NEWYDDION RHOSNESNI

Working together with you to achieve success / Gweithio gyda’n gilydd i gyflawni llwyddiant July 2016/Mehefin 2016 Issue 22/Rhifyn 22

FundraisingLead Story Headline to Preserve INSIDE THIS ISSUE: Veterans’ Standards

Separate Science Mr Kevin Whitehead, 2 Visit Behaviour Support Worker, and Mrs Angela Taylor, Music 2 Learning Coach and Progress Achievements and Achievement Co-ordinator, Epraise organised a wonderful coffee morning This successful and moving event was Competition 3 for Veterans of the Armed Forces. This followed by an awards ceremony for Winners was the start of a series of mornings Year 11 students who had successfully Student Garden which will be devoted to meeting and completed their military school 3 Project working with groups. programme at the MPCT in Kimmel Bay. Diana Award 4 Winners The veterans visited our school as part Cllr David Griffiths, Armed Forces of our support for the Champion for Wrexham Council, said: “I Techniquest Council Standards Fundraiser. Members was incredibly pleased to see young Rollercoaster 5 Challenge of the veterans associations from across people at Rhosnesni High School take joined our the time to speak to the veterans in Year 7 Skipathon 5 staff and students for a coffee morning in attendance, and the interest they aid of the Wrexham Council’s showed in what they had to say was Castle Building fundraising campaign to preserve admirable…it’s excellent to see the 6 Competition veterans’ standards. respect paid to them by such enthusiastic Lead Creative young people.” 7 School Bid Our Year 10 and Year 11 students, who are following a military school training As Headteacher, I was very proud of our WFC Winners 7 programme as part of their curriculum school community. This was a very along with colleagues joined the veterans rewarding event and it was especially Year 7 Head of in our Library and Learning Centre. They interesting for our students, who had the 7 Year Winners had the chance to learn about the role chance to hear the wartime stories and thatSecondary each Story veteranHeadline played in the Second experiences of the visiting veterans first- Attendance 7 hand. All of our students who attended Rewards World War and the Korean War. the coffee morning represented the The event raised more than £500 school incredibly well and we praise Year 11 Prom 8 towards the campaign, which will them for the contribution that they have safeguard the ceremonial standards of made to such a successful and important Transition Days 10 four veterans associations. The four event. veterans associations represented by the Athletic Teams 11 standards were the Burma Star Veterans May I take this opportunity to wish you Association, the Normandy Veterans all a very safe and enjoyable summer. Retiring Peer Association, the Eighth Army Veterans 11 Mentors Association and the Korea Veterans N D Harrison Association. Rocket Science 12 Headteacher/Pennaeth

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Institute of Physics visits Separate Science Students

Graham Perrin of the Institute of Physics visited the school on 27 April to give a Master Class to the Year 11 Separate Science students as part of their Physics GCSE. The topics were Nucleon Synthesis and Stellar Evolution, complex topics and the extra clarity of the lessons will hopefully be of use in boosting their grades in their upcoming exams. Previous Physics Separate Science students currently undertaking A Levels are applying for Astrophysics, Aeronautical Engineering and Maths degree courses. We wish both old and present pupils good luck in their upcoming exams. The Science Department

Music Achievements There have been some great achievements for our talented students in the Music department this term.

George Williams (Year 11) has recently passed his grade 4 violin piece.

Natan Sitarz (Year 8) took part in the Oswestry Youth Music Festival and passed with a Merit playing the drums.

Paige Goode (Year 11 - pictured left) took part in the National Youth Choir Training of in the Brecon Cathedral. She spent five days there with the choir involved in many different choir workshops which will prepare her for when she wants to be involved in the National Welsh Choir when she is older.

Miss E. Rogers Music Department

Parent Governor Vacancy

The Governing Body have a vacancy for a Parent Governor. If any parent/guardian feels that they can support us in this capacity, then please contact the Headteacher directly by telephone or by email: [email protected] We would welcome some new views and ideas and you will be well supported through your induction period as a Parent Governor.

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Students Shine in Epraise Student of the Year Competition

We are delighted and extremely proud to have the opportunity to announce Lauren-Jo Taylor-Fox in Year 11 has WON Student of the Year #SOTY 2016 National Competition that is organised by Epraise. Lauren-Jo was nominated by Mrs D. Payne and we couldn’t be more proud of her for winning. Well done!

