YSGOL GYFUN TREDEGAR COMPREHENSIVE SCHOOL summer NEWSLETTER 2024

A message from our Headteacher

As the end of the summer term approaches, it is time to reflect on what a fantastic term it has been!

We have had a series of great activities going on, from residential trips to day visits to in-school activities, including our first Duke of Edinburgh team, who successfully navigated their way across fields and mountains on their 2-day expedition.

Our Year 11 did themselves very proud throughout what was a long and tiring exam season, giving their absolute best, and it was a pleasure at the end of June to enjoy a fabulous Prom, with learners all in the finery letting their hair down! We will now look forward to celebrating their GCSE results on 22nd August.

Our Transition days went really well with our new cohort really impressing staff and students alike with their kindness, curiosity and determination as they overcame any lingering nerves to settle in well to the school. They threw themselves into their lessons and activities with real enthusiasm and certainly made a great first impression!

One of the greatest spectacles of the term was our stunning 4-night ‘sell-out’ production of ‘Les Misèrables’ in the Beaufort Theatre. Such an event was a true testament to the brilliance and talent of all learners and staff involved, and for those of us lucky enough to have witnessed the show, the hard work, perseverance and creative excellence was simply overwhelming! Très magnifique!

We have also enjoyed our first Sports Awards Evening, with our wonderful guest speaker Paul Thorburn, which allowed us to recognise and celebrate the outstanding sporting talent and prowess that we have here in our school.

As well as celebrating all the successes of the learners this term, the school are delighted to inform you that we have secured the Right Respecting School Award (Gold), the Allegiance Award for Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, the Siarter Iaith (Silver), the Anti-Bullying Quality Mark (Gold) and the reaccreditation of our NACE award for More Able and Talented provision. Absolutely outstanding achievements and a huge thank you to everyone involved.

It would be remiss of me not to recognise and wholeheartedly thank the work of the phenomenal staff here in our school. Teachers, Teaching Assistants and all our Support Staff work incredibly hard all year to realise our vision and ensure we provide an outstanding, holistic education for every pupil. Our learners have the most fantastic educational experiences, and we are rewarded by the amazing behaviour, engagement and enjoyment of nearly all our students.

Finally, I would like to thank you, our Governors, families and friends, for supporting us throughout this academic year and for fully embracing our school motto of ‘Working Together for Success’.

Have a wonderful summer break and I will look forward to seeing our learners on Wednesday September 4th.

Mrs C. Leaves

ENGLISH

We would like to congratulate our wonderful pupils on their hard work this year. We have been working very hard in English as we have been developing our skills in reading, writing and spoken communication

Year 7

Year 7 have been engaging with great gusto and aplomb with our exciting schemes of learning. This term, they have been learning all about the origins of language, and why and how language continues to evolve. They have been reading one of the oldest literary texts in the history of the English language - the adrenaline-fuelled Viking tale of Beowulf!

Year 8

Year 8 have really enjoyed becoming astute film and media critics through their media study topic of Speilberg’s classic ‘JAWS.’ Pupils have analysed aspects of the horror genre, as well as how Speilberg subverts these expectations for effect. Some pupils have probed further into studying topics to do with ‘Disasters,’ providing an excellent ESDGC link and seeing how effective communication can help us in times of trouble.

Year 9

We would like to congratulate the year group on the completion of their first NEA for GCSE English Literature! The pupils have completed an in-depth study of Shakespeare’s Macbeth, and have written an analytical essay on a key question of the play. Pupils showed immense fortitude and resilience when engaging with such challenging material, and we are very proud of them.

Year 10

Firstly, we wish to congratulate Year 10 on the completion of their GCSE English Literature qualification; we wish you all the very best for results day! Since their last exam, Year 10 have been busy beginning their new GCSE English Language specification. They have been introduced to exam style questions, and have been developing their extended writing skills. When the pupils return as year 11 in the autumn, they will be completing the two NEAs for English Language - an individual presentation and a group discussion. We can’t wait to hear their ideas!

The English department wishes you all the best for a lovely summer.

The 11th May was World Fairtrade day. To mark this occasion, the Eco Schools committee sold Fairtrade chocolate.

Thank you to Ms Bowd in continuing to support the gardening club. They have been involved in a number of initiatives and have done an excellent job in maintaining the school garden and planting trees.

