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Autumn Winter Newsletter 2023

Autumn Winter Newsletter 2023

Autumn Winter Newsletter 2023

Welcome to the Autumn Winter Term newsletter!

We really hope you are enjoying our mobile friendly newsletter, which is the best way to enjoy all of our news in the palm of your hand.

With plenty going on and lots to celebrate, let’s get started with the of our Autumn Winter newsletter.

You can also keep up to date with the latest news by following our X (previously Twitter) here (MaestegSchool), on Instagram (MaestegSchool) and our newest social media platform on Facebook (MaestegSchoolFB).

You can also visit our website maestegschool.co.uk for up to date news and information.

#maesteg23 #motivatedtostrive

Autumn Winter Newsletter 2023

Our newsletters are an indication of the wealth of talent we have at Maesteg School and the positive attitude our learners have towards their education. I sincerely hope you enjoy reading through a selection of news from the last term as you relax over the festive period.

As always, we have been busy ensuring that our pupils are enjoying life outside of formal learning and our newsletter contains the wonderful examples of extra-curricular opportunities that thrive at Maesteg School thanks to our committed staff. From the production rehearsals of Shrek (tickets on sale soon) to our Christmas Celebration, our pupils continue to shine and make us proud. 

Autumn Winter Newsletter 2023

As ever, our children could not achieve these outcomes without your support, so on behalf of our school community, ‘Thank you’ and have a restful winter break, safe and well with your families. Wishing you a very ‘Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!’

HJ

Autumn Winter Newsletter 2023

The Criw Cymraeg have been working extremely hard to achieve the Bronze Award for Siarter Iaith. The Criw is made up of pupils from Year 7 to 11 who meet every Wednesday after school to discuss how they can promote Welsh across the school.

At the beginning of December, the Criw Cymraeg achieved the Bronze award in recognition for their hard work, organising events such as our Christmas Video, Shwmae Day, and posters for the whole school that encourage both staff and pupils to increase their use of incidental Welsh.

In 2024 the Criw Cymraeg will be working towards the Silver award by promoting Welsh within the community, so look out Maesteg town! Da iawn Criw Cymraeg and Nadolig Llawen a Blwyddyn Newydd Dda!

You can enjoy the forementioned Christmas Video below, where Blwyddyn 8MHL treat us to a version of Nadolig i bawb (Merry Christmas Everyone) – enjoy!

Year 7: Social Action Now! Celebrating Diversity with First Give UK

Autumn Winter Newsletter 2023

This term, Year 7 pupils had the opportunity to win £1000 for a charity of their choice. Through researching and raising awareness for their chosen charity, First Give UK aim to empower our pupils to take action, collectively or individually to support causes they care about. The aim is to ignite a spark of social conscience, inspiring young people to make a positive difference to the lives of others.

After several incredible presentations from our pupils, 7HTR were victorious, receiving a cheque of £1000 for the charity Diverse Cymru. Further to this, Diverse Cymru sent representatives to our school, to meet 7HTR and to find out how pupils have been raising awareness within the school community. First Give UK and a panel of judges were extremely impressed with how pupils had used their creative and researching skills to celebrate their chosen charities and share important messages around belonging and diversity around Maesteg School.

Use the link below to check out some of 7HTR’s research, including a short video interview:

7HTR: Introducing Diverse Cymru

Our First Give winners 7HTR have created a web page that tells you about the work of Welsh charity, Diverse Cyrmu. Click or tap for more info and a video that was made by our pupils!

Year 7: Autumn Winter Message Mr Davies reflects on the term...

Sticking with Year 7, Progress Leader Mr. Tom Davies has recorded a video to share with pupils and parents, to reflect on the term and how Year 7 have settled in to life at Maesteg School. Click or tap the video below to find out more:

COMING SOON Arriving in the Llynfi Valley from Far Far Away...

Autumn Winter Newsletter 2023

Corum Shakespeare Schools Festival The Comedy of Errors by Year 9, Maesteg School

Autumn Winter Newsletter 2023

“Once again, we were lucky to take part in the Corum Shakespeare Schools Festival,” explained Head of Drama, Miss Hillier. “This year, Year 9 GCSE students were tasked with the tricky text of ‘The Comedy of Errors’ but we reimagined it our own Maesteg way! The pupils worked so hard in rehearsals and this commitment resulted in a fabulous performance.”

