeing Project’ with some of our learners. The project is based at Tarragon Allotments with its aim to promote positive wellbeing through authentic outdoor learning experiences. The volunteers at the allotments have made us feel very welcome and we are really excited about working with them on this local community project.

Careers Support: Which Way Now?

On the 18th of October, our Year 11 Pupils visited the ‘Which Way Now’ careers event in Caerphilly. This event gave our learners an opportunity to explore and discuss potential post-16 opportunities for education, employment, and training. The students were commended by the staff at the event for their excellent behaviour and enthusiasm, too. A great day was had by all.

The Well-Being Ambassador Programme has started with 15 pupils in KS4 and KS5 completing the training in the first half term of the year.

The pressures and demands faced by children and young people, combined with a lack of resources and effective coping strategies, are resulting in an epidemic of mental health problems. With an increase in depression and anxiety, along with self-harm and panic attacks among children and young people, over half of all mental health problems start before the age of 14. There is an urgent need to provide support to children and young people at an earlier stage, to help them to flourish. This is why we have invested in a fully accredited programme to train our pupils as well-being ambassadors!

Our approach to developing positive mental health creates the following positive outcomes.

Reduces symptoms of stress, depression and anxiety.
Develops self-help skills that improve mental well-being.
Prevents escalation of emotional issues.
Improves communication, interpersonal skills and relationships.
Supports engagement in, and attitude to, learning.
Increase confidence and develops self-awareness.
Reduces workload pressures in schools.
Decreases absences and improves attendance.
Reduces the use of negative coping strategies such as self-harm.

We cannot wait to train our next cohort of pupils to help us try and create a true ‘Team Heolddu’ approach to pupil wellbeing!

Everyone is Welcome Here!

We have recently commissioned two pieces of inclusive artwork in our school. The pieces were designed by our pupils and some students actually helped with the artwork too. Heolddu promotes diversity, equity, and inclusion and we wanted to celebrate this with some fantastic art around the school. The artwork was completed by local man Mark Shepherd AKA ‘Walls by Paul’. We absolutely love it, we hope you do too!

Ffrindiau/Friends of Heolddu: Heolddu PTA

We would like to thank all of our parents who attended the coffee morning. It was fabulous to see so many people arrive and we really enjoyed talking to you about the school and the support that we offer to the pupils. We have now formed our brand new PTA and we are so pleased about this as we really do value the input and support we have from families and parents. Our next Coffee Morning will be held at the school on Wednesday 30th November 9.30-11.00 am. Please pop by for some coffee and cake, we would love to see as many parents as possible there.

If you would like to be part of our school PTA, please contact Miss Astley at GAstley@heolddu.org.

PE / AG

Special Mentions

Year 10 School Rugby Match

An impressive 36-19 win for our Year 10's in the cup. Although it was their first game in 2 years, they are still going strong. MOTM: Tyler Rees for stepping a year up and putting in a great shift. Da iawn!

Wednedsay 12th October

Glamorgan Valley County Netball Squad

Very proud of one of our sports leaders. A big congratulations to Ellie Price (Year 11) for getting into the Glamorgan Valley County Netball Squad.

Monday 3rd October

Girls Afterschool Football Club

Another great football session after school with the girls and Miss Blowers! Attendance is improving every week and we finally have enough for a fixture! If you want to be involved, come along to training, every Wednesday afterschool.

Wednesday 12th October

BE.FOOTBALL Partnership

We are very excited to launch our girls' football initiative alongside FAW Trust and YouthSports Trust. We have selected our 'influencers' who will be undertaking bespoke training on increasing participation in school. These girls love sport and football as much as the PE staff and we know they will do a great job. Look out for next term's newsletter for more updates.

The FAW’s mission is to support the delivery of the vision by growing the game and raising standards.

This programme aligns directly to providing a flexible and appealing playing offer, by broadening the appeal of football with new and alternative formats of the game according to people’s needs and desires.

To find out more, visit their website here.

MOKI Fitness Bands

Moki is a wearable that records the volume and intensity of children's movements. After securing funding to purchase the bands, we have tracked the pupils steps throughout this half term. We are super excited to announce our Top Moki Movers. Well done to all Year 7 for taking part and we cant wait to see who will be the Top Moki Mover next half term!

Top Moki Movers

1st Place

703,577 total steps

2nd Place

420,091 total steps

3rd Place

171,076 total steps

The Return of the Prom

Class of 2022

Wow, what a few years it has been for the class of 2022!

On June 25th Year 11 danced the night away celebrating their successes with their glittering prom held at Ystrad Mynach Dance Studio. The Year 11 students glammed up and looked fabulous in their dresses and suits; the staff scrubbed up well, too.

Everyone had an incredible night and it was so lovely to see the students and staff enjoying themselves. There were many highlights of the night including staff awards, Mr Johnston’s “trendy” dancing, not to mention King Prom and Queen voted for by staff that went to Christian Bosley and Abi Davies.

As you know, the last few years have been incredibly tough on staff and pupils during the pandemic. The class of 2022 certainly went through a rollercoaster of challenges and emotions. This was the perfect way to say goodbye!

Year 11, you have been an absolute pleasure to lead since 2017. I wish you all every success in the future!

Miss Crandon

English Teacher

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