Parent's Bulletin February 2nd

(Posted on 06/02/24)

Dear Parent/Carer,

Please find information below about all our upcoming events, assessments and activities and get in touch via the contact details at the bottom if you have any further questions.

School Times
School closes at 3.10pm on Friday February 9^th for half term and reopens on Monday February 19^th at 8.50am. All students are expected to be on the school site in readiness for registration.

Attendance – End of Term Absences
In the remaining days prior to the February holiday, we ask for your support to ensure your child attends school every day for the rest of this half term, when they are able to do so. This includes the final day of this term, which is Friday 9th February closing at 3.10pm as usual. Students do not need to take additional days off school, they have a week to relax and rest. The “odd day off” soon adds up and can impact on your child's learning in the long term. Thank you in anticipation of your support in this matter.

We are currently running some Interform attendance challenges based on 100% attendance over a one week period. Trays of cookies were awarded to the winning tutor groups on Monday – 7AM, 8SS, 9MM, 10KH & 11 SJ. Well done to all!
Week 2 of the Interform attendance challenge finishes today, Friday 2^nd February. Winning tutor groups will be notified on Monday. Good Luck!

All absences from school should be reported on the morning of each day of absence before 9.15am and provide a valid reason.

Email – RobertsT581@hwbcymru.net ( School Attendance Officer)
Telephone – 01978 833010
Free Text – 07908670242

Failure to report your child’s absence from school creates a safeguarding issue.

Uniform
We appreciate your support in maintaining our uniform standards. School uniform embodies our values and promotes our strong sense of cynefin. Please note the following items are not acceptable: leggings, converse footwear, denim or leather jackets, miniskirts, jeans and hoodies. Blazers are compulsory. Plain blue jumpers are optional but should always be worn with a school blazer. Please see the Uniform Policy on the school website for further clarification.

Year 9 Parent’s Evening
Our Year 9 Parent’s Evening will be held on Thursday February 8^th. Bookings are available through Schoolcloud. If you have no been able to access the booking system, please get in touch with the School Office.

Children’s Mental Health Week
This week in school we are celebrating Children’s Mental Health Week. The theme this year is ‘Your Voice Matters’ and we will be promoting the week with events and activities throughout school. Students will take part in Year group assemblies, tutor activities, Random Acts of Kindness nominations and on Wednesday they will have the opportunity to access a variety of mental health focussed activities.

Wellbeing Wednesday
As part of Children’s Mental Health Week, we will be holding Wellbeing Wednesday and we have organised a packed lunchtime with activities and clubs for students. These activities either highlight mental health or offer ways for students to learn coping skills and strategies to improve their mental health. Activities on offer include:
- Friendship Club - Gardening - Board Games - A walk in nature - Mindful Spaces (with calming music and colouring) - Badminton
More details about these activities, and where they will be hosted, will be available in school.

Random Acts of Kindness
Also as part of Children’s Mental Health Week, our School Council would like to encourage students to perform random acts of kindness during this last week in school but also to recognise other people’s kindness when they see it. Anyone is the Ysgol y Grango community can nominate another person for an act of kindness they have seen or benefited from. Simply click on the link below to fill out a nomination form. See the letter attached for the link as well as more information.

Gair Cymraeg yr Wythnos / Welsh Word of the Week
To help promote the Welsh language in school we will be posting a ‘Gair Cymraeg yr Wythnos’ (Welsh Word of the Week) each week on the school X (Twitter) page. Each week a pair of our Tim Iaith (Langauge Leaders) will film themselves saying a word in Welsh.
Our first word is: Gwenu (Smile).
To see two of our Tim Iaith; Keira and Daniel, demonstrating how to say the word, click the link here: https://twitter.com/YsgolyGrango/status/1753424354715578391

Brilliant Books
Each week we recommend a ‘Brilliant Book’ for students. These books will always be aimed at young people and are available in the school Library. Our recommendation this week is ‘Rise Up The #Merky Story so Far’ by Stormzy & Jude Yawson. The story of Stormzy’s rise to the top. It's a story about faith and the ideas worth fighting for. A book for anyone who wants to learn about where they’re from and where they’re going.

Film Club
This Tuesday in Film Club we will be screening ‘Back to the Future’ (1985) 3.10pm-5.05pm. All students are welcome but please make sure parents know if you intend to stay behind after school.

Help with Revision
If you are thinking about how you can best support your child while they are preparing for and going through their exams, check out the guide attached for some proven strategies.

Current Initiatives
In an effort to support our families, we are looking for donations of second-hand clean uniform items including shoes in good condition. Anyone who has any uniform which no longer fits their child can bring it in to school and leave it at the School Office.

See the poster attached for more information. We really appreciate your help.

Dates for Your Diary

Monday February 5^th Year 10.1 Hay Scribblers Trip

Thursday February 8^th Year 9 Parents Evening

Friday February 9^th Year 9 report due out this week

Friday February 9^th Close for half term at 3.10pm

Monday February 19^th School opens at 8.50am

Timetable
This week’s timetable will be on Week 2.
The week after half term, beginning Monday February 19^th will be on Week 1.

Contacting School
Telephone: 01978 833010 Email: info@grango.co.uk

Diolch yn fawr

YYG Community