2XL2XL2XL Summer Newsletter 2012Summer Newsletter 2012Summer Newsletter 2012

Sporting Excellence

Clubs & Activities

School Productions

Greetings from the School School Calendar 2012/13 School Trips 2012/13 School Holiday Dates 2012/14 Eco-Schools Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme Outdoor Pursuits Writing Competition Department News Year Group News 100% attendance pupils

Contents

It is with great pleasure that I look back through the achievements of the past academic year. Our students’ successes across a range of fields are extremely impressive and the staff and governors of the school are very proud of all they have achieved. On a whole-school level, we have enjoyed many highlights this year. Our pro-ductions of ‘Phantom of the Opera’ and ‘High School Musical’, our multitude of sporting achievements and the academic dedication of our examination stu-dents all combine to make Stanwell an exciting and focused learning environ-ment. We all feel proud to be part of such a successful school and I would like to take this opportunity to thank our students, staff, parents, governors and friends in the wider community for their support this year. I wish you all a happy and relaxing summer break, Mr D. Jones, Headteacher.

Headteacher’s Address

School Announcements AS and A level results are published on Thursday 16th August GCSE results are published on Thursday 23rd August First day of Autumn term for students is Tuesday 4th September. Monday 3rd Sep-

tember is an INSET day for staff only Students wishing to sign up for peripatetic music lessons should attend a meeting at

2PM on 11th September in the auditorium Parents wishing to support their children’s learning over the holidays can log into

the Moodle VLE system. On every departmental area there is a ‘How to help your child be more confident in......’ page for all the different subjects. These suggestions are specifically aimed at parents and could occupy children throughout a rainy Brit-ish summer!

Monday 3 September INSET DAYTuesday 4 September First day for pupils

9 October OPEN DAY

30 October HALF TERM

6 November Year 7 Pastoral Parents' Evening

13 November Year 13 Parents' EveningWeek beginning 18 December School Production ‐ Miss Saigon

Friday 21 December LAST DAY OF TERM

25 December CHRISTMAS HOLIDAYS

1 January CHRISTMAS HOLIDAYS

Monday 7 January INSET DAY22 January Year 11 Parents' Evening

29 January Year 9 TEAMX Parents' Evening

5 February Year 9 WORKL Parents' Evening

12 February HALF TERM

19 February Year 11 Options Evening

26 February Year 8 TEAMX Parents' Evening

5 March Year 8 WORKL Parents' Evening

12 March Year 12 Parents' Evening

19 March Year 8 Options Evening

Friday 22 March LAST DAY OF TERM

26 March EASTER HOLIDAYS

2 April EASTER HOLIDAYS

Monday 8 April First day of Summer Term

9 April Heads of Department PLC

16 April Year 10 Parents' Evening

7 May Year 7 TEAMX Parents' Evening

14 May Year 7 WORKL Parents' Evening

28 May HALF TERM

25 June Award Ceremony (provisional)

2 July New Year 7 Parents' Evening

Wednesday 17 July Provisional last day of term

School Calendar 2012 _2013

Proposed Extra‐curricular Trips for 2012/13.

These are the proposed trips for the academic year 2012/13.

There may be some alterations and additions throughout the year.

A regularly updated calendar can be found on the school website.

18th September Geography Department Year Group 11 Tenby

October German Department Year Group 13 Germany

Overnight October Art Department Year Group 9 & 10 London

1 week October / November French Department Year Group 9 & 10 France

October Geography Department Year Group 8 Cadbury World

22nd for 2 weeks October Outdoor Education Department Year Group 12 & 13 Morocco

24th 28th October Geography Department Year Group 10 & 11 Iceland

November Art  Department Year Group 11, 12 & 13 London

Overnight November Welsh Department Year Group 6th form Glan‐Llyn

9th 11th November Welsh Department Year Group 9 Glan‐Llyn

20th 23rd November Geography Department Year Group 12 Field Studies Centre

22nd 23rd November History Department Year Group 8 London

7th December Textiles Department Year Group 9, 10, 11 The Clothes Show

A Saturday December German Department Year Group 9 upwards Birmingham

January Art  Department Year Group 8 London

2 days February Geography Department Year Group 9 & 10 London, Olympic Sustainability

Proposed Extra‐curricular Trips for 2012/13.

February Half Term Art Department Year Group 9, 10 & 11 Europe

February Half Term Skiing Year Group 10, 11, 12 & 13 Austria

4 days March Geography Department Year Group 11 & 12 Barcelona

7th 10th March French/Welsh Department Year Group 8 Euro Disney, Paris

March Geography Department Year Group 12 Regeneration in Cardiff Bay

14th 15th March History Department Year Group 12 London

March / April German Exchange Year Group 8 & 9 Germany

22nd 26th March RE Department Year Group 6th form Rome

21st 25th March History Department Year Group 10 Berlin

April Geography Department Year Group 8 Bristol Zoo

Easter Holidays Skiing Year Group 8 & 9 Austria

Easter Holidays Sailing Year Group 12 France

14th June History Department Year Group 7 Cardiff Castle ‐ Jousting

27th 28th June History Department Year Group 9 France

2 days July French Department Year Group 7 France

July Art  Department Year Group 7 Cardiff

School Holiday Dates

2012/2013

School Holiday Dates

2013/2014

Inset Days 2012/2013: Monday 3rd September 2012 Monday 7th January 2013 Thursday 18th July 2013 Friday 19th July 2013 Monday 22nd July 2013

Fairfield Eco meeting On June 26th 2012 , members of Eco-Stanwell attended an Eco meeting at Fairfield Primary School where ideas and pro-gress were discussed. This was followed by a group gardening activity, where pu-pils helped prepare and improve an outside area of the school. Future events Charity and Eco Fund raising project After the success of a joint charity and eco fund raising event in 2012, where over £200 was raised for Marie Curie, members of both committees are asking for pupils, parents and staff to hold onto any unwanted items of cloth-ing, bedding and paired shoes until next year. The Bags4Schools scheme involves these recy-clable items being exchanged for money. The

next event will involve all proceeds going to a charity that Stanwell pupils will elect in the new academic year. Stanwell Conservation area Plans are underway for a new conservation area at the school. Pupils from the committee and members of the primary feeder schools helped to design a suitable area for this outdoor classroom. This is very much an ongoing pro-ject and Year 7s have been involved in con-structing many bird, bat and bug boxes during the Cosmeston sustainability day.

Eco-Schools

Over the last few months Eco-Stanwell com-mittee members have been very busy working together to try and make Stanwell School more environmentally friendly. Here are some of the projects they have initiated: Fairtrade - members visited the ‘Fair Do’s’ shop in Canton and par-ticipated in a workshop based on Fairtrade products. The group are hoping to introduce some more Fairtrade products into Stanwell in the near future. Energy Awards - each term the committee select pupils/staff who have given time and effort into saving energy at the school. This highlights the need to save energy through simple measures such as turning lights off when leaving a room. Members were pleased to present awards to: Mrs T Davis Miss L Donovan Mrs J Edwards Thank you and please continue to support this worthwhile initiative. Recycling– Eco-Stanwell members have been busy designing and displaying posters around the school trying to encourage the school community to dispose of waste in an environ-mentally friendly way. We have received con-siderable support for this initiative across the school, which is very pleasing. - Samuel James of Year 7 collected an im-pressive 3,000 Christmas cards for the annual recycling competition. Well done to Sam for such a great effort! -Water bottles are still avail-able in the school shop if pu-pils are keen to support this project and help to reduce our waste of plastic cups.

“Thank you to all who have supported the Eco Stanwell cause!”

Mrs. J Laity

STANWELL SCHOOL WATERBOTTLES

Look out for these water bottles they will be on sale from the school shop!!! All profits going to Water Aid.

Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme

This year has seen the largest number of par-ticipants to date and the Bronze students have successfully completed their expedition section of the Award in the rain! For Bronze and Silver students there are another 3 sec-tions to the Award; volunteering, skills and a physical section. These are completed for a specific length of time and the participants must obtain their evidence. The expedition section of the Award is usu-ally the most memorable for the participants. Training for this section has been conducted on the Thursday evenings in school and has included the Country code, map and naviga-tion skills, escape routes, teamwork, camp craft and first aid. Pupils received certifica-tion of attendance for the first aid course which was tailored specifically for the events they could encounter on their expedition. The Silver participants completed their prac-tice expedition on the 22nd—24th March and their assessment the week later in the Brecon Beacons. The Vale Duke of Edinburgh Award officer assessed the groups and re-viewed their presentation highlighting the aims of their expedition. They were certainly luckier with the weather than the Bronze participants who, in the month of June, have been soaked to the skin! Due to the large number of participants, the practice expedition was split into two groups, one on the 21st—22nd June and the second group in the 26th—27th June. The pupils walked from Nash Point to Candle-ston, taking in the amazing scenery and ex-periencing the second largest sand dune in Europe at Merthyr Mawr warren. The as-sessed expedition was completed in the Gower.

All the pupils should be congratulated on pass-ing the expedition section of the Award, espe-cially in the poor weather. Pupils must now complete the remaining sections of the Award on their eDofE account online before they can gain full certification. Many thanks must go to all the staff who vol-unteer to supervise the expeditions, those who help deliver the training throughout the year and those who help with the distribution of the kit. Thank you also to those parents who help ensure the kit is returned in an acceptable state!

Next year there are 178 Bronze and 70 Silver participants enrolled on the Award and those interested in the Gold level will receive infor-mation in September.

“pupils should be congratulated on passing the expedition section “

Miss H Jenkins

Outdoor Pursuits

Year 7 visit to the Velodrome

Thirty Year 7 pupils had the opportunity to visit the Velodrome in Newport earlier in the summer term. The pupils were provided with all the equipment and given coaching on rid-ing the fixed wheel bikes around the track safely. The GB team are using this same track prior to the Olympics for their training so the pupils had access to top class facilities. It was a fantastic day out; one pupil even commented that it was the best day of their life! It was an absolute pleasure to take the pupils on this new experience and the coach said how impressed he had been with their behaviour. Well done to all who participated and don’t forget to look out for the track cy-cling competitions in the Olympic Games this summer! Year 8 Paddlepower Pupils in Year 8 and Year 9 were given the opportunity to have taster sessions at Cardiff International White Water Centre. Following on from these taster sessions, a group of 14 pupils from Year 8 have completed a six week Paddlepower course, levels 2—5. Pu-pils have gained greater water safety aware-

ness and have also learned to paddle in both the canoes and kayaks. They have had to dem-onstrate a number of paddling skills in both crafts during the 6 weeks as well as handling the boats and equipment correctly.