A separate ESDGC, Eco Schools and Fairtrade Schools newsletter is published on the following Eco Schools social media platforms:

@EcoSchoolsTCS on Twitter and ecoschools_ygtcs on Instagram

PE

This year has been extraordinary for our PE department, marked by numerous achievements and memorable events. We hosted our first prize evening with the legendary Paul Thorburn as our esteemed guest, adding prestige to the occasion and inspiring our students. Our girls' U14 team showcased their exceptional skills by reaching the latter stages of the Rosslyn Park tournament, a testament to their hard work and dedication. Additionally, our sports days were a resounding success, with enthusiastic participation and spirited competition culminating in the Red House emerging as the overall winners. It's been a year filled with triumphs and unforgettable moments, setting a high bar for the future.

Football

A fantastic start to their football journey at Tredegar Comp for Year 7 boys with numbers at training regularly in excess of 30 pupils. This has meant Mr Rees has been a position where he has been fortunate to field 2 teams. Throughout the season the team has not been beaten in regular time, playing some good flowing football in scoring over 20 goals and conceded only 5. All players give their best effort in games and really want to do the team proud. There is an excellent team spirit as demonstrated when coming back from deficits in games and then players superbly supporting each other after a penalty shoot-out loss. The boys have been a credit to the school and each other and Mr Rees is really excited to kick off the season in Year 8.

Year 8

Mr Watkins ‘Barmy Army’ turned in some excellent team performances throughout the year. They narrowly lost out in the second round of both the Welsh cup and Gwent cup in what can be both described as ‘nailbiters’; where the boys were on the wrong end of the late winning goals. These boys really enjoy their football and continue to show excellent dedication in attending training sessions in all-weathers, displaying a consistent desire to improve their skills.

Year 9

The Year 9 boys’ team were once again the school side who progressed furthest in the national schools cup competition. The boys made final of the SE Wales regional section scoring 23 goals in 4 games. They are a very talented footballing side who boast some exceptional individual performers. The boys remained focussed on a good run in the Welsh cup again next season.

Year 10

Year 10 boys made the third round of the Welsh cup this season where they met some impressive opposition. More recently, the boys put in some fine performances in the recent SE Wales 7 a side competitions. Most pleasing was the progress they made throughout the tournament not only in terms of results but in their application of football understanding as the day progressed.

Year 11

The Year 11 boys were the schools first entrants in the newly arranged Yr. 11 National cup competition, where, led by Mr Strand, the boys topped their group by winning all three games. The boys then lost out in the last 16 to a strong side that ended up making the final. The team has a demonstrated a really strong bond with lots of boys representing the town, in amongst other squad members featuring at academy and national level.

In a lovely way to end their footballing journey at school, where the boys have shown excellent commitment and talent throughout, it all ended a little sourly for the boys however. After ‘giving it the big one’ throughout Year 11, their final game as a school side seen them lose out to the staff team. All jokes aside, we would like to thank the Year 11 boys for their dedication and efforts in representing the school throughout their time at school.

U13 Girls

The girls' football team has shown incredible dedication and perseverance this season, putting in countless hours of practice and giving their best effort in every match. Despite the results not always going in their favour, the team's spirit remains unbroken, and their hard work and commitment to improvement is truly commendable. Their unity and determination on the field demonstrate that success is measured not just by the scoreboard, but by the passion and resilience they bring to the game. We have no doubt the girls will continue to develop and some opposition will be in for a shock in the autumn term.

U15 Girls

After a bye in round 1 and then a hard fought victory in round 2, the girls were awarded a tough away draw where they battled with credit and lost out narrowly to a side that progressed to the latter stages of the competition. Most pleasing with this team is that along with some pupils excelling at academy and national level, the vast majority of girls play for the local town team which mean they show impressive togetherness, heart and spirit whenever they play.

Year 11 Girls

We must give a special mention to our Year 11 female footballers who have been excellent ambassadors throughout their school football journey. Back in Year 8 they lost in the QF of the Welsh cup and then in Year 10 the girls lost out in the SF of the Welsh cup where 1 player from the opposition made all the difference. Reaching the QF and SF of the national cup is a remarkable achievement for us being such a small school in terms of numbers and evidence of the girls’ talent and attitude. Well done girls, thank you for all your efforts and thank you for the memories.

