Headteacher/Pennaeth Pontarddulais Road

Alan Tootill Gorseinon

SWANSEA

Tel: (01792) 533066 SA4 4FG

Fax: (01792) 533366

July 2012

SUMMER TERM NEWSLETTER

Dear Parent / Guardian,

Welcome to our Summer Term newsletter packed with details about some of the many activities that

have taken place at Penyrheol over the last three months.

I was at the Old Bailey on Saturday, 24th March, for all the right reasons! Our debating team was

competing in the UK final of the Bar Mock Trial. The team performed extremely well and, it seemed

to me, definitely won two of its three heats, with the other being too close to call. However, they

didn’t progress to the grand final, which was won by the team that had run Penyrheol very close.

When we received the scoring sheets some weeks later, we discovered that Penyrheol had actually

been judged to win all three heats, so should have been in the final, but there had been a mistake in

the adding up by one of the judges! So we were robbed...

Three other highlights this term were the Year 11 boys football team winning the Swansea Schools

Cup (on penalties), the excellent Summer Concert and the first Fashion Show at Penyrheol for about

17 years. I hope you were able to come and see the talents of our young people at one of these events.

We currently have an Art exhibition in our foyer, so please drop in to have a look at this if you like.

The Welsh Government has given us three educational priorities for the next few years: improving

pupils’ literacy and numeracy skills and reducing the impact of deprivation on achievement. There

will be initiatives taking place relating to these three issues at Penyrheol in the 2012/13 academic

year. For example, if your son / daughter is behind with aspects of literacy and numeracy, they will

be attending catch-up classes as part of their curriculum.

Full attendance at school continues to be a further high priority. Each month two pupils who have

achieved 100% attendance that month have received a £25 voucher for the store of their choice. The

70 pupils with 100% attendance for the year will each receive a voucher for the Vue cinema. Please

note that 97%+ attendance is excellent, 93%+ is good and 90%+ is satisfactory. Anything below 90%

is unsatisfactory – even 90% means missing a full day every two weeks on average throughout the

school year. The aim for all must be 100% attendance.

I wish every friend of Penyrheol Comprehensive School a very enjoyable and restful summer

holiday, whatever the weather!

Yours faithfully,

ALAN TOOTILL

Headteacher

Important Dates

Term Term

Begins

Term Ends

Mid Term Holidays

Begin

Mid term Holidays

End

Term

Begins

Term Ends

Autumn

2012

3rd

September

2012

26th

October

2012

29th

October

2012

2nd

November

2012

5th

November

2012

21st

December

2012

Inset Days Autumn Term 2012

Monday 3rd September

Tuesday 4th September

GCSE Results Day—Thursday 23rd August 2012

The school will be open from 9am for Year 11 to collect their GCSE results and from 10am for Year 10.

Please note that a full calendar of important dates and events will be put onto the school website during the school holidays.

For this information and more, please go to:

www.penyrheol-comp.net

This term we say goodbye to several members of staff.

Mr M Elliot (Geography), Mr A Thomas (English), Mr M Thomas (Cover Supervisor)

and Mr W Savory (Y7 Pastoral Assistant)

We thank them for their contribution to the school and wish them every success for the future.

The Race To Read

London Olympics 2012

This year’s Year 8 Reading Challenge was a ‘Race to Read’ with all

six form groups competing for the silver trophy!

Every time a book was read the reader won either a bronze, sil-

ver or gold medal which were all worth points. The form with the

most points at the end of the six week challenge would win the

trophy. The results were as follows:

6th Place—8U

5th place—8D

4th Place—8S

3rd Place—8M

2nd Place—8R

In in 1st place …..Drum roll please…..8E

Congratulations to Angharad Weeks who was the pupil who read

the most number of books during the challenge!

Talks have been held in the library

throughout the term on various types

of careers and pupils from all year

groups were encouraged to attend.

The next set of talks will commence

in September and we are hoping to

start with a talk that covers careers

in the ‘Performing Arts’ industry.

If there is a particular career, you

would like to see covered, please tell

either Mr Milward or the librarian

and we will do our best to meet your

request!

COMING SOON… We are building up a bank of past exam papers for pupils

to use as they approach their revision period. Any pupils

who have a past exam paper they would like to donate to

the library instead of throw-ing it away, please see the librarian.