The pupils have also had a chance to go in the large inflatable rafts that are used on the white water course. Their confidence in the water and the craft has grown immensely. Well done to all those who completed the 6 week session and we look forward to many more exciting outdoor pursuits activities next year!

“best day of my life”

Miss H Jenkins

Creative Writing Competition Winning Entries

‘Sky Full of Lights’ Maxine Pwele (Year 7) Lights shimmering across the indigo sky like reflections on water. The natural wonder’s magic grows stronger as flickering shades of

green, pink, blue, violet spread across the sky. You cannot help but stare in awe at this won-derful yet mystifying event. It helps us to re-member how beautiful nature is and what it’s capable of. As the horizons brighten, the lights dim. Dawn deprives us of the spectacu-lar display. The Aurora Borealis. The North-ern Lights. The night beauty.

‘Freefall’ Ray Vandyck (Year 8) I stepped out into the great abyss, the wind howling like a deranged wolf, as I hung in mid-air for a split

second. Then I was plummeting towards the cloudy blanket, like a strange dream, as I slowly turned like a planet in orbit. Then I hit the barrier and turbulence rocked my figure, before I emerged out like a fish meeting the surface. Buildings came into view. I yanked the toggle and I was pulled back from my freefall forever.

Pen y Fan Beth Macmillan (Year 8) Aching feet, sore legs and tired arms; it’s worth it for the breathtaking views

of Pen y Fan. When we got to the top, we saw horses the size of ants grazing on the grass. Suddenly an icy chill came over me, I real-ised it started snowing. The beautiful view changed; the sky darkened. Many horses fled for the safety of the sur-rounding cliff. I stayed, rooted to the spot, unable to move, gazing at the scenery of stag-gering views. Shortlisted Entries: ‘The Trenches’ by Harry Jowett ‘The Wonder of Africa’ by Emma Davies ‘Hanami’ by Lily Machlab ‘Around the World’ by Henry Carter ‘Africa’ by Ellie Ritchie ‘Around the World’ by Lowena Diment ‘Rainforest’ by Sophie Egerstrom Thanks to our judges: Tomei Browne, Suzie Collins, Nils Deeg, Channing Davies, Mor-gan Harley, Tommy Higgins and Jason Machlab.

“Creative Writing Competition”

Art Penarth Heights Year 8 pupils have pro-duced superb artwork including exciting

animation using the latest technology such as Ipads. They have been working with profes-sional animator Ewan Morris Jones and rep-resentatives from Ffotogallery.

‘Invisible Scars’ Workshop A selected group of Year 8 pupils took part in a day workshop with visiting artists Ma-ciej Hoffman and Nicola Tucker. Both artists have exhibited work relating to difficult is-sues such as the Holocaust and surviving trauma. Pupils were encouraged to express their own personal experiences, or family stories, through the creative use of mixed media.

Paris Visit A number of pupils from Years 9 to 13 thor-oughly enjoyed a trip to Paris. The pupils visited several galleries to conduct research into their class themes and were astounded

by the diverse range of the work on dis-play in the Louvre, Musee D’Orsay and the Pompidou Cen-tre. The low tempera-tures did not dampen spirits as the pupils visited the Sacre Coeur and enjoyed a leisurely stroll in Montmartre.

National Museum Wales / Amgueddfa Cymru Pupils from Years 8, 11 and 12 all visited The National Museum of Wales during the course of this school year. The pupils found a number of exciting and useful resources during their visit. They were fascinated and inspired by works on display in the galleries

by artists such as Au-gustus and Gwen John, Shani Rhys James and Francis Ba-con.

Primary Visits Many Y6 pupils from our feeder schools had the opportunity to visit the Art Department and take part in a ‘taster’ lesson focusing on the technique of monoprint. For all pupils it was a chance to see the vast array of exciting work on display in the Art rooms and to ask questions about future KS3 work.

Global Canvas Award 2012 After submitting their fantastic work into the David Shepherd Wildlife competition, three pupils from Years 7 and 8 were selected to have their work displayed in the Natural History Museum, London: Aimee Lintern (7L), Alexandra Ruge-Hayes (7A), and Rebecca Hardess (8M). Well done all!

‘Pupils were encouraged to express their own personal experiences, or family stories through the creative use of mixed media’.

Ms R Lewis

Department News

By

Reb

ecca

Har

dess

(8M

)

Business Studies

On Monday 18th June, ‘TopNotch’ repre-sented Cardiff and Vale at the Young En-terprise Welsh Finals held at 'The Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama'. The group had already been very successful in order to reach this point. At a regional level they had already won ‘Best Trade Stand and Interview’ and ‘Best Company’ at the Cardiff and Vale Regional Finals.

‘TopNotch’ did really well and presented themselves in a very mature and profes-sional manner. They were competing against seven other companies on the day; many of their competitors were older stu-dents from Year 12, which made their achievements all the more remarkable.

On the day, the students had to create a stand that represented their product and brand and be interviewed by a range of dif-ferent judges. They then had to give a five minute presentation to an audience that comprised of a range of business ambassa-

dors, the other teams that were competing and invited guests.

At the finals, ‘TopNotch’ were awarded the 'Daily Telegraph New Media Award' for the advertisement that the group created to pro-mote their product, the ‘Cwtchi’. This is a product that has been designed to protect iPads and phones, manufactured from recy-cled wetsuits. Each ‘Cwtchi’ had its own

design, with the current promotions linked to the Olympics. The winning advertise-ment will now go to London to compete in the UK finals.

Well done to all those students who took part in the scheme this year! The students have demonstrated an excellent range of entrepreneurial skills. Some of the profits generated from all teams have been donated towards sponsoring Ganesh at the Pooc-cholai Children’s Home in India and Ash-grove Cafe.

‘Presented themselves in a mature and professional manner’

Mrs J Macnamara

Drama

‘We’re all in this together!’

Tragedy and some spotlighted their work during a Year 9 assembly. Other achievements include:

Thomas Elliot (Year 13) joining the 2012 summer cast of The National Youth Theatre of Wales.

Danielle Evans (Year 13) joining the 2012 summer cast of Youth Musical Theatre UK.

Katie Alstead (Year 10) attending a final re-call for ‘It’s My Shout’ films.

Alexander Collins (Year 9) participating in Mark Jermin’s Swansea showcase.

Emily Price (Year 13) and Sian Smith (Year 9) appearing with Orbit Theatre Company’s production of ‘Annie’ at The New Theatre, Cardiff.

Thomas Elliot, Ross Foley, Jessica Steed (Year 13), Beth Cowley, Seren Vickers and Mikaela Wood (Year 12) attending the Young Actors Studio at the ‘Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama’.

Sian Smith (Year 9) attending an Italia Conti Summer school completing a Musical theatre course.

This term, the Year 8 and 9 production of ‘High School Musical’ has been the main focus of extra-curricular work. Staff and pupils have dem-onstrated great commitment and dedication to pro-ducing what has been a spectacular project. It has been

a true example of teamwork, proving that when “we’re all in this together”, excellence can be achieved!

This has been an extremely busy but suc-cessful term for the Drama department. Stu-dents in both Key Stages 4 and 5 have ex-celled in preparing for their GCSE and A level written examinations, covering a wide variety of set texts such as: ‘A Midsummer Night’s dream’, ‘The Chairs’, ‘The Rose Tattoo’ and ‘All’s Well That Ends Well’. Year 12 students have also been practising their theatre reviewing skills and enjoyed visiting the Theatre Royal, Bath to watch ‘The Kings Speech’ and the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama to see ‘The Merchant of Venice’.

They have also produced some outstanding examination performance pieces. Both the GCSE and A Level examiners said that they were impressed with the innovative devised work shown and that it was amongst the best that they had seen! We wish our Year 13 students the best of luck on their quest in further education, especially Miles Braithwaite and Jessica Steed who have chosen to study acting at and Liverpool In-stitute of Performing Arts and Bournemouth University, respectively. Key Stage 3 pupils have also been showing great enthusiasm in lessons and have en-gaged with schemes of work based on, ‘The Lost Valley’, ‘Melodrama’, ‘The Grimm’s Tales’ and ‘Romeo and Juliet’. Year 10 have produced pleasing devised work based on the stimulus of the Aberfan

Miss L Maddy.

Tom Gillanders, Ella Mott-Riley and Ellie Way were singled out as displaying true creativity in their projects, in par-ticular Tom who decided to use concrete to make a desk light. All three have been nominated for the Student Innovations

Award in October and we are anticipating great success in this prestigious competition.

AS Product Design.

AS students have also wowed the visiting moderator who felt that the students, ‘clearly understood the principles of good design and how to use design tools like their sketchbooks’. Alana Thomas’ Cath Kidson inspired dress was singled out for of particular praise as was Joe Tucker with his design for a new foot-bridge to be placed in Cardiff Bay

GCSE Design & Technology

This year has been a very successful year with students once again producing some out-standing design work. Ailsa Jones was identi-fied by the moderator as producing an excel-lent food product.

It has been a very busy and rewarding year in DT with the department moving into two new teaching rooms. Both rooms have been fitted out with new equipment including; a desk top laser, A3 Scanners, A2 Printers, a sublimation press and a CAM embroidery system. Students studying graphic products and textiles will now be able to produce arte-facts to the highest professional standards. Needless to say, both facilities are proving to be a fantastic resource for both the school and the depart-ment.

Students have once again displayed the highest level

of creativity and com-mitment, with many spending evenings and weekends in school completing their coursework and have all been praised by vis-iting moderators.

A2 Product Design.

Once again the visiting moderator was im-pressed with the range and creativity of work on display, stating, ‘Your students at Stan-well clearly understand how to design and produce fantastic work’.

Design Technology

“displaying true creativity in their projects”

Mr N Gifford

Olympics and have produced some fantastic work. Year 8 pupils have exceeded all expectations in their practical work, creating sophisticated and exotic meals for athletes as part of their Olym-pic theme. Year 7 pupils have been very enthusiastic and produced some fantastic and creative cakes.

The Olympic theme has run through other pro-jects as well with many hotrods being designed to promote the Olympic games. Year 7 textiles pupils have been working on a cushion project. Pupils are enjoying this pro-ject and have produced some excellent work this term. The bag project in Year 8 continues to be a success. Pupils have produced a range of bags includ-ing Boot bags, hand bags, tote bags and drawstring bags.