Cricket

Our 3 successful girls' cricket teams have played in numerous tournaments this year. In total we have played 8 tournaments, playing over 20 games where the girls have been able to develop and showcase their skills. The girls have done extremely well in these tournaments, narrowly missing out on going onto the next stage. We have had some excellent performances from our teams this year. The girls have gone the extra mile with their commitment to attending after school clubs, developing themselves and skills and putting this into performing well in the tournaments. I look forward to see how the girls teams get on next year. Da Iawn Merched!

Sports Day

History

We have had a wonderful Summer Term in the History Department:

Year 7

Year 7 have fully embraced their ‘Humanities’ themed lessons looking at the theme ‘Suffering’ in their History, Geography and RVE lessons. In History, we have been looking at examples of man-made disasters such as Pearl Harbor, the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Chernobyl and Aberfan. The pupils were then able to make an informed decision on whether natural disasters or man-made disasters are the worst type of suffering. The New Curriculum is centred on 4 key purposes and this theme certainly fulfilled three of these in great depth as pupils certainly became; ‘ambitious, capable learners’, ‘enterprising, creative contributors’, and ‘ethically, informed citizens of Wales and the world’. All pupils thoroughly enjoyed this topic area and also able to make evaluations on whether they believe man-made disasters or natural disasters caused the most suffering. Learners also had the opportunity to experience the 5G Immersive Environment in Ebbw Vale to gain a greater understanding of the discrimination towards the Jewish people and other minority groups through a virtual tour of Auschwtiz-Birkenau.

Year 8

During the summer term, Year 8 have been looking into the events of the John F Kennedy assassination as part of their Humanities theme ‘Events and Experiences’. Pupils first were introduced to a crime scene and had to work through the clues to identify who our victim was. We then looked at the events of the day that took place and the Warren Commission Report findings. All pupils were fully engaged in this topic as they were eager to investigate in order to develop their own theory on who assassinated JFK after being presented information about the different groups of people in America who may have agreed/disagreed with his policies as well as looking into his relationship with various power groups such as the CIA, FBI, Mafia etc.

Year 9

Year 9 have finished looking at their GCSE Unit USA 1910-1929. Their knowledge and understanding of the topics covered has developed and they now know about key events that effected the American people and have applied that knowledge to their past paper test where we are seeing a clear impact on progress through their results. They have shown great maturity in starting their GCSE course independently and have already displayed all of the requirements needed to be successful at GCSE level; determination, hard working, resilience and a desire to succeed and a thirst for learning! They will move into Year 10 focusing on Unit 1 on Depression, War and Recovery in Britain from 1930-1951.

Year 10

Year 10 have also had a very busy term and have now completed both their Unit 1 and 2 studies and have sat their GCSE examinations on these units this May and June. They have all worked very hard this year and have completed a lot of past papers and undertaken revision for regular class tests on past paper questions. We are confident that they will all reap the rewards in their results this summer with grades they can be very proud of and will repeat this same work ethic as we begin our next Unit of work in Year 11 on Hitler’s Nazi Germany.

Year 11

As a department, we would like to take this opportunity to thank our year 11 GCSE History classes. They have been an absolute joy to teach for the last 5 years. Their love for History and the current world around them is fantastic! Their knowledge about current affairs and the links they are able to make with the past in these situations has led to many great debates in the classroom that we have thoroughly enjoyed being a part of! We wish every one of them every success in their futures as I know you are all going to do great and wonderful things - “Dream big, aim high, continue to work very hard at all times and you are going to go far!”

NHS 76th Year Anniversary

We have also celebrated the 76th Year Anniversary of the NHS during the first week of July. First of all, our Year 7 cohort were given the fantastic opportunity to be taken around Tredegar Town Centre for a carousel of activities such as attending The Tredegar Workmen’s Medical Aid Society Heritage Centre, Tredegar Museum, Bedwellty House and a walk along some of the Aneurin Bevan Trail.

Eleven of our History Ambassadors also took part in a debate competition with pupils from Brynmawr Foundation School to discuss current topics regarding the NHS. A massive well done to all who took part, it was pleasing to see how passionate our History Ambassadors were and how much they valued the NHS.