Thank you

Career Talks

Library Resource

Centre

Top Ten Authors this term were:

JEFF KINNEY

DARREN SHAN

JACQUELINE

WILSON

LOUISE R

ENNISO

N

STEPHANIE MEY-

ER

TERRY DEARY

J. K. RO

WLING

ANTHONY HORO-

WITZ

MALORIE BLACKMAN

CHARLIE HIGSON

Following a ‘drying’ up of the rain, (just in time), the Y11 leavers arrived at the

school in all their glorious splendour! As the coaches left the school, many

tearful families and friends waved them on their way!

Pupils were greeted by Staff at the Marriott hotel on a balmy Wednesday

evening and walked the red carpet to the Gower suite where the evening’s

celebrations were held in a sumptuous setting.

Jessica Thomas-Pyart sang, Corey Davies and Lewis Howells played guitar and

keyboards, along with Mr Rogers. This was entertaining and thoroughly

appreciated by everyone present. Jack Jenkins won an award for ‘best Lady Ga Ga

Impersonator’ and performed a Ga Ga dance to ‘POKER FACE’ which brought the

house down!

Pupils and staff alike posed in funny hats, glasses and boas in the hilarious

‘RENTABOOTH’. Everyone got to keep the pics taken and even Mr Tootill and

Mrs Tanner donned curious costumes and pulled ‘curiouser’ expressions behind

the velvet curtain.

A delicious 3 course meal was enjoyed by all. The room was decorated in silver,

black and ivory, with black chair covers, mirrored centre pieces, crystal nuggets

and balloons and co-ordinating ivory linen, meticulously folded in intricate

shapes as napkins. All pupils received a complementary CD with a slideshow of

pictures recording their time at Penyrheol.

Pupils danced until the wee hours, and even Mr Tootill did the Macarena and the

Cha Cha Slide. We think he has done this before….!

Every girl looked beautiful and the boys were some of the most handsome ever

seen.

So as we bid a fond farewell to Year 11, we wish them good luck with their exam

results and wish them every success in whatever they choose to do!

GCSE EXAM RESULTS DAY—THURSDAY 23rd AUGUST 2012

Results for Y11 available from 9am

Pupil Drop Off

Pupils being dropped off in the morning should be dropped off in the swimming pool car park. Par-

ents should not drive into main car park or annex car park. Parents of pupils who are mobility im-

paired will be exempt from this request, but must make prior arrangements with the school.

Pupil Pick Up

Pupils who are being picked up at the end of the day should be collected from the swimming pool

car park. Parents are requested not to park along the exit roadway as this restricts the safe flow of

traffic on to the main road and presents additional hazards for pupils and staff who leave the site on

foot.

Parents of pupils who are mobility impaired should liaise with the school and make arrangements

for the time and place of their children’s pick up. The disabled parking bays at the front of the

school are reserved for parents of pupils who are blue badge holders and taxis collecting pupils from

the STF.

On Thursday 28th June, the music department led by Mr Jonathan

Rogers, provided us with a delightful evening of music to a packed

audience. The programme was this year based loosely around the Lon-

don Olympics and the Diamond Jubilee, with most of the pieces being

decidedly British!

The orchestra played a selection of music that represented sporting

themes and the choir sang a very catchy Beatles medley amongst oth-

er things. The school Chamber Choir, led by Miss Laura Morris, was

particularly enjoyable and included pupils both past and present.

It was lovely to see our partner primary schools also performing on

stage and already making an impact on what will be their new school

and colleagues. Teachers and peripatetic staff also took part which

made the evening a real whole school event.

A special mention must go to Jessica Thomas-Pyart who gave an ex-

ceptional version of ‘Til There Was you’ from ‘The Music Man’ . It

was a beautiful arrangement and she sang it to perfection. Another

mention goes to Alex Murphy and Ellie Evans, who performed a duet

written by Alex for his GCSE music exam. Their voices blended to-

gether beautifully and it was so good to see such talent emerging

from the school!

Thanks to everyone who helped to make the Summer Concert so en-

joyable. Congratulations!

As part of their Geography GCSE

coursework, Year 10 pupils completed a

survey of the River Ilston in the Gower.

Studying the River included measuring

the shape and size of the actual river

bed load. And since we were battling

against the rain in muddy conditions, it

was a hot chocolate rather than an ice

cream on our return at ‘Shepherds’!

“Good to get some fresh air” said Aaron

Phillips.