After School Club After School club continues to be popular. During the year, many pupils are encouraged to attend the workshops after school to com-plete projects and to increase their machine skills or for any extra support.

Graphic Products students have produced a number of impressive designs based on an ethical clothing com-pany, most impres-sive of which was the submission by Beth Carter. Her range of

products dis-played an empathy for the company and en-vironmental concept which again impressed the visit-ing mod-erator. The RMT focus area was topped by Jay Ka-puria who developed a design to store CDs.

His attention to detail was impressive and

worthy of praise from the WJEC. KS3 During the summer term, students in DT have been working on projects which have the Olym-pics as a theme. Food Technology students in both Years 7 and 8 have been working on the topic of the

Design Technology Mr N Gifford

“Year 8 have exceeded all expectations”

Economics and Politics

Year 13 Government and Politics students have busy extending their knowledge of US Politics—in particular examining fascinating issues such as whether the President possesses too much influence and whether the US Con-stitution still effectively protects citizens’ rights. Year 12 students were given the opportunity to attend a Model United Nations Conference at Ty Hywel in Cardiff Bay. The main agenda for discussion was the Global Food Challenge where issues such as population and the envi-ronmental issues of food production to help ascertain whether the world can feed a grow-ing population were discussed. Each group of students represented an individual country. We were invited to send two delegations. Owen Davies, John Ellis and Oliver Bird repre-sented Iraq while Jordan Geach, Caitlin Ellis and Amy Le Grys spoke on behalf of the UK. Politics students also contributed to a BBC online Schools Question and Answer session in May where they were invited to contribute to a live debate. The panellists included MPs from the 3 main UK political parties and also included the colourful and famous individual George Galloway.

‘No other subject I study makes me think in quite the way Economics does.....’

This is only the second year in which the school has offered a ‘Social Sciences’ prize and this year it was awarded to Callum Mas-ters (pictured below) from Year Twelve who has studied Economics with success from GCSE onwards and now plans to apply to read it at degree level after his A2 examina-tions. Callum said: ‘No other subject I study makes me think in quite the way Economics does!’ Our summer term is dominated by the exami-nation period. Examinations have never been more topical in nature and this makes the sub-ject more enjoyable and relevant both to teach and learn. The A2 paper included questions about the number of taxi licenses granted by Cardiff Council—if there are too many, driv-ers struggle to make a living, too few and there is likely to be more anti-social behaviour in the city centre. Perhaps inevitably there was an essay question on our staying out of the euro and an A/S one on the economic ef-fects of a weak currency. One GCSE paper pondered whether the benefits of the Olympic Games will exceed the costs and considered whether or not the ‘Big Four’ supermarkets have too much power. Another considered the economic effects of cuts in Government spending budgets and what the options are for redundant workers in areas of high unemploy-ment. The Year Nine pupils enjoyed a division of labour simulation which replicates factory life. Based in competitive teams, particularly productive workers included Chandni Kerai, Erin Duffy and Evgenia Brusnitskaya. These pupils have also been especially com-mitted throughout the year and deserve praise for their achievements.

Mr J Boggan

English Many thanks to Jade Eastwood, Amina Saf-dar, Carys Wilson and Aaron Wingren of Year 7 who formed the impressive ‘Times Spelling Bee’ team appropriately named ‘Stanwell Legends.’ They were all excellent competitors and, despite not winning, fought until the end. They battled in a tense online heat and had worked really hard to prepare for this by learning difficult words and by partici-pating in the activities that were available on the website. This was great fun and really helped them to improve their spelling and learn more ambitious and interesting vocabulary. Thank you to all of those that entered in the first heat, it was very popular this year and it was encouraging to see so many pupils who wanted to improve their Literacy skills and represent their school at the same time. If any pupils want to get a feel for the Spelling Bee Championship and practise their spelling with the interactive games available, then log on to: www.timesspellingbee.co.uk and use the ‘Play and Train’ games. This would be fun for par-ents and pupils! We look forward to another fierce competition next year.

Every year, the Stanwell English Award is given to one deserving Sixth Form pupil. This year, no other pupil was more deserving than Harry Wood. Throughout Year 12, Harry has proven his commitment to English in numer-ous ways. His effort in lessons has been out-standing. As well as working hard to succeed academically, as part of his Welsh Baccalaure-ate qualification Harry chose to complete his community service by becoming a Year 7 buddy in English lessons. Very quickly, Harry became invaluable in lessons and pupils would fight over who he would work with. Even when he completed his required hours, Harry continued to help in the lessons. He should be very proud of what he has achieved this year and he will make an excellent teacher one day.

As part of the Literacy Programme in Stanwell, pupils take part in a reading challenge in which they are awarded different certificates for completing a certain number of books. Two pupils have absolutely smashed the record for the gold award in one year. Esther Buckton and Maxine Pwele both achieved their ‘Gold’ cer-tificates by Christmas and have continued to read avidly throughout the year. Esther man-aged to read a whopping 56 books and Maxine a fantastic 38! Well done girls; an incredible achievement.

Coming up to Stanwell from primary school can be a daunting experience for some pupils. This term, 8 Year 7 pupils have tried to make the transition easier by giving a presentation to Year 6 pupils and their parents. In English les-sons, they wrote their experiences down and prepared scripts on topics they had been con-cerned about before starting Stanwell, like bul-lying, making friends and scary teachers! They worked hard to make their presentation infor-mative, but most importantly reassuring, and did a fantastic job speaking in front of the packed auditorium. Thanks to them, we have no doubt the Year 6 pupils will be thoroughly prepared and excited for September. Year 10 pupils visited Cardiff Castle to watch an open-air performance of Shakespeare’s ‘Macbeth.’ The rain held off for the first half but both pupils and staff still enjoyed the per-formance despite ad-verse conditions! All pupils in Year 7 to Year 10 were invited to take part in a Crea-tive Writing Competi-tion, ‘Around the World in 80 words’. We had a total of 180 entries and the judging panel found it a challenging but very enjoyable experience selecting the winners. Winning en-tries are printed at the front of the newsletter.

‘encouraging to see so many pupils who wanted to improve their Literacy skills’

Mrs M Williams

Geography

“Geography is important because it is relevant to all that we do and opens our eyes to the world we live in.”

It has been a very busy term in the Geography department. Year 7 pupils have been learning about the impact of Climate Change on the world around us. The pupils have been finding some innovative solutions to the problem of fossil fuels and preparing for an alternative future. They could definitely give David Cameron a run for his money!

Year 8 pupils have been studying Tropical Rainforests and enjoyed a visit to the education centre in Bristol Zoo, where they were able to get a little too close to some of the animals that live in this hot and humid climate. As you can see from the photos below, some of the girls got into the mood by becoming tigers for the day!

Year 9 students have made excellent progress at the start of their GCSE studies with a visit to the London Olympic Village and sporting venues, highlighting issues of urban regeneration and the benefits of London hosting the forthcoming Olympic games.

Year 10 students have successfully completed a Decision Making Exercise as part of their GCSE course. Pupils undertook an investigation into Wind Energy and chose where a potential wind farm site could be placed in Cumbria. Their aims were to have as little social, environmental and economic impact as possible. Don’t worry readers, it’s not going to be situated off the coast of Penarth!

Our Year Eleven students have now completed their GCSE course and sat their examinations in June. We wish them all the very best for the August results and hope that many of them will return to Geography for their AS Level studies.

Ms H Morgan

Geography

“Geography is found in everything we do and everywhere we go.”

As part of the AS Level course, Year 12 students have visited the River Ilston in the Gower and also Cardiff Bay to undertake fieldwork investigations in preparation for their AS examinations. As expected, the rain came down on both days, but it definitely didn’t dampen their spirits!

Year 13 have completed their Geography experience at Stanwell and, on behalf of all the department, I wish them all the best with their Higher Education options.

The Cosmeston Cross Curricular day enabled all Year 7 pupils to make shanty town housing from scrap materials. This team-building exercise also encourages pupils’ thinking skills. They designed and constructed some very sturdy dwellings, but we are not sure that they would want to live in them permanently!

The Year 6 pupils were introduced to the Geography department during a series of Primary Liaison visits. Pupils played the Paper Bag game to understand the difficulties facing people living in poorer countries of the world. They worked very hard for little pay and only earned enough to

buy a bowl of rice. It really made them appreciate their own lives, realising how fortunate they are.

Coming Soon.......

The Geography Department is looking forward to:

The Year 10 Tenby Fieldwork investigation

The GCSE Iceland visit in October 2012

The Year 8 “Geography of Chocolate” visit to Cadbury World

Ms H Morgan

History It has been another very busy and enjoyable term in the History Department. Year 7 pupils have been investigating what life was like in medieval society and the chal-lenges faced by the rulers of that era. They have been learning about medieval religion, town and village life, as well as the gruesome details of medicine, medical interventions and the Black Death. A large number of Year 7 pupils have also recently experienced the drama and excitement of a jousting contest at Cardiff Castle.

Year 8 have been enthusiastically studying the Industrial Revolution and its significance and legacy in the present day. They have also spent the term investigating the many aspects of the Great War. In particular, they have de-veloped a good understanding of the complex causes of World War One and have consid-ered its on-going relevance. Year 9 have been studying the rise and fall of the American economy. They have been look-ing at the causes of the Boom and the dra-matic Wall Street Crash. They have worked exceptionally well all year and their impres-sive work will no doubt be carried through into Year 10.

As part of their preparation for their course-work, fifty-five Year 9 pupils recently visited the beaches of Dunkirk to study the he-

roic mission in which 338,000 Allied troops were saved from the advancing Nazis. The group visited sites such as Dover Castle, Cas-sel — the scene of valiant resistance from Welsh Guards, and the memorial to the Battle of Dunkirk, which was symbolically con-structed from the quayside on which soldiers trod on their way back to Britain. The trip was a roaring success and a great time was had by all. During the Easter holidays, Year 10 pupils travelled to Berlin. They visited historical sites in Berlin with particu-lar emphasis on Nazi Germany and the Cold War. Sites in-cluded Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp, the Olympic Stadium, Checkpoint Charlie, the Brandenberg Gate and the Reichstag. On a lighter note, pupils watched, listened and danced to tribute acts such as Freddie Mercury and Diana Ross and had a lively meal in the Hard Rock Café. The pupils thoroughly en-joyed themselves and were a credit to the school. Years 11, 12 and 13 have been busy preparing for their examinations. We wish them all the very best of luck for their results in August.