Expressive Arts

Les Miserables School Production

The Faculty staff have been extremely busy designing, making and painting, set, props and some costumes for our amazing production of Les Miserables. The sell out four night production set in Paris required 14 10ft boards to be painted and included the massive Barricade scene. As well as the personal props such as the doll for Epinone and the ABC Café sign, it was a pleasure to see the stage light up every evening with the outstanding casts performance set against out stage designs. A massive thanks you to all staff for support, we thoroughly enjoy working with Music and Drama to produce such a fantastic school production to be proud of. The support we have had has been amazing and following a week in the theatre we are so proud to receive such amazing reviews and kind messages thank you.

Rights Respecting School

This year has been particularly exciting for us as a school as our Rights Respecting School journey has continued to develop. I am excited to share that in May we were awarded the gold Rights Respecting School Award by Stuart Whiffen, our regional advisor from Unicef UK.The Rights Respecting Schools Award is granted to schools that show commitment to promoting and realising children’s rights and encouraging adults, children and young people to respect the rights of others in school. Gold is the highest accolade given by UNICEF UK and shows a deep and thorough commitment to children’s rights at all levels of school life. The Award recognises achievement in putting the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child at the heart of a school’s planning, policies and practice. A Rights Respecting School is a community where children’s rights are learned, taught, practised, respected, protected and promoted.

To put this achievement into perspective: we are the first secondary school to achieve this accolade, following being the first secondary school to achieve silver. Also, we are the second secondary school in South Wales to have achieved this.

It is important to note that this is not the end of our journey, but the start of the next stage. We will need to be re-accredited in three years, and over that time our focus will be on sharing the work we have done with other schools to support them in embedding children's rights at the heart of everything they do as well as continuing the work we have started in our school.

At all stages of our Rights Respecting journey, pupils have been at the center of its development. An example of this is when Year 9 students worked to create and deliver ‘Rights Respecting Language’ tent cards for each member of staff to use as part of their daily work.

I must extend a special thanks to the School Council members of the past two years who I have worked very closely with, as well as the 2022-2023 and 2023-2024 Pupil Leadership Teams. The Pupil Leadership Team has worked hard every other Tuesday to educate our school community about their rights as part of the Right of the Fortnight initiative and I am excited to continue this work over the course of the next academic year.

Skills (literacy)

Wow, what a year it has been for progress, growth and success in literacy at Ysgol Gyfun Tredegar Comprehensive School. I, Mr Llewellyn, must take this opportunity to thank the parents and carers at home for their unwavering support over the course of the year as well as the Literacy Team, Mrs Williams-Griffiths, Mrs Williams and Mrs Pearsall, for all of their hard work over the course of this year and for making me feel so welcome following my appointment to the role of Literacy Coordinator in January.

At the start of the year we made a big change as we moved from myON and Accelerated Reader, as our reading and testing platforms, to Sparx. Sparx has allowed us to be able to monitor our learners’ progress as well and ensure that all of our learners have consistent access to high quality texts that are appropriate for their individual reading ages. To support this initiative, Mrs Williams-Griffiths and I have run Sparx Reader Club every Monday and Wednesday which has given students the opportunity to receive extra support from us after school alongside access to technology. The battle for the top spots on the SRP leaderboard has been fierce and the winners are outlined below:

This year, we once again visited Hay-on-Wye for our third trip to the Hay Festival. I must extend a special mention of thanks and immense gratitude to Mrs Williams-Griffiths for organising this valuable enrichment opportunity for our learners. An excellent day was had by all: we visited authors such Ashley Hickson-Lovence, Anthony Horowitz, Daniel Morden, and Frances Harding to hear speeches delivered about what inspired them to become writers, the content of their books, as well as having the opportunity to visit them afterwards and get copies of their books signed. As a team, we commented on how well the pupils behaved again for the third year in a row; there is nothing more rewarding for us as staff than seeing the festival bookshop open its doors and our learners eagerly running inside to discuss books with their peers. No pressure, Mrs Williams-Griffiths, but I am very much looking forward to our fourth trip to Hay next year! .