Every school that subscribes to epraise had the opportunity to enter up to 4 students into the competition following nominations and testimonials from their teachers. Please visit epraise.co.uk for more information

Also Shortlisted: Ellie Porter-Ames - Year 8 Nominated by Mrs Lloyd- Williams Ryan Hamill – Year 11 Nominated by Mrs Payne Harri Lovett – Year 11 Nominated by Mrs Ingham

Student Garden Project

We welcomed the staff from The Principality last month who worked really hard in mixed conditions together with our staff and students to start the Student Garden.

The garden has been a super idea which has come together from staff and students who have worked together to come up with the idea of a student driven allotment and garden. Thanks to the great leadership of Mrs Sears, Mr Whitehead and the students who access Tegfan, along with Mrs Jones and other staff who have donated tools and gar- den equipment, the idea has moved from a plan to a reality.

Students and staff have installed a poly tunnel, a garden shed, allotment areas, tyres for planting, and insect habitat thanks to Miss Cheetham and mulched areas. The garden will grow and benches and signage will follow over the coming weeks.

The project has demonstrated how the school community can work together to achieve creative projects. Thank you to everybody for their involvement.

Mr K. Whitehead

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Year 11 Peer Mentors Win Diana Award

We are delighted and proud to announce that our Year 11 Peer Mentors were winners of the ‘Diana Champion Volunteer’ Award 2016, which is awarded to a group of young people who have worked on a voluntary basis, giving their time to improve the lives of others.

Head Peer Mentors, Lauren-Jo Taylor-Fox, Ryan Hamill and Olivia Legname (pictured above) were excellent representatives of the Peer Mentor team when they attended the prestigious award cere- mony, which took place at The CBSO Centre, Berkley Street, Birmingham on Friday 22nd April 2016.

Inspirational young people from across the Midlands and Wales, were presented with a Diana Award as part of INSPIRE Series. These outstanding young people from the East Midlands, West Midlands and Wales invested a huge amount of energy and time to improve the lives of others and receive their awards, in memory of Princess Diana and with the Prime Minister as Patron, with pride. Birmingham news presenters Elizabeth Glinka and Rebecca Wood were presenting national awards to young people set up in memory of Princess Diana

Before the award was presented, TV news presenter Elizabeth Glinka spoke very highly of Rhosnesni

Peer Mentors, saying the following; “The Peer Mentors give up their free time during and after school to support Year 7 students through their transition into secondary school. The group run drop-in sessions every day where students come for 1-2-1 support as well as a regular patrol around the school grounds. They deliver transition workshops and assemblies in feeder primary schools and take the lead on their school’s anti-bullying week activities. The peer mentors work has created a team ethos around the school with all staff and students working to create a safe and happy learning environment for all”.

There are 44 Peer Mentors in Year 11 and they have each received this outstanding award. This is an amazing achievement for them and we congratulate them and thank them for their hard work.

Peer Mentor Senior Leadership Team with their awards Standing L-R Jordan Parry, Courtney Rees, Leah Addis, George Williams, Alicia Rogers, Suphattra Wichachai, Jaspreet Singh Front L-R Head Peer Mentors Olivia Legname Ryan Hamill Lauren-Jo Taylor-Fox

Mrs D. Payne Student Wellbeing Co-ordinator

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Our Retiring Peer Mentor Team 2014-2016 We would like to take this opportunity to say a huge thank you and good luck for the future to all of our Year 11 Peer Mentors who have just left us. Thank you so much for everything you did in helping & supporting our younger students. You all worked extremely hard throughout Year 10 & 11, showing the Peer Mentors we have now, how it should be done! Thank you also to Mr Whitley-Lang, Progress Manager & to all of the year 11 form tutors for your continuous support in allowing the Peer Mentors, to be able to do their work. It has been very much appreciated.

A very special thank you goes to the Peer Mentor Leadership team for 2015/2016, for their hard work and dedication in promoting the scheme. Not only that, but in winning a national award! The Diana Champion Volunteer Award 2016! Also offering training & support to younger Peer Mentors and helping Mrs Denise Payne in the day to day running of the scheme. Believe me she definitely couldn’t have done it without you! You were all an absolute credit to Ysgol Rhosnesni and yourselves, true ambassadors for our school and you will be very much missed. We wish you all the very best for the future.

Our Retiring Head Peer Mentors Our Retiring Deputy Head Peer Mentors Our Retiring Senior Peer Mentors Olivia Legname, Ryan Hamill, Lauren- Sam Baker, George Williams, Courtney Jaspreet Singh and Jordan Parry Jo Taylor-Fox Rees Leah Addis, Suphattra Wichachai, Alicia Rogers To Our Retiring Peer Mentor Team 2014-2016 Goodbye and good luck but most of all…

THANK YOU!!!