“It has been another very busy and enjoyable term in the History Department. “

Mr G Morgan

Information Technology

Primary Liaison

The summer term saw our feeder primary schools bring their Year 6 pupils up to the IT department to complete a transition multime-dia project on e-safety. In addition, St An-drews primary in Dinas Powys brought their Year 6 pupils to complete an iPad based tran-sition project which took place in the school’s new iPad suite.

Key Stage Three

Year 7 and 8 pupils have enthusiastically taken part in their ICT lessons this year with large numbers attending homework clubs. Our plan next year is to offer a wider variety of homework clubs including an iPad club. Outstanding achievement in Year 7 came from: Menna Bafaqih, Rebecca Bratby, Annie Higgins and Naomi Hills who showed excellent endeavour with their classwork.

Key Stage 4

Year 11 and Year 10 pupils produced some excellent coursework for their Dida Unit 1. Danielle Carey (11M), Laura John (11M), Bethan Mattey (11M), Dewi Fford (11O), Samuel Harry (11E), Daniel Skentelbery (11T) and Sion Thomas (11O) produced some excellent Graphics and Games Design coursework. Year 9 pupils who have also worked very hard in class are: Liam Quinn (9R), Ella Dyer (9X), Alice Holder (9X), Joseph Coole (9A). Pupils who have signifi-cantly progressed and improved their work ethic from the start of Year 9 are Liam Meaden (9A), Charlie Richardson (9M),

Leon Appiah (9O), Jac Ursell (9O), Kira Geach (9A), Mark Crothers (9A), Benjamin Tanner (9T), John Wall (9M) and Joseph Fettah (9W)

Homework Club

ICT clubs for both Key Stage 3 and Key Stage 4 have been very well attended again this year .

The Key Stage 3 ICT Games Design saw over 40 pupils regularly attend games design club each week.

Sixth Form:

Year 12

Computing students produced some excellent programming projects for their AS coursework of particular note were Allister Hill, Ben Ware and Jack Bowers. Applied ICT pupils also produced some excellent spreadsheet and database modelling coursework notably Katie Jones and Allister Hill.

Year 13

Cerys Young produced some excellent Mu-limedia and graphics A2 coursework. Best of luck to all our Year 13 students in their exams!

Mr P Davies

“pupils have enthusiastically taken part in their ICT lessons this year”

Miss E Murphy Maths

It has been a successful year in the Mathematics department. Years 11, 12 and 13 have taken their GCSE, AS and A Level examinations respectively. We say goodbye and good luck to our Year 13 students and look forward to welcoming back some Year 11 pupils for AS Maths and Fur-ther Maths in September. Year 10 have now finished the GCSE Maths course. They will be concentrating on revi-sion techniques and practising past papers as preparation for their GCSE exam in Novem-ber. A weekly homework club will run from September and will be open to all pupils. This year a selection of our Year 9 and 10 pupils have attended the Royal Institution Mathematics Masterclasses which were held at Glamorgan University on a Saturday morning. The course ran throughout the spring term and was enjoyed by all the pupils that attended. Participating pupils were: Sayalie Borade, Chandni Kerai, Anastasia Mirza-Davies and James Senior (Year 9)along with Megan Doran, Zola Har-greaves, Balaji Krishna, Imogen Sibert and Rebecca Te Water Naude (Year 10).

Congratulations to Balaji Krishna, Year 10,

who not only qualified for the next round of the Intermediate UKMT Mathematical chal-lenge, but achieved a distinction and medal in the IMOK Olympiad Hamilton challenge. Well done Balaji! In April, the top sets from Years 7 and 8 took part in the National UKMT Maths challenge at Junior level. Congratulations to Year 8’s Jonathan Wright, who achieved the best score in the school and a gold certificate. Other gold certificate winners were Liza Kiss. Seren Marsh, Bill Sims (all Year 8), Daniel Anderton and Osian Boland (both Year 7). Well done to all the pupils that took part in the challenge, in particular those that achieved a gold, silver or bronze medal. During March, all Year 7 and 8 pupils partici-pated in World Maths Day. The pupils thor-oughly enjoyed the online Maths Challenges competing against people from all over the world. Congratulations to Lauren Ellis (Year 7), Victoria Hill and Alex Langrish (Year 8) who achieved the top 3 scores in the school on World Maths Day. This year the Maths department has welcomed selected pupils from the feeder Primary schools to take part in extended Maths lessons at Stanwell. Two pupils from each of the pri-mary schools have taken part in the lessons which have been scheduled once a fortnight, throughout the year. Feedback from the pupils and staff has been very positive. We look for-ward to working with these pupils when they join Stanwell in September. The weekly Year 11 homework club and half term revision session was again successful this year. The feedback was extremely positive and students were thankful to be part of the men-toring system. A special mention to all our Year 12 pupils who gave up their valuable time; the mentoring scheme would not have been so successful without them.

‘We say goodbye and good luck to our Year 13 students’

Media & Film

It is most satisfying to look back on a produc-tive year in the department; so many things have happened and so much has been achieved. Year 9 & 10 students have started to become confident media analysts, with two examina-tions under their belt and some very promising pieces of early coursework – especially their self-devised Comics and Science Fiction Con-trolled Assessment. This work will be on dis-play in the Autumn Term in time for Open Day. Year 11 applied themselves throughout the year to the task of becoming thoroughly pre-pared for their GCSE examination. This in-volved the production of a coursework folder reflecting their very best work, and sitting a written examination in June. Outstanding coursework was produced by Jacqueline Dich, Zac Ghazi-Torbati and Daniel Skentelbery. This year’s paper focused on Music Industry Websites and Music Magazines. Both topics stimulated great interest and enthusiasm on the part of pupils, many of whom naturally enjoy these aspects of media output in their personal lives. Year 12 seem to have relished their first year of A Level study, and have just finished the first two of their four modules. The first mod-ule was a series of coursework pieces that tested their creative and analytical skills to the limit and the second was a tough external exam that focused this year on magazines for older people. Students of note for coursework excel-lence include Madeline Lynch, Phoebe Page and Mikaela Wood. Year 13 have concluded their two year pro-gramme of study and we wish them all the very best for their exam results and future choices. We have seen some of the most accomplished coursework pieces ever from this cohort par-ticularly from Emily Davies, Sam Green and Jordan Holt for their originality and technical

excellence. The department has also been extremely busy with extra-curricular activities this term. This has included the production of the promotional mate-rial for ‘High School Musical,’ with the principal photography by Year 13 Media student, Kate Humphreys. Members of the department also continue to provide back stage support and assis-tance for the shows. The department also contrib-uted to the design and production of the pro-

gramme for the Stanwell School Awards Cere-mony. The Media Studies Awards for GCSE and A Level were won this year by Daniel Skentelbery (Year 11) and Emily Davies (Year 13). Dan has worked enthusiastically and consistently, produc-ing an outstanding coursework folder, whilst Emily received this year’s A Level Media Prize for her consistently high standards of attainment. Film Studies In 2010/2011, a group of students began the year studying for a new A Level in Film Studies and they have recently completed the first whole cycle of this new subject. Congratulations are due to that intrepid first bunch! The standard of the ac-tual filmmaking for the coursework element has been outstanding within the new cohort. In par-ticular, Elis Jones and Alex Van Den Brom have impressed.

“Outstanding coursework was produced”

Mr I O’Rourke

MFL For this year’s Eisteddfod Year 7 French pu-pils created a poster about themselves enti-tled ‘Moi’. The winners were: Rhys Jones and Maxine Pwele. For Year 8 French pupils the title was: ‘Ma chambre idéale’ (my ideal bed-room). The winners in the poster competition were Seren Marsh, Amy Hick-ery, Jessica Hawkins and in the 3D/ model section Elizabeth McCulloch, The stage items was won by Anton Elliott, Daniel Owusu, Tristan Worssam, Gregor McBeth and Ryan Lane.

Year 8 German pupils were asked to create a poster about themselves entitled ‘Ich’. The win-ners were: Seren Marsh and Rowena Cameron.

We celebrated Easter this year with a big ‘Ostereierjagd’ (egg hunt). The winners were Lily Winnan (8), Grace Loweth (8), Stuart McGavin (9), Megan Doran ( 10), Holly Flynn (11) and Joseph Keenan (12) The annual visit to France was again a great success with both staff and 55 members of Year 8 thoroughly enjoying their cultural ex-perience. Pupils had the opportunity to see a number of famous Parisian landmarks as well as spend-ing a day in Disneyland where a special St. David’s Day celebration was taking place!

It was a pleasure for the teachers to witness the pupils show their aware-ness of different cultures.

Congratulations to Dylan Kingston and Bethan Hearne who made

an outstanding effort to communicate in French and Welsh and Bethany Fitt and Amy Walsh who won the quiz.

The Summer term has been a busy one for the MFL Department. July the 2nd saw the arrival of 46 German pupils from our partner school in Staufen. The exchange is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year which is a huge achieve-ment. The German children stayed with pupils in Year 8 and Year 9 for ten days. They came to

lessons in order to get a taste of what a British school is like. The children all enjoyed an ex-cursion to Big

“celebrating its 30th anniversary this year which is a huge achievement.”

Mrs T Davis

MFL Pit. This in-cluded an under-ground tour and a chance to look at the exhibi-tions. There was also a trip to Oakwood

which was great fun and rather wet for some pupils! In addition, the German children visited Cardiff, as well taking part in a treasure hunt in Penarth. It was all rounded off with a farewell BBQ at Penarth Lawn Tennis Club. The visit was

voted a great success and the Year 8 pupils are already looking forward to the return trip next Easter. The French department has enjoyed a visit to the seaside town of Boulogne in July. 43 pu-pils from Year 7 spent two days practising their French and sampling the delights of French culture and cuisine.

The pupils visited Nausicaa, Boulogne’s aquar-ium where they got to see some very interest-ing specimens of sea life. They also had the chance to barter for trinkets at the morning market in Wimereux. One of the highlights was most definitely mak-ing and, bien sûr, eating our own crêpes in a traditional restaurant. C’était super!

