Christmas Edition /thecyfle
On Friday 18th December 2015, Newtown High School will be saying goodbye to two inspirational members of staff who have guided our school to the success it is today. Mrs J Pryce, Headteacher and Mr S Waldron, Deputy Headteacher will be retiring after 12 years and 17 years respectively at Newtown High School. Along that journey we were privileged to be able to assist Presteigne in keeping education there ensuring that all students have a safe, secure and outstanding education. They were also instrumental in our most recent achievement - the best GCSE results ever for our Newtown Campus which we obtained this year. We wish them all the best for their retirement and thank them for the outstanding contribution they have made to our school, and the lives of young people in our area for over a decade.
MEET THE TEACHER MR WALDRON NEWS CHRISTMAS SPORT RUGBY
TheCyfle - Page 1 EDITORS PUBLICITY COMMITTEE Mr R Williams and Mr J Mitchell Hannah Owen NEWS EDITOR Alice Butler Danielle Chaney Abbey Carter Nicole Jackson SPORT EDITOR Logan Ricketts Ellie Williams Abbey Carter LLAIS CYFLE EDITOR Amy Davies Alice Butler Chloe Megan Ralph Jack Bright ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR Ellie Williams Owen Thompson Esme Morris PHOTOS EDITOR Owen Thompson Esme Morris Lowri Francis Eve Connah
Christmas Charity Fayre
Inside Dear Parent/Carer,
I have been asked to write a few words to mark my retirement after twelve years as Head Teacher of Newtown High School. When I started my career as a teacher in Powys in 1980 I had little idea that I would still be here in 2015 but I am delighted that this is how it worked out. It has been a privilege to have worked with the young people in Powys for over 35 years. Spending my working days with our pupils has been a source of joy to me. Some of you who are reading this today sat in my classrooms in Welshpool, Caereinion, Llanidloes or Newtown during those years! I shall never forget the wonderful memories of pupils, past and present, and I thank you for those memories. For the last twelve years I have been privileged enough to serve as Head Teacher of Newtown High School. I have been proud to lead a school that has done its best to be inclusive and to try its best to live CYFLE. I have very much enjoyed these last twelve years in my role as Head Teacher. We are a truly comprehensive school and it’s been great to work with all ages and personalities. As a community we have shared and celebrated many good times. We have also experienced some difficult times but we have come through those by supporting and helping one another. I would like to express my sincerest thanks to everyone who has contributed to the school during the time I have been here. I believe that everything we achieved here has been the result of the key partnerships that exist between pupils, their parents/carers and all of the staff in school. I would like to wish Newtown High School parents/carers and pupils all the best for the future. Enjoy the festive break. I hope 2016 is a good year for all of you.
Judith Pryce Head Teacher
From the whole team @ The Cyfle we wish you a Happy Christmas and a Fantastic New Year On Monday 14th December our annual Newtown Campus Christmas Charity Fayre was held in the School Hall. With lots of students taking part, it was a great event packed full of cakes, bracelets, bottles, tie dye and some lovely and creamy hot chocolate. It was a great evening and was lovely to see so many young people raising money in memory of former student, Kalun Longman.
We raised a fantastic £358
On Tuesday 8th December Newtown Campus held their Christmas Concert in the school hall. The concert held a huge variety of talent from right across the school, from our newest members singing in year 7 with a brilliant solo from Catrin Bufton up to our oldest in the upper sixth, including Adam Jones who performed his annual Michael Bu- ble rendition. The concert saw 3 new groups performing this year who have not per- formed before including; The Boomwhackers, Newtown High School Samba Band and Parti Merched yr Eisteddfod who sang Can Y Ser. A huge well done to the staff band and an even bigger thanks to Miss Jones who performed a beautiful rendition of Calon Lan to the tune of The Rose. Adam Jones' cheesy jokes kept everyone going through the evening. A great time was had by all and we look forward to seeing you all next time. A huge thank you to everyone involved in the concert. Nadolig Llawen a Blwyddyn Newydd Dda I chi gyd.