Year 7 Skipathon 2016 On Tuesday 19th April the whole of Year 7 came together with staff to skip for two hours to raise money for Nightingale House. In total Year 7 raised a massive £640! Year 7 worked as a year group and showed brilliant sportsmanship throughout the afternoon.

Pupils skipped in teams of five to try and complete the most skips in the year. In total Year 7 accomplished over 51,000 skips which is the new Year 7 record!! Yes the 2016 Year 7 are now Rhoesnesni High School record holders! Thank you to all pupils, young leaders and staff involved.

Miss S. Cheers PE Department

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Year 7 Model Castle Building Competition

Over the course of the last term Year 7 pupils, taught by Mr Gareth Roberts and Mrs Cheryl Hughes, have been working hard building model castles. The project was part of Year 7’s Themed Curriculum unit on ‘Made in Wales’ and focused on the development of castles from 1066 – 1500. Mr Roberts and Mrs Hughes would like to thank everyone who took part for the incredible effort put into the task. Some pupils even built castles from cake - very tasty, but no good against a trebuchet! The standard of work produced was exceptionally high, demonstrating a lot of thought, planning and creativity. Every pupil who submitted an entry has been rewarded with E-praise points, with the architects of the winning entries receiving chocolatey treats for their efforts. The top 3 from each form taught by Mr Roberts and Mrs Hughes are listed below:

7R1 7Y2 7Y1 1st Amy Finn Callum Jones Klaudia Jakubas, Wioletta Chmielewska, Weronika Sykala 2nd Aleksander Puk Ella Wilbraham Aimee Bretton 3rd Wiktoria Cameron Parry Julia Paluch Komischke

Congratulations to our contest winners and a massive ‘thank you’ to everyone who contributed to and supported the castle building project.

Mrs C. Hughes Year 7 Progress Manager

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Lead Creative School Bid In February we applied for the Lead Creative Schools Grant from the Arts Council of Wales. The scheme promotes creative learning through the arts. The aim is to provide students with a “well- rounded, rewarding and motivational learning experience.” This helps to make the arts available to all children and embraces creative practice in the classroom. I am delighted to report our joint bid with our local cluster schools, Hafod Y Wern, was successful and we have been awarded £29,000 to develop a creative arts project linked to our school priorities.

Wrexham Football Club Winners

Ffion Hunter and James Reynolds took part in the Year 7 WFC Literacy and Numeracy Programme, run by Rob Morris (pictured right). Rob awarded the pupils for consistent hard work and continued development throughout the programme this term.

Year 7 Winners

Daniel Ellis, Maja Mlodak, Lydia Stubbs and Adam Williams were awarded with cinema tickets after the EPraise Draw for high consistent high achievement over the first half of the summer term. Well done!

Mrs C. Hughes Year 7 Progress Manager

Attendance Rewards The latest Attendance Rewards go to the following students:

Prom King - Joe Hayes (£20 Topman voucher) Prom Queen - Rebecca Duffy (Prom makeover voucher) Improve your attendance competition - Ben Linney (£40 Xbox voucher)

Year 11 weekly prize winners - Kayley Gibson, Liam Griffiths, Preston Williams, Jessica Davies, Elise Parry, Ross Carter, Sally Prince, Miasha Sarikaya, Morgan Bailey. Mystery prize winners - Morgan Bailey, Sally Prince

Girls attendance group winner - Alannah Douglas (Pandora and Starbucks), Holly Peers (Beauty Hamper) Improvement in punctuality - Niobe Stott (Starbucks)

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Year 11 Prom Class of 2016

Friday 1st July saw the Class of 2016 Prom at the Lion Quays Hotel and Spa near . Over a hun- dred students attended the event with family and friends witnessing their arrival, which included luxury cars, an ice cream van and a canal boat! Inside The Lion Quays, students were all entered into a raffle with the main prizes being 3 android tablets along with a number of smaller prizes. A sumptuous three course meal was served, and everyone danced the night away. The students behaviour throughout the night was impeccable, and they can only be described as being a credit to themselves and everyone who knows them.

The purpose of the Year 11 Prom is to reward the students for all their hard effort and excellent behaviour throughout the year. It has been a privilege being their Progress Manager. May I thank all the parents and students for their continued support and I wish them every success for the future.

Mr C. Whitney-Lang Year 11 Progress Manager

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Goodbye and Good Luck!