“pupils from Y7 enjoyed a visit to the seaside town of Boulogne”

Mrs T Davis

Music

The end of the Easter Term in the Music de-partment culminated in two noteworthy events. The first was a superb live perform-ance of the A Level Music set work (Shostakovich String Quartet in E minor) given by the Richard Hillman Quartet. The viola player, Bernard Kane, was a past student and we were able to arrange a presentation and performance of the work for Stanwell pu-pils, alongside other sixth formers from Radyr Comprehensive, Cowbridge Comprehensive, Cardinal Newman and Monkton House Schools. This was followed by a revision ses-sion for all students in the new Lecture Thea-tre. It really was such a privilege to hear the work played so superbly, and the students found the experience a tremendous benefit. At the same time, rehearsals were ongoing for the Key Stage 3 concert which included hun-dreds of our pupils and took place on the 29th April in the auditorium! Another fantastic success, again following Stanwell tradition and presenting lots of the ensemble groups as well as Year 7 in performance. Very well done to everybody.

The Vale of Glamorgan Festival is an annual contemporary classical music festival which presents a programme of exciting contempo-rary repertoire featuring the works of UK and international living composers. Stanwell Music Department has had links with John Metcalf, Artistic Director of the Festival for many years – and this year, on the 8th May we were de-lighted to welcome Craig Vear, one of the UK’s most interesting and innovative young composers to school. He had been commis-sioned to write a new piece which received its world premiere on Monday 7th May during the festival. The piece’s title was The Passing of Captain Robert Scott and was performed 100 years af-ter Scott’s ill-fated expedition, which set off from Cardiff in 1910, reaching the South Pole in early 1912. It is being written for 3 male voices, bass clarinet, cello and electric guitar plus a treated ‘Ghost’ string sextet and dif-fused generative soundscape drawn from Scott's diaries and letters, Antarctic field re-cordings and hymns. Craig himself spent a long time in the Antarctic on a residency and we were so fortunate that he held a composing workshop with our Year 10 musicians, fol-lowed by a performance of the Scott piece for Year 7. Practical Examinations Pupils have worked diligently to prepare for their practical assessments in GCSE, AS and A Level Music this term. A number of Year 10 GCSE pupils took the practical module a year early and the visiting examiners at all levels were really impressed with their performances. Coursework was presented after a great deal of creative effort and we are sure that everyone has done their best to achieve their potential. Fingers crossed for a good set of results in Au-gust.

Pupils have worked diligently to prepare for their practical assessments in GCSE, AS and A Level Music this term.

Mrs J Richards

Music

HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL — “an ambitious project, but the achievements are spectacular”.

Mrs J Richards

On the 29th June, an ICT specialist from CCVG Music Development Service spent a day run-ning two workshops for Year 7. Over 70 pupils were led through a series of activities using the impressive facilities of the school’s new Ipad room, where they used the Beatmaker2 App to record their group ideas.

Rotary concert Once again this year, Stanwell hosted the annual Rotary Club competition, where junior schools and members of our depart-ment presented prepared musical items in aid of charity. Many thanks to all those who performed – again to such a high standard – and to all pupils and staff who helped to organise and support the event.

High School Musical The end of a Summer Term in Stanwell would not be the same without the traditional Lower School musical! Members of the cast, crew and orchestra have been working tre-mendously hard. A terrific amount of dedica-tion and work has been put in by teachers and pupils alike. It is an ambitious project, but the achievements are spectacular. Mas-sive congratulations to everybody involved, including all the backstage and set crew.

Pictures of some re-hearsals and the poster from the show.

County It is not possible here to list the individual and impressive musical achievements of all our pupils. So many are members of County ensembles, but also an increasing number involve themselves in WNO and National Youth projects –from which they benefit tremendously. The latest successful appli-cants for County membership are: Alex Whitfield (Year 7) – High Schools’ Brass Band; Tomas McSorley (Year 7) – High Schools’ Choir; Robert Cavaye (Year 11), Alasdair Cavaye (Year 10), Rebecca Te-Water Naude (Year 10), Thomas Sharpe (Year 8) and Imogen Sibert (Year 10) were all successful in their audition for the County High Schools’ Orchestra; Ella Max-well and Thomas Turton (both Year 12) have been accepted into the Youth Choir; Robert Cavaye has also been accepted in the Youth orchestra and Ray Vandyck (Year 8) will be joining the Youth Wind Band. Very well done to all.

Music

WNO singing club Three pupils from Stanwell - Maxine Pwele, Emily Alford (both Year 7) and Olivia North (Year 8)- were recently part of the WNO din-ner held at Buckingham Palace and attended by Prince Charles. Maxine has very kindly written an account of the event for us:

Welsh National Opera’s Singing Club

Emily Alford, Olivia North and I are members of WNO’s Singing Club and we enjoy it very much! In term time we meet every Saturday at the Welsh Millennium Centre, and for the past year we have been working on a specially commissioned new opera ‘Face in the Mir-ror’. We did staging as well as singing and it’s all been great fun, but hard work too! We even went in every single day of the half term holiday from 10-5, including the bank holi-days! By now we’ve toured around 4 different venues; Western-Super Mare, Port Talbot, Gloucester, and finally Cardiff. These were professional performances, with lighting, stage managers and lots of props and the au-diences loved it. But that’s not all we’ve been up to! Recently we, as Singing Club, were invited to sing at a WNO gala event... in Buckingham Palace! This exciting occasion was held in honour of the company’s patron, Prince Charles. We were singing in one of the main galleries as the guests were arriving. On arrival, we entered the palace through a back entrance and climbed many steep stair-cases that led us to a small room where we had the ‘highest quality’ royal sandwiches before the performance. It seemed that every-one still couldn’t believe we were actually eating lunch inside Buckingham Palace, it was just so amazing! Then we went through a very grand room to get to where we were going to sing. There was

high security at the palace and sniffer dogs were weaving around the room. We moved on quickly to a wide gallery full of huge portraits, gold and yet more gold. It really was a very impressive sight. We sang for a long time and everyone already had dead legs. But then we were told that Prince Charles was going to come and every-one became super excited! We heard the click-ing and saw the flashing of cameras and we knew His Highness was on his way up the splendid staircase. So there we were, singing our hearts out as His Royal Highness came up the stairs and looked, listened and smiled. After we’d finished the song, Prince Charles and the people with him applauded while smiling joyously. He then came over and spoke to us about the tour, re-hearsals and what it’s like to be a Singing Club member. Everyone was just smiling and nodding, everyone was in total awe! We were all overjoyed with how well it had gone and that we had sung in Buckingham Pal-ace! WOW! What a night!

Well done girls and thanks to Maxine for writ-ing such a descriptive account! For anyone who thinks that they may be interested in join-ing the WNO singing club – there is no formal audition process, and it is for pupils aged 10 – 14. (See Mrs Richards for further information.)

Pupils have worked diligently to prepare for their practical assessments in GCSE, AS and A Level Music this term.

Mrs J Richards

Music

Many thanks to the music pupils who per-formed so beautifully in this year’s Award Ceremony. The win-ner of last year’s pres-tigious Richard Fice Award, Peter McDonough, played solo euphonium – to rapturous applause! – and the final musical

item was given by some of the Lower 6 A Level musicians, who performed ‘Valerie’. This was arranged by Joseph Keenan for a group of backing in-strumentalists and star vocal soloist, Year 12’s

Beth Cowley. So many people have sent congratu-lations for the excellent standard of performance – great stuff, guys!

STOP PRESS!!! Following the tremendous success of ‘Phantom of the Opera’ last year, we are de-lighted to inform you that Stanwell will pre-sent ‘Miss Saigon’ at the end of next term. Set in 1975 during the final days of the American occupation of Saigon, ‘Miss Sai-gon’ is an epic love story about the relation-ship between an American GI and a young

Vietnamese woman. Look out for casting no-tices from September!

Performances are scheduled to take place on December 17th -20th inc (4 nights) in the school auditorium. Information regarding ticket sales will be available on the school website in the Autumn Term. Instruments for loan and Peripatetic Music lessons There are a small number of school orchestral instruments available for loan (including an oboe and bassoon!). These are available for free, but lessons will need to be paid for. Any-one interested should see Mrs Richards.

Every September, peripatetic teachers hold a meeting so that existing and potential learners can sign up for lessons –this will be held on SEPTEMBER 11TH IN THE SCHOOL AUDITORIUM. Interested pupils should ex-cuse themselves from class at 2.00pm and go to the auditorium.

‘Presenting Miss Saigon’

Mrs J Richards

Physical Education

It has been another good term for the P.E. De-partment with many excellent performances. The term started with very heavy rain which forced two important Rugby and Football fix-tures to be cancelled. The Senior Rugby team performed particu-larly well in the Welsh schools competition reaching the Semi-final stage. After being postponed several times, the match vs Duffyn Taff school was played at Whitland RFC. Both teams were very well matched and at the 79th minute were drawing at 12 points. Un-fortunately a loose kick and poor chase re-sulted in the opponents replying with an ex-cellent counter attack and scoring in the last second of the game. The Stanwell team has showed they can play at a very high standard this year and are only losing a handful of players due to their age. With a very strong Year 10 group entering senior rugby in the coming season, next year could be very prom-ising for Stanwell. In May, the Year 9 Girls Basketball team trav-elled to Wrexham to play in the Final of the Welsh Schools Basketball Tournament. Through their hard work and exceptional per-formance they managed to obtain an impres-sive 1st place.

‘hard work and exceptional performance’

Mr I Summerfield

They also played two exhibition matches against club teams; Bromborough and Chester, who were two years their senior. They put up a fantas-tic fight against both teams and were compli-mented on their high standard of basketball by many coaches that observed their matches. All girls thoroughly enjoyed the day and were out-standing assets to Stanwell School. Special mention goes to; Rebecca Egerstrom, Tizzy Birch-Hurst, Georgia Atkinson, Shanice Donovan, Niamh Teague, Lucia Attanasio, Kelsey Murray, Amelia Rowlands and Sally Jones.

Netball

Congratulations to the Year 9 netball team who reached the county finals in April. The team came 4th overall and played exceptionally well. In the Vale tournament the Year 9 girls came 1st. All our players have had a fantastic season and special mention goes to Olivia Hamzelou. Well done Olivia on an outstanding netball season!