The official appraisal from Mr Tom Barker was glowing, with pupils described as “A funny, well told Comedy of Errors from a committed, hard working cast!” To read his full review of the Gwyn Hall Neath performance, click or tap here. Da iawn pawb, an extraordinary night of theatre!

𝗕𝗥𝗜𝗗𝗚𝗘𝗡𝗗 𝗦𝗖𝗛𝗢𝗢𝗟𝗦 𝗩𝗜𝗖𝗧𝗢𝗥𝗬 Sam Watkins, Will Macleod + Harri Williams-Winn lift the Dewar Shield!

With 43 turnovers,  2 tries,  1 assist and 1 Player of the Match under his belt, we caught up with  Sam Watkins who gave us an insight on what it was like for our boys to play the Dewar Shield final at The Principality stadium.

“It was a great feeling after beating Cardiff, and the excitement to get to the final,” said Sam. “Winning the final was very overwhelming and a proud moment for myself, Will and Harri who is sadly injured at the moment.”

“It was great to share the pitch with my school friend and fly the flag for Ysgol Maesteg. Being interviewed for TV was quite nervy and I didn’t know what I was saying most of the time but everyone has told me that I spoke well. My plan is to keep going through the education and rugby pathway and see how far I can get!”

Well done Sam, Will and Harri, what an achievement! You can relive the final moments of the game in the video below:

Christmas Celebration 2023 Mrs Rees reflects on a wonderful night!

A festive evening was had by all on Wednesday December 20th when we held our annual Christmas concert at the school. There were many acts included from a rousing Carol of the Bells by the orchestra to a more alternative Christmas choice of I Won’t be Home for Christmas by the band DownCast.

Pupils from every year group performed making the event a truly inclusive one. The choir impressed with their renditions of Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas, Feed the World and pop song Thinking Out Loud, and there were many vocal solos – three by Year 13 pupils, Libbie Thomas, Olivia Thomas and Ebony Johnstone. It was fantastic to see the range of musicians show off their talents – Thomas Joyner on the Double Bass, Amelia Williams on the piano and Jack Clatworthy on the Bass Clarinet, alongside the wonderful guitarists and drummers heard in the bands – DownCast, Infra Red and Now in a Minute.

Mrs Rees, Mr Walters and all the peripatetic teachers were all extremely proud of all the pupils who performed who have given up their time to rehearse tirelessly this term. Merry Christmas Everyone! VR

Llangrannog Autumn Trip Miss Lewis reflects on an action-packed weekend...

Autumn Winter Newsletter 2023

The trip enabled pupils to use and hear the Welsh language being used outside of the classroom.

The year 8’s departed Friday afternoon, arriving at Llangrannog ready to participate in an evening full of activities. Pupils were excited to settle into their rooms for the weekend before taking on the toboggans. A little muddy but a lot of excitement as pupils raced down the slope!

After tea we were excited to be taking part in the brand-new escape room. The winning group (Poppy, Isael, Mali, Ioan, Ellsie, Harry, Lacey, Amelia, Isbelle, Ben and Olivia) broke out within 22 minutes, just 1 minute behind the record that Glantaf were holding of 21 minutes!

Saturday was full of action-packed activities, swimming, high ropes, low ropes, quad bikes, go carts, Karaoke, and a disco. The Karaoke was a highlight many pupils and teachers participated singing old classics: Don’t look back in anger, Sweet Caroline, Grease and some songs that Mrs Melbourne had never heard of! We ended the night with a film and treats in our pyjamas! Just what we needed after a full day.

Sunday morning, we finished our activities itinerary with the bag jump and zip wire! There were a lot of screams and a lot of us overcame our fear of heights- Da iawn!

It was an amazing trip in part to our amazing Year 11 Criw Cymraeg Ambassador’s – Thank you for helping and getting involved with all the activities too. Thanks to Mrs Melbourne, Miss Lewis, Miss Brown, and Mr Lam for running the trip and showing year 8’s that we also like to participate in the activities, even if we were a bit scared and achy after!

The leader at Llangrannog commented on how well behaved the pupils were the whole weekend, being polite and respectful to all the staff. They also commented on how well organised we were during the weekend as a group!

Until next time – Diolch. PL

Children in Need + Anti-Bullying Week 2023 Media + Marketing Prefect Elodie Hocking brings us her report...

