July 18th, 2016
Dear Parent / Guardian
As the academic year draws to a close I would like to remind you that your child’s academic report is available on Moodle. If you would like to receive a hard copy, please contact the main office. May I also thank you for your continued support throughout the year. Parental support of parent’s evenings is exceptionally good and your willingness to support your children in attending a host of extra-curricular activities is excellent including allowing your children to attend educational visits. Our attendance of 95.3% is amongst the highest in Cardiff which is largely a parental responsibility which you evidently take extremely seriously. Thank you.
It has been a particularly busy year with some notable highlights, these include a memorable Christmas service, our production of The Sound of Music and our annual young musician and young singer of the year competitions. We have again performed well on the sports fields and a large number of pupils have enjoyed a range of rewarding residential trips during the year including Bronze and Gold Duke of Edinburgh award expeditions. Another memorable occasion was the visit of Professor Sally Holland, the Children’s Commissioner for Wales who attended our conference on making schools more inclusive to LGBT+ pupils. I am indebted to my staff who arrange all these activities and to the pupils who participate in these fantastic opportunities.
The next academic year will bring its own unique set of challenges not least a new timetable in September! We will welcome several new members of staff, but it is with sadness that we say farewell to a few familiar faces. I would like to thank the following members of staff for their dedication to the school over the past years and wish them well as they pursue their careers elsewhere: Mr Eifion Davies, Ms Jenna Martin, Miss Heledd Morgans, Mr Daniel Harries and Mr Phylip Nicholls.
Many of our pupils will find it difficult to practice the use of the Welsh language over the summer holidays and I would ask parents kindly to think of ways to gain access to the language over the summer in order that their children are not at a disadvantage when school resumes in September.
Our focus on ‘inclusion’ is as strong as ever and we make every effort to support every pupil with all their learning needs. Additional funding for schools is dependent upon the number of pupils in receipt of free school meals and I would encourage any parent or guardian who is un-clear about the criteria for the grant to contact the school for advice.
We will ensure in September that every pupil has the correct school uniform; if you need to purchase additional items of clothing please visit YC Sports on Crwys Rd or Cowbridge Road East during the holidays. If your child is keen to have their ears pierced, please could that be arranged for the beginning of the holidays as we have a strict no jewellery policy, and if your child would like a different hair colour, please could you ensure that the new colour is a ’natural’ hair colour!
I would like to wish everyone a safe and happy summer holiday. Best wishes to all those pupils awaiting final results in August and I look forward to welcoming everyone back to school during the first week in September.