Due to our deadline to print we could not include the John Beddoes Christmas Concert but it will feature in the next edition. Alarm clocks had been set early the whole group arrived in plenty of time for an early start to the NEC in Birmingham; arriving in good time to attend our design seminar. Here we met a fashion buyer for River Island, an independent designer for a pop up shop in Dorothy Perkins and the lead designer for the cat walk show at Clothes Show Live who explained how their designs worked and what they looked for when employing people. Next we were all able to visit the exhibition halls to look at the Fashion Worlds predictions for the coming year; with smaller cat walk shows, showing new young designers and looks from the key high street fashion stores. This year’s exhibition showcased new designers with the opportunity for them to show their styles and ideas in pop up styled shops. Vintage styling still ranked with a focus on upcycling and re using clothes and accessories. Traditional high street stores also displayed shopping mall boutique styled shops. There were still plenty of Cheap and Chic stalls of fashion clothing and accessory bargains or freebies to please everyone’s taste; plus loads of tips on customising and makeovers to give new ideas for our fashion looks. Finally the red carpet fashion show with a real fashion forecast to start telling us how to put the latest looks off the high street together a must for all fashionistas. A number of photos also evidence the high celebrity presence there, so Newtown High School was again right up there at the top, with some of last year’s Newtown students appearing in this year’s official Clothes Show TV advert. A number of 2016’s fashion statements have already been included in year 11’s GCSE projects, predicting next year’s design trends so Newtown students can be a fashion step ahead. A lot of bargains were purchased by many, some coach seats were over brimming with bags of goodies on the return journey.
Laura Shinton - 2nd Individual Medley, 2nd Breaststroke Sam Holwill - 2nd breast stroke and 3rd Butterfly Jack Williams - 3rd freestyle Tom Jarman - 2nd backstroke and 3rd freestyle Lauren Tomey - 3rd backstroke Seph Tomley - 3rd freestyle Boys relay - 3rd medley and 3rd freestyle
Young Farmers Eisteddfod Olivia Jones and Lowri Evans came 3rd with the Humorous duet.
Well done to our Year 7 and 8 Gymnastics team who have been hard at work competing in the South Powys Under 14 Tournament. The team came 1st Overall which is a fantastic effort and all of them got Medals and Certificates to take home. They did our school proud so well done to all!! For this edition we decided to interview and chat to Mr Waldron
What is your favourite colour? Red or Green
Who is your favourite artist? Queen
Who is your favourite rugby player? Alun Wyn Jones or Gareth Edwards
What is your favourite day of the week? Work days!
What do you enjoy doing in your spare time? Rugby, reading, watching sport
What is your favourite rugby team? Wales
What is your favourite food? If you have a teacher you Lots! want us to meet, let us know!
Thank you for chatting to us! Contact one of the members on the 2nd page f
For all the latest from Newtown High School like us on Facebook at
facebook.com/thecyfle New Kit Our under 14 and under 16 rugby teams have both received new playing kit, kindly sponsored by local companies Hughes Architects and EOM Electricals. Thanks both once again for your generous support!