Between Monday the 13th of November and Friday 17th November pupils and teachers participated in Anti-Bullying Week alongside, Children in Need. As a school we believe it is so important to participate in these events to show support to good causes and to advocate for change in these issues.

Anti-Bullying week aims to raise awareness on the effects of bullying and to show our support to people who are experiencing it. The theme was ‘Make a Noise about bullying.’ This encourages students to create change within their school, as school should be a comfortable and safe environment. To kick off the week we wore odd socks to celebrate what makes us all unique. This provided an opportunity to encourage students to express themselves and celebrate their individuality.

There was assemblies and form tutor’ lessons exploring how playful banter can result in forms of bullying. Alongside, cross-curricular activities. Our Year 7 cohort participated in an anti-bullying poster competition to allow us as a school to educate pupils on the importance on standing up for one another and the impact bullying has on people and their family. We had a bake sale to fundraise for anti-bullying alliance and had anti-bullying training sent to all staff. As a school we have a AYPD Wellbeing team. This team is there to show students that there is support available to them. We have a AYPD wellbeing team and a AYPD sports team that allows students the opportunity to improve their physical and mental wellbeing.

 21% of children who have experienced bullying have truanted school in the last 12 months. This statistic is reminds us that as a school, we must advocate for safety in school environments as we are one community and should all there for one another.  

On Friday 17th November we celebrated Children in Need. On this day, students had the opportunity to explore the benefits of the organisation of Children in Need within lessons. The charities aim is to improve the lives of thousands of children by ensuring that their childhood is safe and secure. They want to give every child the chance to reach their full potential. This is why this charity is so important as it provides vital support to children. We had a bake sale at break and lunch time which raised £110 pound for the cause. Teachers and our sixth form students were encouraged to wear pyjamas and slippers to show support. At lunch time, we played the infamous health ball where it was teachers vs students. This was such an exciting event which allowed our whole school to come together and support one another. All together, we raised £190 for Children in Need. Well done all!! 

A massive thank you to all students and teachers who participated in the events of this week. Hopefully, we have shown our community that we can support one another in a time of need.  EH*

*Mr Shaw is looking over his shoulder… Well done Elodie!

You can enjoy video highlights on Instagram from Anti-Bullying Week and CIN 2023 by clicking or tapping the button below:

INSTAGRAM

You can also enjoy our Maesteg School AYPD’s video about the new Anti-Bullying Policy here:

Movember 2023 Watch our Mo Bros in action!

Maesteg's Got Talent Year 13 pupils Olivia + Emily talk us through our talent show...

As part of our Music BTEC course, we decided to organise Maesteg’s Got Talent – a talent show for pupils within the school to showcase their abilities. In order to bring people together and create a sense of community. The Year 7 cohort had the opportunity to witness the varying acts on offer.

The acts varied from musical to comedic and even artistic, creating an inclusive environment for all involved. The event was a success and both audience members and participants really enjoyed it. This was evident through feedback from one of the judges stating it was “A fantastic event to be a part of and I’m sure it’s no doubt inspired my year group.”

After many incredible performances, the judges came to the conclusion that there was only one clear winner – Maya Lee with her vocal performance of “Satisfied” from the musical Hamiliton. Even though there was only one winner there was an abundance of talent showcased during the contest. – Emily Joyner and Olivia Thomas

Caerau Primary Christmas Party Santa comes for lunch...

Mrs Scarr talks us through a lovely festive celebration we had this week.

Pupils from Caerau Primary visited on Monday 19th December.  Staff and Sixth Formers treated the pupils to a party filled with treats, music and the main man himself, Santa Clause.  It was a pleasure to share a little magic with some very deserving young people.  Nadolig Llawen. AS 

Autumn Winter Newsletter 2023
Autumn Winter Newsletter 2023
Autumn Winter Newsletter 2023

That’s a wrap!

We hope you enjoyed our Autumn Winter Term newsletter. There is nothing more to say but to wish you all a very restful Christmas break. Stay safe, rest up and we will see you in 2024 – ‘Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!’

Autumn Winter Newsletter 2023

Contact Us

Maesteg School

Ffordd Dysgu

Bridgend CF34 0LQ

01656 815950

Email: [email protected]

Autumn Winter Newsletter 2023