“A worthwhile day out” was the opinion

of ‘official photographer’ Ben Smyth.

Geography

Would your son/daughter be inter-

ested in joining us for this amazing

trip?

The 6 day 5 night trip would include

visits to:

Erupting geysir at Strokkur and

Geyser Centre

Gullfoss Waterfalls

Volcanic areas and the plate bound-

ary of Europe and North America.

Swimming in geothermal Blue La-

goon and volcanic area.

A tour of the volcanic beaches of

South Iceland.

Visit to a glacier.

We will be staying at the ‘Arctic Com-

fort Hotel Vik’ in the capital Reykjavik

on a half board basis with students in

rooms of 3 or 4.

Flights are with Iceland Air out of

Heathrow.

Our provisional departure date is

Sun/Mon July 21st/22nd 2013 and

the cost of the visit is £755.

For those interested, a deposit of

£150 is required to reserve a place.

Please see Mr Hyndman to reserve

your place or request further details.

Would you be willing to volunteer one or two hours

of your time each week to work with groups of pu-

pils & staff?

Have you the vision to turn unused ground into an

allotment?

Do you have what it takes to turn the Penyrheol

Learning Lodge garden into a working allotment?

We are looking for a volunteer who is a dedicated and keen to make a difference.

Perhaps you are a grandparent/brother/sister/parent who would love to help us

transform the Learning Lodge garden into a working allotment. Our aim is use the

produce grown in our very own canteen!

If you are interested or know of anyone that would like to help, please contact

Mrs K Hammacott on 01792 566033 ext 266

Eco club has had their green fingers hard at work this term! They decided earlier on

this year to develop the garden at the learning lodge, they have already set up a small

vegetable patch, where they are growing potatoes, onions, cauliflower, lettuces and

strawberries.

Eco club also raised £37 by selling ice lollies during break. The money raised was used

to re-pot the plants outside the canteen.

Next year Eco club will be looking to further develop the garden at the leaning lodge!

Anyone with green fingers is welcome to join…Please see article below:

Sunday 10th June was ‘The Race For Life’ at the Millennium Coastal

Park in Llanelli. Women of all ages gathered together in aid of Cancer

Research.

Mrs Dyche, Pastoral Assistant for Year 8, organised a team from the school to take part

and what a brilliant day we had!

The atmosphere was electric, with the park packed with women, most of whom were

dressed in pink to represent breast cancer charities. Each participant had a note on

their back to say who they were running for. It was incredibly moving to read some of

these pledges, from children and adults who had lost a mum, dad, grandparent or child to

cancer. Those who haven't been in that unfortunate position ran in aid of a cure.

Swansea Sound and The Wave were there to spur us on and whether

walking or running the sense of achievement was immense and every-

one thoroughly enjoyed just taking part, even the bright pink poodle

pictured here!

Friday 13th, an unlucky day for some, was a great

day for the STF pupils who had the opportunity to

hold one of the Olympic Torches and meet one of

the lucky 8000 Torch Bearers – Joanna Malpas.

The pupils and staff had a fantastic lesson asking

questions, having a talk and having pictures with

the Olympic Torch.

Joanne is a survivor of Non Hodgkins Lymphoma of the pancreas and chest. She found

out she had cancer at the age of 29, just 5 months after giving birth to her son.

Joanne's life has changed significantly since diagnosis although she does consider her-

self one of the lucky ones. As such every month is a new challenge from white water

rafting to parachuting.

The 10km Race for Life was Challenge no 7. She completed the 10km de-

spite not having a pair of trainers or being able to run 100 metres 10

weeks prior to doing this event. Against all odds, Joanne has just given

birth to a little girl which has been the most wonderful news. Joanne's

positive attitude has been truly inspiring and she has been a great am-

bassador for Cancer Research UK.

As another school year comes to a close, we say farewell to our current School Coun-

cil and what a brilliant job they have done!

They had a really successful year and here are just some of the things they have

achieved:

Energy drinks now banned

Chewing gum now banned

Tea and coffee now available from the canteen during the winter months

Fruity slush drinks have been introduced for the summer months

More litter bins have been provided

Another money card machine has been introduced to the annexe

Indoor and outdoor seating introduced

School policies reviewed

This comes from listening to you and representing your voice at the council meetings.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank our outgoing Head Boy, Jack Govier,

and Head Girl, Elizabeth Platt, for all their hard work and wish them all the very best

in whatever they choose to do.