Welsh Cup rugby results Both our under 14 and under 16 teams completed their Welsh Cup North Powys round matches this half-term, playing against Llanidloes, Llanfair and Llanfyllin. In Llanidloes, our u16s had a tough day at the office coming off second best to their Llanidloes counterparts 36-0. Our 14s were triumphant, winning 21-19 in a closely- contested affair, with two tries from centre Joe Hughes and one from wing Tom Davies. Full-back Rhys Morris provided the extras with the boot. Against Llanfair at home, our u16s produced a better display against strong opposition, before succumbing 17-7. Our try was scored and converted by man-of-the-match Lewis Jones. Our 14s won 19-14 with tries from Joe Hughes, second-row Ryan Hughes and scrum-half Morgan Jones. In their final game our 14s played Llanfyllin in the rearranged fixture from earlier in the term. This was a potential winner-takes-all affair with the possibility that Newtown, Llanfyllin and Llanfair all could be level on points come the end of the game. In the end, our boys just came up short, losing 14-7 in blustery conditions in a very close game, with our try coming from Morgan Jones, converted by Joe Hughes. As all three teams were now level on league points, it went down to points difference as the deciding factor, with Newtown just missing out on qualification to the next round by 2 points!! Welsh Cup Football results Our U15 boys football team progressed to the next round of Powys matches in the Welsh Cup, where they faced Builth Wells at home. After a close first half, Newtown pulled ahead in the second half to finish comprehensive winners by 5-1, with goals coming from Tomos Williams, Ismail Ozdemir and Dray Rogers. This result meant that they went on to face Welshpool in the Powys final of the competition. Playing most of the football throughout the game, Newtown went ahead four times in the match, with two goals from Tomos Williams, a 30-yard screamer from Ismail Ozdemir and Tai Jones, before losing out late on 5-4 in an evenly-contested game. North Powys Football Tournament Winners Newtown campus pupils enjoyed a successful day at the recent annual football tournament held at Latham Park. Out of the six schools, both our year 7 and year 9 teams won their respective age-groups, with our year 8 team finishing third. Special mention must go to our year 9 team, who won all their games, only conceding one goal along the way. Da iawn bechgyn!
Year 7 team – Ethan Holloway, Sam Davies, Lewis Jones, Charlie Mainwaring, Jez Wheel- don, Euan Morris, Connor Cullen-Jones, Dylan Downes, Tom Vaughn, George Lister.
(Above) Year 8 team – Owen jones, Declan Ward, Niall Bentley, Rhys Humphreys, Lloyd Davies, Will Lister, Luke O’Brien, Tomas Parry, Ryan Morris, Dan Briskham, David Box, Ethan Jones. (Left) Year 9 team – Isaac Davies, Joe Hughes, Tom Davies, Ethan Thomas, Keane Marks, George Jones, Tai Jones, Ronan Davies, Ethan Grigg, Lewis Gorman, Rhys Morris, Jacob Davies.
John Beddoes Campus’ Lewis Jones has won the Final of the Boys 12 And Over Section of the 2015 Shelter Cymru Welsh Mini Masters Golf Competition. He played in 2 qualifier competitions at Llandrindod Wells and Prestatyn and won to get to the final . The event was held at the Celtic Manor Golf Resort on the Montgomerie Course. There were 9 children in the final from all over Wales. It was played over 9 holes and he had an excellent round of 38 shots. Lewis is a member of Knighton Golf Club and is noted as fast become one of best young golfers in Wales. We look forward to following his progress, well done Lewis!
Rhian’s dad first encouraged her to start Archery with him in the local club, Hafren Foresters Archery club back in January. With improving form, she decided to do two heritage shoot competitions during summer 2015 in which she won a second place medal. The second competition lead to meeting a level two coach who asked her to join a special training session two hours on a Saturday at the National training centre in Lillishall. The coaches saw a unique talent in her and talked to a group of Olympic coaches. They then invited Rhian to go to Lillishall every Tuesday at 5pm to have coaching from past and current GB coaches. Well done Rhian (Rhian Costall, Year 10) The Year 8 Football Team competed in the South Powys 7-a-side Football Tournament held at Brecon HS in November. The boys did extremely well and were unbeaten all day. They beat Maesydderwen 6-0, Gwernyfed HS 3-1, Builth HS 3-1 and Crickhowell HS 3-0. They were very unlucky to draw 2-2 against the hosts, and eventual winners Brecon HS, narrowly missing out on goal difference! Lewis Jones was the stand out performer of the day scoring over 10 goals!