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Transition Days 2016 Ysgol Rhosnesni have just had the pleasure of successfully running our Secondary Starters Transition Week for the third consecutive year. The aims of the week are to support pupils in reducing the anxiety of transition between Year 6 and Year 7.

Over 3 days, 122 Year 6 pupils attended their three day transition at Rhosnesni High School. All pupils were involved in a variety of sessions such as Mathematics, Science, Art, History, Geography, Mr Phormula, Techniquest and The Happy Puzzle Company. We also look at meeting people, conversation skills, making friends, problem solving, developing support mechanisms, finding our way around a new large school and understanding timetables.

We were yet again so impressed with all our visitors who took on this challenge exceptionally well. As the photos show any barriers about meeting new people from different schools were soon ignored and all pupils represented their Primary schools exceptionally well. All pupils enjoyed their experiences here and are looking forward to their start at Ysgol Rhosnesni.

We are looking forward to seeing you all in September.

Mrs C. Hughes / Mrs V. Brackenbury

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Year 7 and 8 Athletics Congratulations to all the Year 7 and 8 Athletics Teams who represented Rhosnesni High School on Tuesday 5th July at Queensway. A huge well done to Ffion Hunter who became the Year 7 Wrexham Discus Champion and to Josie Sanders who broke the Javelin record whilst becoming Wrexham Champion for Year 7 Girls.

Year 7 Girls Athletics Team Year 8 Girls Athletics Year 7 Boys Athletics Team Year 8 Boys Athletics Team Holly, Ella, Cleo, Kaitlin, Isobel, Team Aleks, Jacob, Harry, Warren, Jack, Joe, Luke, Jacob, Ben, Owen, Wiktoria, Josie, Ffion and Oliwia Milly, Lainey, Ellie, Kasey, Morgan, Thomas, James, Levi Kieran and Jay Erin and Libby and Harley PE Department

Techniquest Rollercoaster Challenge

Forty Year 3 pupils and staff from Hafod Y Wern Primary School and 7Y2 pupils were involved in a transition morning organised by Miss Smith from the Science department. Annie Lloyd, Dawn Wilde and Genni Williams from Techniquest Glyndwr ran the Rollercoaster STEM challenge on the 21st April in the main school hall. 7Y2 pupils took part in the challenge and Peer Mentors helped throughout the event. Pupils were put into teams, which competed against each other to build their rollercoasters. Teams planned, designed, shared information and brainstormed ideas before the prop shop opened providing teams with the vital resources to build their rollercoasters. The rollercoasters were judged by Miss Smith and Hafod Y Wern Primary School staff.

Winning rollercoaster teams with prizes and certificates

We would like to thank all who were involved on the day, all pupils thoroughly enjoyed taking part and we look forward to future events taking place at the school.

Miss S. Smith Science Department

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Rocket Science Year 7 space biologists have finally completed their 6 week long experiment and uploaded their results to a national data base where scientists from the UK Space Agency will compile and analyse the results from over 8000 schools across the U.K. The students worked to a strict rota during breaks, lunches and after school to ensure that the plants were properly watered, rotated and cared for during the five weeks. Each seedling was assigned a letter and number code, and 9 measurements were required over the 35 day period collecting data such as germination date, plant height and number of leaves. The students have gained key horticultural skills during the experiment such as sowing, watering and general plant care as well as scientific skills including randomisation and careful measurements.

Daniel and Dan labelling each Daniel counts how many seeds have Proudly displaying their space seed pod. sprouted while Lucy carefully records biologist passes. the results.

The seeds which travelled to the international space station with Tim Peake on the 2nd of September, returned to earth with astronaut Scott Kelly and cosmonauts Mikhail Kornienko and Sergey Volkov on the 2nd of March. Scott Kelly who has an identical twin is part of an additional study to see the effects of space travel on the body and mind.

As well as the 100 seeds from space, the students also grew 100 seeds from the same batch, which had been stored on earth for the six month period. The experiment is a blind study and as of yet we do not know which packet of seeds had travelled to space and which remained on earth (although our bet is on blue for the space seeds). The final day for the experiment was Tuesday 24th May on which we counted how many of our plants were alive and healthy and entered all of our results onto the Royal Horticultural Society’s website. The students involved were; Daniel Ellis, Daniel Dean, Lucy Tyrie, Mia Davies, James Gaulton, Garron Lloyd, Zac Boothby who were assisted by Tyler Lewis in Year 8.

The Science Department

Dates for your Diary:

1st September - Training Day 2nd September - Training Day 5th September - Term Opens 28th September - Open Day/Evening 20th October - Half Term Closes 21st October - Training Day

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