For the first time, we have also been involved in the transition activities with year six. The Literacy Team and I were extremely excited by the prospect of being able to get to know Year 6 in their own primary schools to launch our “All About Me” themed literacy transition project. As part of the project, students from Year 7 and 9 returned to their respective primary schools to provide support to the Year 6 learners. The students acted as fantastic role models for Ysgol Gyfun Tredegar and were a credit to our school.

We have also just selected our Literacy Ambassadors for 2024-2025. The strength of the applications made this process very difficult. As a team we are very much looking forward to working with the ambassadors for literacy success. Congratulations to the following students:

Amelia

Isabelle

Molly

Grace

Olivia

Roxy-Mae

Summer

Olivia

Thomas

Sienna

Eva H

Bethany W

Jasmine P

Anti-Bullying

At Ysgol Gyfun Tredegar Comprehensive School we believe that all pupils have the right to respect and to feel safe. Bullying of any kind is unacceptable at our school. If bullying does occur, all pupils should know how to deal with such incidents and who to tell.

We have a zero-tolerance approach towards any form of bullying. We encourage an open culture where everyone within the school community has responsibility for reporting and recording incidents of bullying. Every reported incident will be taken seriously and appropriate action taken with those involved. Anti-bullying is everyone’s responsibility!

What is bullying?

The ABA (Anti-Bullying Alliance) defines bullying as: “the repetitive, intentional hurting of one person or group by another person or group, where the relationship involves an imbalance of power. Bullying can be physical, verbal or psychological.

It can happen face-to-face or through cyberspace.” Bullying is not relationship conflict or ‘banter’.

What to do if a pupil is being bullied?

TALK TO SOMEONE!

There are Anti-Bullying Ambassadors who have been trained by Kidscape. To find out who our ambassadors are, please check our school TV screens, anti-bullying notice board and form class posters. Further information on the role of the ambassadors can be found on the school website. Year 7 and 8 form classes have anti-bullying ambassadors with them during registration time every Wednesday accompanied by members of the Pupil Leadership Team.

Pupils can communicate with any of the ambassadors who will inform the relevant members of staff. Pupils and parents are reminded to report any incidents to the relevant Learning Coordinator. Incidents will be recorded and investigated as per school policy.

Designated Safeguard Leads will be involved if matters persist.

A copy of the Anti-Bullying policy can be found on the school website. Mr P Maddy is the link governor for Anti-Bullying.

There is a dedicated section on our school website for further information.

Interactive anti-bullying information tool for parents and carers

https://www.anti-bullyingalliance.org.uk/tools-information/advice-parents/interactive-anti-bullying-information-tool-parents-and-carers

This is a free interactive anti-bullying information tool for parents and carers. There has been some amazing feedback, with over 85% of parents finding the information they were looking for. It aims to give you information about bullying in an interactive way.

Anti-Bullying Gold Award

We are thrilled to announce that our school has achieved the prestigious Gold Anti-Bullying Quality Mark, making us the first school in the UK to receive this honor! This remarkable achievement reflects our unwavering commitment to creating a safe and inclusive environment for all our students.

This accomplishment would not have been possible without the dedication and hard work of our incredible staff. Your involvement today was crucial in us achieving this award.

I would also like to extend my heartfelt thanks to our pupils, who have shown exceptional commitment by talking about our positive and respectful school culture. Their involvement in our anti-bullying initiatives has been truly inspiring and instrumental in achieving this recognition.

Here are the comments from the accreditor:

he Anti-Bullying Quality Mark is a national scheme which endorses how good schools are at preventing bullying. It challenges them to establish effective, sustainable anti-bullying policies and strategies.

Ysgol Gyfun Tredegar Comprehensive School is the first school in Wales to achieve the ABQM-UK Gold Award because staff, students, families and Governors demonstrated that anti-bullying has had a significant impact on the community.

The pupils and staff have worked really hard to build a safe and supportive environment for sharing their feelings, experiences and concerns. This means that pupils are far less likely to get involved in bullying behaviour. They have also built a culture of respect and understanding which means that trusting friendships and adult-pupil relationships can thrive.

We would like to congratulate Mr King and his colleagues for their resilience and dedication to securing this really impressive achievement for the Tredegar community, as well as the governors, pupils and parents/carers for their commitment to anti-bullying. We hope that the Gold Award recognises their efforts and inspires them to continue to strengthen their anti-bullying policy and practice for the benefit of the local community.