Good luck to the Year 9 football team who will be playing Llanfair Caereinion HS in the Powys Final of the Welsh Schools Football Association Cup on Thursday 17th Dec. The game will be a repeat of the final played 2 years ago where we narrowly lost 3-1. The year 9 football team convincingly beat Builth HS 7-1 and Bro Hyddgen HS 3 -0 in their previous games. The year 7 team also beat Bro Hyddgen 9-0 with Nathan Weale scoring an incredible 7 goals, and Taylor Francis scoring the other followed by an unfortunate own goal. The year 7s were unlucky not to progress to the area final after a narrow 3-1 defeat to Builth in October. Powys Schools Gymnastics Pupils from the Newtown Campus recently attended the Powys Schools Gymnastics Competition in Newtown. The standard was very high, and there was a record number of entries this year. Our pupils were a credit to the school, and performed very well. In the individual competition, Tayla Trigg achieved a 1st place and Katie Shackleton achieved a 3rd place – ardderchog merched! Well done to our U12 girls team who came 2nd, however massive congratulations to the U14 team who came 1st and went on to represent Powys at the Welsh Novice Gymnastics Finals in Cardiff. Even though they did not achieve a top 3 finish in Cardiff, the girls performed exceptionally well after a VERY early start! Well done to all participants. Swimming The Powys Schools Sprint Swimming Gala was held at Maldwyn Leisure Centre on Friday 20th November. There was a large entry from the Newtown Campus, who all swam extremely well and were very good role models for the school. Some notable results from the day were; Laura Shinton – two 3rds and a 4th Sam Holwill – 4th, 5th and 6th (with Tom Jarman!) Stephanie Tomley – 5th Lauren Tomley – 5th Yr 7&8 Girls Relay Team – 2nd (5x60 sport news is continued on the next page) Well done all! Sport Powys are holding a Powys Games this year to celebrate the Rio Olympics 2016 by collating results from some of the competitions and tournaments that are being held in Powys – these results will put us very high on the leader board!
Last week the John Beddoes Campus Athletics team were in action in the South Powys tournament in Brecon. The event was well attended with schools from all over Powys competing in a wide range of competitions. Many of our team were competing against older pupils from other schools, but we still had some brilliant results which can be seen below, well done to all involved!
U13 Girls st Hannah Bright Triple Jump 1 nd 6 Lap 2 nd Holly Dodgson Triple Jump 2 rd Long Jump 3 Mair Hughes Triple Jump 3rd U13 Boys st Nathan Weale Triple Jump 1 nd 2 Lap 2 nd Jamie Beech Vertical Jump 2
Josh Deakins Triple Jump 3rd U15 Boys st Chris Rowlands Long Jump 1 st 4 Lap 1 North Powys Badminton Tournament nd Triple Jump 2 st Pupils from Years 7 to 10 recently took part Evan Lee Triple Jump 1 nd 2 Lap 2 in the North Powys Badminton Tournament rd Speed 3 at Maldwyn Leisure Centre. Teams from all Bounce 6 North Powys schools entered this year. st Jordan Price Speed 1 The boys Yr 7&8 team came 3rd, and the Yr Bounce nd 9&10 team came 5th. The girls brought Rhys Morris Speed 2 home the medals this year with both Yr 7&8 Bounce and Yr 9&10 teams coming 2nd. Huge congratulations! RGC South U15 selection Ten Newtown High School pupils have been selected in the RGC South u15 Dewar Shield squad for this season, they are Freddie Jones-Hoare, Keesaw Moss-Davies, Joe Hughes, Liam Morris, Rhys Morris, Cai Jones, Kyle Rowlands, Ryan Parry, George Wilde and Brandon Price. The squad trains weekly in either Newtown or Dolgellau and also attends training camps in the RGC development centre at Parc Eirias in Colwyn Bay.
Have a fantastic Christmas and a joyful New Year from all of us at Newtown High School
The Cyfle - Christmas Edition - Edition #9 Edited by Mr R Williams and Mr J Mitchell [email protected] / [email protected] Join us on Facebook (fb.me/thecyfle) or Twitter (@thecyfle)