CHEWING GUM

We look forward to welcoming the above pupils to Student Voice, who will be supported by the

whole School Council made up of pupils from all year groups.

Josh Thomas

Head Boy Katie Hollingworth

Head Girl Ben Lang

Deputy Head

Boy

Bethan Jones

Deputy Head

Girl

On 5th March A ‘Fashion Show Spectacular’ was staged at Penyrheol Theatre. The collections were mainly designed and created by pupils of the school, many of whom had

made them as part of their GCSE coursework. Each collection was different; Sustainability, Baroque, Abstract, Sport, Romantic, Darling Buds, Alice in Wonderland and

finally, Britannia...the last collection being an anarchic look at British fashion and music...Ending with Katie

Hollingworth (Head Girl), dressed as The Queen, getting a custard pie in her face!

The night wasn't all about fashion, each collection also had dancers and/or performers to entertain us. Musically, we

were treated to two very different acts, local rock band, ‘Charlie’s Machine’ and Alex Murphy and Ellie Evans, with

an acoustic duet.

The pupils were encouraged to choreograph some of their own dances and did an amazing job. Special mention must go to Georgia Parry, who choreographed a contemporary

duet danced by herself and Joseff Williams (who also compered the evening with absolute charm!) Other

mentions must surely go to both Emily Jermin and Aimee Herbert for their superb ballet and Irish dance solos.

The models were all pupils and what a great job they did! Strutting up and down the runway to a varied selection of music, and not only the girls; ten year 10 boys were brave

enough to volunteer and modelled some sportswear...possibly one of the highlights of the evening!

Thanks goes to Mrs. Sian McElroy for coming up with this idea and to everyone who made the evening such a huge

success . We are thrilled to announce that £150 was raised in aid of Breast Cancer Care.

Congratulations to the following pupils who were voted for, by both

their peers and school staff.

Prefects: Aimee Benton, Alex Murphy, Amelia Picton Jones, Amy Lee Gibbons, Ashleigh Steel, Ben Mason, Ben Vincent, Bethan Cairns, Bobby Jones, Carys Brandon,

Cassie Davies, Chloe Davies, Danielle Richards, Ellie Evans, Emma John, Ffion Dunning, Georgia neyland, Georgia Parry, Grace Edwards, Hannah Francis, holly Lisk, Jack Jones, Jake Reynish, Jessica Cozens, Joe Jenkins, Joshua Rob-

erts, Katie Clayfield, Kayleigh Thomas, kyle Davies, lewis beck, Lois Edwards, Luke Dyce, Megan Evans, Megan Jones, Megan Taylor, Nicholas Devoy, Nich-olas Martin, Rhian Butler, Rhodri Williams, Samantha Hunt, Samual Coady, sarah powell, Scott Macey-Ridgeway, Siobahn Martin, Steven Jones, Thomas

Morgan, Tia Marie Harley, Tia Walker, & Victoria Robinson

HEAD BOY HEAD GIRL

Josh Thomas Katie Hollingworth

DEPUTY HEAD BOY DEPUTY HEAD GIRL

Ben Lang Bethan Jones

SENIOR PREFECTS

Alex Myles Jessie Rosser Ben Davies Rebecca Street

Many of our Penyrheol pupils are involved in outside school activities. If

you would like to shout about it...here’s your chance!

Sport? Drama? Scouts? Music? Dance? Chess? Whatever it is you do...let us know!

Congratulations to Lewis Howells (11D) for getting Black Belt

in Karate (WCKA). We wish him good luck, as he goes on to train

as a Karate Instructor.

Tia Walker (10E) will be representing Wales this month in

the FIBA under 16’s European Womens Basketball Tourna-

ment in Gibraltar. We wish her all the very best of luck.

Having recently competed in the Irish Open Dance Cham-

pionships in Dublin and won three 1st places in Irish

Dance Competitions in West Wales, Aimee Herbert (9C)

qualified to dance in the World Championships in Wex-

ford, where she finished in the top 35 in the world for

the under 15’s!

Did you know that the newsletter is available to view in colour and online?

Visit the school website at: www.penyrheol-comp.net

Megan Evans (10R), has been selected to compete for Great Britain at

the Junior Kickboxing World Championships.

Already Welsh Champion, Megan is delighted to have been included in the

team and says that this is something she's been working towards for a

long time!

Great picture Megan!