Please feel free to edit this text to suit different purposes and readers.

I look forward to continuing to work with you and your colleagues in the next school year.

ASD Base

Our third term at Tredegar Base is complete, drawing to an end a great first year. Through hard work and perseverance the learners now have an inclusive timetable which we will continue to grow as we go into year 8.

The learners did themselves proud in their accomplishments in sports day and showed determination to perform well.

The learners had the opportunity to attend the history day and really enjoyed the local experiences.

We have explored Bedwellty park and had a meeting with the manager to discuss the new park that is going to be installed.

We was very fortunate to have the opportunity to visit Ebbw Fawr LRB to meet the learners there and form new friendships. The social experience and nature walk was great fun.

Next term we will continue to update our garden and our new learners have already started to plan their ideas.

Transition visits have been taking place as we prepare to welcome new learners in September, our current learners have shown their new peers around the base and supported them into the main school for lessons.

Enjoy the holidays and see you refreshed in September.

Mr Rees

Year 8

I cannot believe we have now reached the end of year 8, and our learners are ready to embark on the challenges of year 9.

Attendance

In a close battle, 8E currently sit at the top of the Yr. 8 Form attendance league with the remaining forms in close pursuit, especially 8I who are only 1% behind. .

Despite their form not winning the attendance league, it is important to mention that there are many pupils who have an impressive individual attendance.

Impressively, there are 5 Year 8 pupils currently on 100% attendance.

Year 10

Year 10 have continued to work hard, show resilience and apply themselves diligently. So many of the year group have approached their first year of GCSE examinations with maturity and positivity and so many have continued to embrace the wide range of enrichment opportunities we endeavour to provide here at YGTCS. I am excited to watch the year group continue to grow as young people and continue to succeed and flourish in Year 11.

Attendance

Maintaining good attendance helps enable pupils to achieve and become the very best version of themselves that they can be. Attendance has been a central focus of ours throughout the year and each week we have reflected upon and celebrated attendance. School attendance and learner success go hand-in-hand and pupils with attendance over 93% are most likely to get good results and achieve their full potential. This will be of paramount importance next year as the year group sit more GCSE examinations and complete their final year of compulsory education. Pupils who have achieved an outstanding 100% attendance this academic year are Ianis Constantin and Fletcher Jones. This is an exceptional achievement and one we proudly celebrate. Well done to both of you!

Pride Point Badge Awardees

At the time of writing, 50 pupils from the year group have been awarded their Bronze badge for achieving over 350 Pride Points.

2 pupils from the year group have been awarded their Silver badge for achieving over 700 Pride Points. These are Ianis C and William K.

Huge congratulations to you all; keep up the excellent work, Year 10 role models!

Pupil Leadership Team

Huge congratulations are in order for our recently appointed Pupil Leadership Team.

Head Girl: Tilly J

Head Boy: William K

Deputy Head Girl: Seren P

Deputy Head Boy: Owain W

Senior Prefects: Mahika S, Tea W, Harvey W, Nyrie B, Frazer T, Alesha M

Prefects: Rosie L, Libby P, William K, Oliver C, Evan R, Evan W, Rhiannon W, Tilleigh E, Izzac T, Caelan L, Millie C, Connor S, Ryan S, Imogen D

I wish you all every success in these prestigious roles next year and know you will do the roles complete justice and the school, the year group and yourselves proud.

Enrichment

Recently, the entire year group experienced a taster day at the Blaenau Gwent Learning Zone. The day allowed all pupils the opportunity to explore vocational and A level pathways and the year group thoroughly enjoyed browsing the course exhibits. It certainly gave many food for thought and the day was very effective in imparting knowledge of routes and pathways beyond leaving school. The pupils were an absolute credit to our school and it was great to see so many engaging in mature discussions regarding their futures.

77 pupils from the year group recently visited the University of South Wales (Treforest campus). This enrichment experience exposed our pupils to higher education opportunities and what university life could look like. The experience was extremely valuable for those already considering higher education and for those who perhaps are still unsure or were not aware of higher education opportunities available that suited them.

May I take this opportunity to wish all of our pupils and their families a wonderful and restful summer break. Miss G Carson