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.