Physical Education

“there were impressive wins”

Mr I Summerfield

Tennis At the time of writing, the U13 and U15 boys’ and girls’ tennis teams had all got through to the AEGON regional tennis tour-nament. All the teams won the Vale round of the competition and now progress to the fi-nals where they will play schools from South Wales. There were some tough matches in the earlier round but our experienced players made it look easy. We now look forward to them playing at the David Lloyd tennis centre in July where they will hopefully do as well and progress even further. The teams consist of:

Niamh Sweeney, Liberty Smith, Seren Marsh, Grace Samuel, Will Marsh, Tom Marsh, Ethan Hutchings, Spencer Robin-son, Milly Williams, Annabel Richards, Olivia Dwyer, Olivia Hamzelou, Georgia Atkinson, Rhys Fford, Niall Seeley, Jacob Grant and Scott Dutfield.

Athletics Congratulations to Phoenix Kaged (relay)and Sophie Boyle (200m and relay) who have been selected to represent Cardiff and the Vale athletics team. Both girls per-formed well in the middle championships to be selected for the team. In other athlet-ics competitions there were impressive wins for Clare Halligan, Annabelle Birch-Hurst and Maddie Lloyd.

Physical Education

Congratulations to all pupils who have repre-sented the school in athletics this year. There have been some good individual per-formances. In the Junior Championships Clare Halligan (Year 8) came 2nd in the 100m and Annabelle Birch-Hurst (Year 8) came 1st in the high jump. Maddie Lloyd

(Year 7) won the 1500m in the Year girls Championships. Sophie Boyle (Year 11) and Phoenix Kaged (Year 10 ) were both selected to represent Cardiff and the Vale in the inter-counties in July.

Thank you to the PTA who supplied the new athletics kit which was proudly worn by pu-pils at the recent athletics competitions. We are very grateful for the PTA’s continued support and I am sure our readers agree that the girls and boys look very smart indeed.

“great team spirit, determination and individual skill”

Football

Congratulations to the Year 11 Football team who won the Cardiff & Vale Cup. They beat Barry Comprehensive 4-3 in the final, scoring the winning goal in the dying seconds of the match. They came back from 3-1 down, showing great team spirit, determination and individual skill throughout the game. Well done to all involved. Team line up - (Back row L — R) Fraser Hodgkins, Dewi Fford, Lloyd Phillips, Curtis Boddy, Sam Jones, Riyad Auckbarally, Scott Taylor, Liam Walker. (Front row L— R) Joe Dyer, Myles Hard-ing, Harry Roberts, Max Bramhill, Sam Sellick, Dan Spear.

Mr I Summerfield

Psychology

AS Psychology

Year 12 students have recently returned to school after working on their Welsh Bacca-laureate. During this time a number of stu-dents carried out investigations into various aspects of Psychology. For example Amy Palin produced an excellent piece of work comparing the treatment of schizophrenia in Wales and China. Other students investigated topics such as childcare, forced marriage and eating disorders. Students are now in the proc-ess of designing their own Psychology experi-ments to be carried out over the summer holi-days and then written up and analysed in Sep-tember. Many different topics are being ex-plored and we look forward to seeing the re-

sults next term.

A2 Psychology

The Department bids farewell to a number of excellent students this year. Congratulations to Malita Chimuzi on winning the Psychol-

ogy Award. Malita has been an excellent stu-dent of Psychology, achieving a very high stan-dard in all her examinations so far and demon-strating an enthusiastic and conscientious atti-tude to learning. She is looking forward to studying Psychology at University next year. A number of other students are also intending to continue their Psychology studies at University (Jordan Holt, Emily Price, Roxanna Rohbani-Eivazi and Matilda Shepherd) and we wish them and all our Year 13 students the best of luck for the future.

Next year

The Department is looking forward to welcom-ing a new member of the staff to the school next term.

We are also continuing our commitment to in-creasing the use of ICT in lessons and next year will have access to a department set of laptops. This will allow students more opportunity to work independently on their own projects and have access to internet resources during all les-sons.

Another development for next year is the intro-duction of Health and Social Care at AS Level. The course is designed to give students who are interested in a career in Health, Social Care or Early Years services an introduction to some of the knowledge and skills they will need work-ing in these areas. The course covers a variety of topics such as communication skills and pro-moting good health. Students will be visited by a number of Health, Social Care or Early Years professionals as well as having the opportunity to visit a range of services.

“The Department bids farewell to a number of excellent students”

Miss K Hall

Religious Education

Aung Sann Suu Kyi’s Dilemma To provide a link to topical issues with the visit to Europe of the Pro-Democracy Leader from Burma, Year 8 pupils have been examin-ing the life of the Buddhist Nobel prize winner and elected leader of Burma’s National League for Democracy in order to provoke challenging questions about the decisions we make and the service of others. Pupils have designed posters on the theme of rights and responsi-bilities.

RE Club Update RE Club have been busy completing their entries for the “Spirited Arts” competition. Year 8 pupil Morgan Crimp is pictured with his entry and Morgan also received the Carol Evans RE award at this year’s award ceremony.

Year 10 Looking Back Year 10 have spent some time reflecting on the issues they have studied during the first half of their GCSE course and have produced some striking posters for display in the RE Depart-ment. Here is Ellie Trott’s composition.

RE Student Voice The RE Student Voice Group has been meeting regularly and Morgan Crimp, Lex Hermogeno, Amy Hickery and James Lewis are pictured here discussing their future plans. The group have a badge designed by the Year 8

Eisteddfod winner Jessica Hawkins. The group have recently made their own badges using this award winning design with the help of the DT department.

Year 11 Full Course GCSE Year 11 have been the first to take the Full Course GCSE Religious Studies. They took the first exam in Year 10 and have completed the course by sitting a second exam this summer. They have all worked extremely hard and we await their results with interest.

“RE provokes challenging questions about the decisions we make”

Mrs J Skilton

today 2.7 billionpeople live on less than $2 a day

18 millionpeople dieeach year

from poverty related-causes

today 1.1

billionpeople live on less than $1 a day

I have chosen a starfish because it’s got many legs reaching in all different directions so 

different religions go different ways but unite as one.  In this case the starfish legs are going 

different ways and unite in the middle.

Science

Mr P Johnson

Chemistry The Chemistry department has appointed two Year 12 students to represent the School on the local Industrial Community Advisory Panel which meets regularly at the industrial site in Sully. Isabella Macgregor and Lloyd Allen will sit on the panel and discuss matters concerning the running of the industrial complex and how it impacts on the local community and our environment. They will report back to school, with particular emphasis on issues linked to the curriculum. Physics The Physics department has had a very busy term with more students than ever taking the AS and A level WJEC practical examination modules in the first few weeks after Easter. We have also been very pleased to see so many students attending the department both after and before school for additional GCSE and A level support. Best wishes to all with their examination results. Biology Two highly enjoyable projects have taken place in the Biology department this term. Firstly, Year 9 pupils have participated in a workshop run by Techniquest which gave them an insight into the problems faced by paralympic athletes, especially those using wheelchairs. Some 20 pupils in Year 8 have been working with researchers from the University of Glamorgan on a project called ‘Let’s Talk About Genes’, this project looked at the links between environment and cancer. (see separate page overleaf for a full report).

Science Council This term has seen the first meeting of the newly formed Science Council which comprises of representatives from each of the Year Groups. They will meet at regular intervals to discuss issues raised by the pupils that they represent, ranging from resources to methods of teaching and assessment. This serves as a vehicle to allow pupils to have a say on how the curriculum is delivered within a large department and already, some very important and interesting issues are being raised. The representatives are : Year 7: Harris Khan, Year 8: Esther Buckton, Year 9: Jessica Boland, Year 10: Zed Strong Year 12: Henry Stephanakis (Biology), Molly Crowther (Chemistry) and Andrew Richards (Physics). Two other representatives will be appointed when school begins again in September. Science Club continues to thrive and give Year 7 pupils a chance to get together after school on a Wednesday to construct and trial various designs and experiments. Some of the themes this term included : ‘Magic Writing’, Chromatography (in a ‘who shot Mr Burns’ special!), building volcanoes and making aeroplanes and parachutes. Pupils, especially Scott Bagshaw, Osian Bowland, Ben Croll, Samuel Hancock, Moses Lawley, Rob McKellar, Niall McSorley, Alex Whitfield and Kota Wirth, have shown initiative and creative talents in many of these tasks.

“some very important and interesting issues are being raised”

‘Let’s Talk About Genes’

“I think it would be useful for other young people to know about parents passing things on . This could cause kids stress which is unnecessary.”

The highlight of this term in the Biology department has been the participation of a group of 20 Year 8 pupils in a project run by the University of Glamorgan on the subject of cancer genetics – called Let’s Talk About Genes and I Don’t Mean Trousers.

Researchers from the Faculty of Health Sport and Science, led by Dr Rachel Iredale and Kim Madden, have been working with the pupils for the last few months to explore the feasibility and acceptability of discussing cancer and genetics with school children.

Using funds secured from Tenovus, the Welsh cancer charity, the researchers explored the interaction between the genetic and the environmental influences on cancer using stories, games and creative activities. The children worked with an animator and some musicians to produce a Rap. Both the pupils and the researchers hope that the rap will convey to other children their age what they should know about cancer, inheritance and the role that families play in health and disease.

The pupils involved found the whole project both fun, interesting and, most importantly, informative. The insight that pupils gained has proved to be valuable, and is best described in their own words:

“I have really enjoyed this project. I think that this project will/could be very beneficial to other kids our age. I have learnt a lot and enjoyed being creative. Everyone is really friendly and I have felt confident to talk to people about cancer and genetics”.

Dr Rachel Iredale, Principal Investigator, said “Families share lots of things – their genes, their environment and often behaviours and attitudes – which can increase or decrease the risk of getting cancer. Kids need to be more aware of the role that family history can play in health and disease and need to be exposed to messages that are relevant to preventing cancer, such as healthy diet, lifestyle and sun awareness”.

The pupils would like as many people as possible to watch the Rap on YouTube. We hope that it will be viewed 20,000 times by the end of the year - http://www.youtube.com/genomicspolicyunit

Welsh

‘Yet another busy term for the Welsh Department’

Mrs C Flaherty

It has been yet another busy term for the Welsh department. We are delighted with the increase in the numbers who attend Welsh club on a Wednesday. We would like to give a special thank you to Robert Brown and Harry Newman for their en-thusiasm and efforts. Da iawn bechgyn!

A bilingualism workshop held during the Transition INSET was organised by the Welsh Department and Huw Barton from Ysgol Gynradd Evenlode. The aim of the workshop was to increase the confidence of teachers from both the primary schools and from Stanwell to use more incidental Welsh in the classrooms and around the schools. Resources have been uploaded on to MOODLE under the heading of Datblygu’r Gymraeg. Feedback from the primary schools and Stanwell staff was very posi-tive.

