Newsletter 12/12/25

Achieve - Believe - Care

www.pontllanfraithprimary.co.uk

Diolch!

Thank you for all your support this week. We have really appreciated our school community: Pastors Dave & Ruth from River Church for hosting most of our concerts, our PTFA for selling teas & coffees and organising an amazing raffle, and all our volunteers who helped with walking the children back and fore to the church. Thank you to parents for the costumes you provided and for rehearsing lines with the children. We're also very grateful to you for the money raised by selling concert tickets, teas and coffees. This money goes in to school fund (not school budget) and is used to bring down the cost of trips, support fruit for all younger children, pay for 100% attendance prizes and to pay for some of the 'nice' non educational things that we buy for children. We’re especially grateful to everyone for respecting our request not to take photos or videos during the concerts. This isn’t just a policy – it’s about safeguarding children who cannot be photographed for very real reasons. Your understanding means every child can take part without worry, and we truly appreciate that. We were so proud of the children who put on six wonderful performances. We've seen some fantastic talent across the school. Huge thanks to the staff for all their hard work. The shows have been put together over two weeks whilst lessons are still ongoing - no small task!

Football Tournament

This week also saw some of our oldest children take part in the next cluster football tournament. Well done to them and thank you to parents for supporting! Next month will be the next tournament for netball.

Dates are shared on our school website calendar.

Rock Steady Concert We've held our first gig in school! This afternoon our first rock bands performed for parents and two classes. They were brilliant! Parents can guarantee their child's place by registering directly - visit rocksteadymusicschool.com to check available spaces. If you'd like your child to be considered for a school funded place next term look out for information that will be sent out next week (NB school funded places are limited, only guaranteed for one term and children entitled to free school meals are prioritised).

Next week

There's a lot to do before we break up.

Sunday night 6pm a small choir of junior children will be taking part in River Church's Carol Service. Miss Rooke and Mrs Taylor will be there from 5:30pm to meet the children taking part. Please note the church is likely to be very full. Monday will be our Poverty Proofing Audit. This work is quite in depth. It is funded by Welsh Government and Islwyn cluster are one of six clusters across Wales taking part in this work. Three trained auditors from other cluster schools will be reviewing the surveys completed by parents, staff & governors and will speak to children to gain pupil views over the course of Monday. They will then share their insights with us in the new year so that we can identify actions to reduce the impact of disadvantage. Tuesday Oren - Porffor will be going to Blackwood Miners to the Pantomime. We'll be having an early lunch and leaving at 12pm. We will return in time for the end of school as normal. The PTFA will be supplying drinks and sweets for the children to enjoy. Wednesday a choir will be singing for HCT charity - come and support us if you can, we'll be in the car park of Valley Carpets. Thursday is Christmas Dinner & Party Day. Dress to impress (non-uniform) but please ensure children wear sensible shoes and no jewellery or dangly earrings as they will still be going out to play. The PTFA will be providing a drink, crisps, sweets, chocolate and a cracker for each child. Father & Mother Christmas will be visiting the younger children and our satellite classes in the morning and all children will be given a small gift. Friday - end of term - we'll finish at 3:30pm as normal. Monday 5/1/26 is an INSET day & children return to school Tuesday 6/1/26.

Clubs - apologies

We did hope to put on clubs during the last week of term. However, we're very sorry, this is not going to be possible and so all clubs will be cancelled. We will send an email out at the of the first week in January confirming the club timetable for Spring Term.

Important Whilst this has been a truly lovely week, we have had a few things brought to our attention. We have had a complaint form a neighbour about parking. Please avoid parking on double yellow lines or blocking driveways near the school. This ensures the safety of our pupils and keeps good relationships with our neighbours. Likewise, smoking or vaping is not permitted anywhere on the school site, helping us maintain a healthy environment for all. This week has also highlighted how important clear communication is. We have realised that in future years we need to highlight that there are no physical paper tickets for concerts. Instead, parents reserve seats via a Google Form (up to four per family). This system helps us manage capacity safely, comply with fire regulations, and reduce paper waste – all while saving administrative time. We share all key information in our newsletters, which are sent by email and text for easy access and available on our website to help parents find them. Please take a moment to read them – it really helps avoid confusion and ensures everyone has the correct details. Some parents have told us they find it frustrating when others rely on WhatsApp groups instead of checking the newsletter, so your support with this is appreciated.