Congratulations to Kathleen Ahearne from Year 10 who was awarded the Ann Johnson Memorial cup for Welsh and Music. Kathleen is a very conscientious student who has produced outstanding work in Welsh. She shows a passion for the lan-guage and culture and has contributed to lessons with great enthusiasm throughout her time here at Stanwell. Also, congratulations to Jessica Raby of Year 13 who was awarded the Alwyn Prosser Memorial cup. Jessica studied Welsh at A level. During the course she has shown great enthusiasm for the Welsh lan-guage and culture and has been a commit-ted student who has made outstanding pro-gress. She hopes to continue her studies in Welsh and Art at university.

Welsh

‘The Eisteddfod is being held in the Vale of Glamorgan this August’

Mrs C Flaherty

On the 20th of June, Geraint Scott from the Urdd organisation came to Stanwell to give a presentation to Year 8 about the Urdd activity centre in Glanllyn, Bala, North Wales. We are organising a trip to the centre for Year 9 next year to enjoy the many activities offered by the centre in a Welsh language environ-ment. On July 5th, the organisations Vibe and SWOOSH came to the school to pro-mote the National Eisteddfod and the Welsh culture. The Eisteddfod is being held in the Vale of Glamorgan this Au-gust. Their presentation was enjoyed by many of the pupils and they were en-couraged to attend the event and take part in many activities, such as Zorbing and enjoying listening to Welsh bands as well as watching the more traditional events.

Year 7 pupils have been working hard and with enthusiasm and some out-standing results have been achieved, especially by Juliette Cavaye, Caitlin Duggan, Lauren Ellis, Maxine Pwele and Carys Wilson in Year 7 and Seren Marsh, Will Marsh and Joe Short in Year 8. Many Year 9 pupils have also been working particularly hard towards their end of Key Stage 3 levels and out-standing results have been achieved by Sarah Brabham, Georgina Bartlett, Evie Chatham and Olivia Dwyer. Ha-zel Doran, Gaby Harding, Maisie Hallett, Seren James and Sally Jones have also been extremely positive and hard-working throughout the year. Year 10 pupils have been busy dealing with the demands of the new GCSE course. In the Spring they completed a four week project which culminated in a controlled assessment worth 15% of the final grade. Dal ati!!! We, of course, wish our GCSE Year 11 pupils, Year 12 pupils, Georgina Att-wood, Lauren Gimber,Charlotte Goodway-Sims, Kayleigh Porter, Eloise Procter and Madison Ramsden & Year 13 pupils Bryony Edwards, Jessica Raby and Lucy Nicholls the very best of luck as they await the re-sults of their external examinations. Wishing you all a very restful and en-joyable summer. Gwyliau hapus!

Workskills

Congratulations to the ten Year 11 students Ab-bie Shaw, Bethan Shaw, Corie Wolfenden, Daniel Harvey, Dean Hotchkiss, Emma Smith, Jake Simmons, Scott Dennison, Taylor Knight and Tris-tan Lewis who all completed the BTEC Extended Certificate qualifi-cation gaining two ‘B’ grade GCSEs. Not only have they gained an academic qualifi-cation but also raised money for charity.

They celebrated their success on a wind-swept Barry Island in May undertaking some voluntary work with the Visible Ser-vices department at the Vale of Glamor-

gan Council. Well done and keep up the volun-teering work. This term the Year 10 pupils have been using the Workskills course to prepare for their Work Experience Placement in July. Here are a few of the students and their prospective placements.

Some of the pupils on their work experience place-ments.

Good luck to all students and make sure you get your booklets completed please!

The Year 9 students have been undertaking the short course Level 2 BTEC in Money and Finance Skills, they completed the course in June and achieved accreditation. Congratulations to James Pemberton, Austin Squire-Wood, Thomas Jones and Lewis Carde on success-fully passing the course.

Unfortunately, the poor weather has prevented us from undertaking as much volunteering work as we had planned this year, we hope for an improvement in the weather and to take part in more partnership work with the Vale of Glamorgan Council and Keep Wales Tidy next term.

“prepare for their Work Experience”

Mr. R Deighton-Jones

Georgia Murray Sully School

Jaq Allen McDonalds LauraTucker Welsh Hawking Centre

Katie Way The Yard Graphic De-signers

Kyle Strenstrom Pizza Hut

Vishal Patel City wide Auto Centre Wei Haw Ong BT

Caylum Petherick Spar Stores

Jake Campbell NSW Auto Repairs

Year 7

The list of awards and achievements for this year is most impressive. Year 7 pupils have all made a wonderful effort to achieve such high standards in these diverse areas. The level of commitment has been exemplary and we are confident that this year group will continue to make a superb contribution to school life. 7T Chloe Adney has won a medal in Sea Cadets and is now proud to be a Colt. Emily Alford performed at Buckingham Palace for Prince Charles with her singing group at his Welsh National Opera Dinner. Will Branson has started sparring in boxing recently. Lowena Diment swam 100 lengths in 1hr 15mins with Rhoose Lifeguards and she has also passed her Grade 1 piano exam. Nathan Evans has been put forward for Cardiff and Vale boys football trials by his PE teacher. Benjamin Jones is pleased to now be the captain of his football team. Ben Jones gained 100% in his Geography exam. Jodie Knight has won a medal and a trophy in football. Georgeana Pugsley has been very busy raising money for the LATCH charity with a group of friends. They raised a staggering £950 by organising a talent contest in All Saints Church hall. Georgeana is also going to be going on ‘Got To Dance’, performed on the Strictly Come Dancing Tour and will be competing in Oceana. Elspeth Robertson has been selected to sing several solos in her Performing Arts Academy’s Spotlight Summer Show and is looking forward to performing. Niamh Sweeney was very pleased to get through to the school tennis finals. Chelsea Williams has won a place on Dance Angels and will be performing in Disneyland Paris. Harrison Ashby, Scott Bagshaw, Stuart Bird and Jodie Knight have all impressed subject teachers and received postcards home.

7E Many congratulations to Olivia Price-Milne and Katy Rotherham, who along with a small group of friends, raised the £950.00 for Latch, a Welsh children’s cancer charity that supports children who are being treated for cancer or leukaemia at the Children’s Hospital for Wales. A fantastic contribution, well done to everyone involved. Congratulations also to Elin Gray who has passed her grade 4 piano exam. Alex Whitfield has achieved a Grade 4 piano award. He also coaches lacrosse at Evenlode Primary School every week and coaches Sailing at Cosmeston. Alex also sails for Penarth and Cardiff Bay. Idrees Maskeen has been selected to play cricket for Cardiff and The Vale U13. Well done to Harry Smith who has been selected to play football for Cardiff and The Vale County Schoolboys (U13). Georgia Midwinter has been promoted to Assistant Patrol Leader in Scouts. Good luck to Lucy Dutfield who is preparing for her Grade 2 Clarinet exam and Kota Wirth who is preparing for his Grade 7 Violin exam. Ben Roderick is currently working hard on his Grade 3 Guitar and Grade 5 Piano. He has also achieved his brown belt in karate. 7A

7A have been a very busy form this year. Well done to Alexandra Slack who won bronze, silver and gold medals in the Welsh U13s karate finals. Jade Eastwood competed in a swimming gala at Cogan leisure centre in November and was fortunate enough to attain 1st and 2nd place in her races. She has also sat her Grade 3

“£950 pounds raised for LATCH!”

Miss R Sterlini and Mr M Baldwin

Year Group News

Year 7

piano exam and is awaiting her Grade 2 flute exam. Alexandra Ruge-Hayes was runner-up in an art competition that was entered by Stanwell school and as a result, her work was displayed in an exhibition in the National History Museum in London. Alexandra Crandon is part of a dance group called Popstars, who performed on the Strictly Come Dancing tour in the new theatre in Cardiff this year. 7A has been very busy fundraising; Rebecca Johnson has raised an impressive £120.00 for Cardiff Dogs Home and Menna Bafaqih, Olivia Griffin and Stephanie Knight have all raised a substantial amount for Children In Need. Finally, Dafydd Morgans and Henry Carter have been part of the Year 7 Stanwell football team that came second in the Cardiff and the Vale School League. Overall, an excellent year!

7M

7M pupils have proven throughout the year to be exceptionally hard-working, both in school and in extra-curricular activities. A number of pupils have been involved in fund raising activities; these include a sponsored bounce, (Saumik Dhar and Matthew Charles) cake making for Sport Relief (Emily Bull, Samanta Caramella-Vickery, Emily Cook, Lucie Isaacs and Olivia Taylor) and nearly all of the class participating in the Sport Relief Mile. On a sporting front we have also excelled, with Libby Smith winning several tennis trophies in various tournaments. Lucia Cavaliere has won over five horse riding

competitions and Haaris Khan has shown he has a natural talent for boxing by wining all five matches he entered this year. Congratulations go to Eve Barker who has managed to obtain her Grade 2 on both violin and piano, and Tomas McSorley who won first prize in the singing contest during this year’s school Eisteddfod.

7X

Holly Courtney and Chloe Taylor enjoy dance and have been involved in the dance show Strictly Come Dancing. Lauryn Perkins entered a competition with the group Dance Angels and her team won 7 out of 10 awards and were presented with a trophy! Many members of the form have participated in some of the many clubs available; Lia-Maree Dyer and Mason Dargie enjoyed joining the tennis club and the football club. Mason has represented Stanwell School, playing striker and scoring 5 goals.

Daniel Anderton has also played football and rugby representing the school in both sports this year. Niall McSorley has represented the school at rugby, playing in every game this season! Seren Mirza-Davies participates in many sports clubs at school and has been to the USA participating in gymnastic competitions.

Simran Sandhu took part in sports relief fun run completing the 1 mile run. Gwilym Humphreys, George Lush, Chloe Taylor, Holly Courtney, Lia-Maree Dyer, Cerys Johns, Katie Hudd & Lauryn Perkins made gingerbread and shortbread and sold it in the Dining hall extension. They were raising money for Children in Need and made over £20.00. Gwilym Humphreys has also auditioned for CBBC Vet school and has made it through to the

“7X making cakes for Children in Need”

Miss R Sterlini and Mr M Baldwin

Year 7

next round so he may well be on TV in the summer holidays! He will be going to Leeds to film shortly. George Lush joined the eco-committee and has helped with all the activities as charity, fairtrade and eco-friendly work. He was also a part of the team who designed and introduced the school water bottles. The whole form agree that they love the food that is available in either the dining hall or the sandwich bar. 7W 7W have been very busy again this summer term. Robert Brown entered the Welsh Eisteddfod Speaking competition and came first. Adam Hearne and Macauley Winton have both played for the school football team which came second in a recent semi finals cup game. Richard Lee and Joshua Lewis have been accepted into the Mike Fowler Football Academy. Maddie Lloyd came 4th in a cross country athletics event competing against schools from the whole of South Wales. Joshua Meek came 1st in the Art Eisteddfod competition. Anna Pringle passed her Grade 2 piano exam and Frazer Wilde participated in a recent Badminton tournament, with the team coming second. Finally, the pupils helped their form tutor raise £397 in sponsorship money for a charity skydive over Swansea.

7O

Morgan Ashton and Sam James have set up their own football team ‘Penarth U13’. They play in the local league. Amelia Chick, Lily McJennet and Olivia Powell have raised over £900 for LATCH. Andrew Flanigan has worked hard to make improvements with his swimming, achieving personal best times at the Cardiff International Meet. Andrew has been selected for the swim team that is

going to Stuttgart and has also taken part in the Kayaking Regetta in Cardiff Bay. Tom Trezise has been part of a ‘Street Dance’ club, performing at the Memorial Hall in Barry. Rhys Jones is attending the Summer WASA (Welsh Amateur Swimming Association) for five events. Amelia Chick and Olivia Powell have represented the school in three competitions for cross country running. Naomi Hills has achieved her Grade 4 playing the clarinet and is now working towards her Grade 5.

7R

Members of 7R have once again been heavily involved in extra-curricular activities. Morgan Evans, Cameron Jenkins, Joe Munn and Joe Stephens-Collins play football for Sully A team and recently won the U12s Vale of Glamorgan Football League. Thaine Baker plays rugby for Dinas Powys U12s. His team recently came 4th in the International Mini Rugby Series and he was selected as the players’ player of the tournament. Morgan Evans has recently started playing ice hockey for the Cardiff Devils and has already been chosen to play for the U14 team. Thomas Griffiths is a keen tennis player at Windsor Lawn Tennis Club where he plays for the U16 team. 7R’s achievements also extend beyond sport. Ellis Hawkins-Payne has had a poem published in a poetry book called Express Yourself. Juliette Cavaye has passed her Grade 4 Modern Dance exam and won the dance competition in the Eisteddfod. Lastly, Iman Haq has received a silver award in Kumon Maths.

“Eco-committee design pupil water bottles.”

Miss R Sterlini and Mr M Baldwin

Year 7

7K

7K have had a very busy time since Christmas. Ethan Harris and Rhys Wookey both play for the Sully A football team and recently won the Under 12s Vale of Glamorgan League Cup, while Sam Hancock, Sam Salisbury and Sam Stapleton all play for the Penarth Town side. Ethan Harris also made it into the Mike Fowler Soccer Skills Academy and Sam Hancock won ‘player of the academy’ in the Freestyle Soccer Academy over Easter. Olivia Davies, who is also known as ‘Penarth’s Best Dancer’, along with Sophie Chapman and Megan Jenkins and their streetdance squad, appeared on the Strictly Come Dancing tour, and are soon to be seen appearing on the TV programme ‘Got to Dance’. Megan Jenkins will also be ice-skating in a gala in July. Ethan Harris has joined Glamorgan Athletics Club and will soon be seen competing in the 100m race and Antonio Peacock has recently come 2nd in a 1500m race. Jessica Johnson came 3rd in a Welsh gymnastics competition in January. We also have several charitable pupils in 7K. Kitty Dunning completed an 8 mile sponsored walk for Oxfam and raised £99 and Olivia Davies recently helped organise a fundraiser for LATCH, which raised £950. Among 7K’s other achievements are several musical ones. Sam Hancock, Madeline Lloyd and Jacob Mills will all be playing in the band for the Year 8 and 9 production of High School Musical this summer and Madeline Lloyd will soon be taking her

Grade 8 flute exam. Sophie Page will be appearing in a show ‘Stars in the Making’ in Barry. Finally, Sam Hancock’s scout group won the Patrol Camp for Cardiff and the Vale.

7L

First of all, congratulations to 7L (Morgannwg) for winning the Eisteddfod this year along with 7X and Owen Day for being awarded 1st prize in the French Competition. Alana Stokes competed in an individual competition at The VA Gymnastics Sand Dollar, USA in January and finished a fantastic 6th out of 600 competitors. We also have some talented musicians in the form; Owen Day has recently sat his theory exam in Piano and is awaiting his result, Emily Skinner is Grade 3 in flute and Elysia Hickery will be playing the clarinet in the band for the Year 8 and 9 production of High School Musical this summer. Congratulations to Rachael-Leah Lewis, Oliver El-Jawhari, Jack Lee, Helena Heron, Abbey Carter, Genna Harris, Kabir Knupp, Fawziya Ali, Gemma Brinn, Aaron Wong and Emily Skinner who were all lucky enough to come in the top 100 pupils in the year to receive the most housepoints and given the chance to go on the Oakwood Reward Trip. Genna Harris, Kabir Knupp and Helena Heron have had 100% attendance this year. Aaron Wong had the highest score in the year group in the World Maths Day competition. Oliver El-Jawhari and Elysia Hickery have both been nominated to receive an award for Academic Achievement at this year’s Awards Ceremony. Well done to all for their excellent achievements.

“8 mile sponsored walk for Oxfam “

Miss R Sterlini and Mr M Baldwin

Year 8

There have been numerous interesting and exciting events involving the year group since Christmas. Pupils have been participating in the canoeing club, where they have received expert instruction at Cardiff International White Water Centre. A highlight has been the Year 8/9 production of ‘High School Musical’ with its many rehearsals and three evening performances. The annual Eisteddfod was very successful with pupils showcasing their talents on stage and in homework competitions; well done to all those involved. All pupils have made mature decisions this year regarding their GCSE subject choices ready to begin in Year 9. The ‘Let’s Talk About Genes and I Don’t Mean Trousers’ project was fun, informative and a great success! Llongyfarchidau mawr! A huge congratulations to the following pupils on receiving an award in the school’s annual Award Ceremony: Tristan Goodway-Sims (Outstanding Progress), Rebecca Humpage (Outstanding Progress), Megan Jones (Academic Achievement), Jessica Martin (Academic Achievement), Paul Monaghan(Academic Achievement), Thomas Morley (Outstanding Progress), Ellen O’Rourke (Academic Achievement), Jonathan Wright(Academic Achievement), Gregory Cole (100% attendance), Thomas Collins (100% attendance),

Grace Loweth (100% attendance), James Price (100% attendance),Linda Saji (100% attendance), Charlotte Way (100% attendance), Harry Williams (100% attendance), Francesca Le Guilcher (Stanwell Linguist Award KS3), Olivia Barrett (Drama Cup KS3), Lewis Campbell (Young Musician Award KS3), Charlotte Hardy (Young Musician Award KS3),William Gale (Mrs Y Crotty Rugby Shield), William Marsh (Junior Sportsboy), Annabelle Birch-Hurst (Junior Sportsgirl), Morgan Crimp (Carol Evans Award RE), Ben Turpin (Miss Nancy Jones Cup progress) and Joseph Green (Miss Nancy Jones Cup progress).

8T Congratulations to Victoria Pemberton and Hollie Day who have both been accepted to play a part in ‘Fame Junior’. Hollie has also completed grade 2 theory piano and grade 4 piano. Paul Monaghan competed in the school Eisteddfod with a singing solo and has just completed his grade 4 singing exam. Congratulations to Ella Buehner Gattis who achieved a distinction in her Grade 5 theory and Grade

“The annual Eisteddfod was very successful with several pupils showcasing their talents on stage.”

Miss L Jenkins and Mr G Penny

Year 8 4 Euphonium. She also came 3rd in toppers (sailing) with CYRC. Anna Jones completed Grade 1 guitar. Fingers crossed for Joanna Hourihan who had a call back for a short film with Shout Production Company. Well done to Emma Spray who achieved a merit in her Grade 5 ballet exam. Seren Marsh was a member of the tennis team which won the Vale of Glamorgan tennis tournament. Congratulations also to Seren on achieving Grade 5 piano with merit. Charlotte Hardy passed her Grade 5 flute with merit, she also sings in the school choir. Sali Harmes will be performing in two Ascendance Theatre performances with Solar. Congratulations to Tomos Marsh who plays for Sully A football— the team won the football cup and league. Llongyfarchiadau i bawb!

8E Good luck to Sophia Holmes who is preparing to take her Grade 3 singing exam. Also, good luck to Alice Durham who is also about to complete her Grade 5 flute and Grade 4 piano. Elizabeth McCulloch has had a poem and a story published. Emily Glaze has passed Grade 2 piano and is currently working towards Grade 3. Abigail Mock has completed Grade 2 on the drums. Good luck to Elizabeth McCulloch and Amy McAndrew, both have been chosen to swim in Gemau Cymru, the Welsh mini Olympics. Chloe Poole has passed her Grade 5 Music theory and Grade 5 piano. Good luck to Sonal Kerai and all the ladies participating in the Race for Life in the summer. James Adney has been promoted to Sully A football team.

Well done to Joel Price on completing Grade 4 guitar. Ben McCullagh has represented South Wales running long distance. Clare Halligan has represented the school in an athletics tournament. Finally, well done to Ella Robertson on passing Grade 4 piano! Da iawn!

8A Tristan Worssam has been performing with the 30th Open air Everyman Production at St Fagan’s. Victoria Spray has been working in the community with the police. Bethan Hearne has completed Grade 4 trumpet and Grade 2 piano with merit. She has also joined the Sea cadets. Well done to Grace Samuel who won the National Badminton Tournament representing the school. Esther Buckton has been busy raising money for Ty Hafan. Harry Williams has been very busy representing the school at several sports. George Roberts was in the winning team for Sully A football. Congratulations to Spencer Robinson for captaining the school rugby team to victory this year. Congratulations also to Owen Lloyd who was a member of the winning rugby team and also been nominated for the Cardiff School Rugby Trials. Gwych!

“Llongyfarchiadau Mawr”

Miss L Jenkins and Mr G Penny

Year 8 8M Congratulations to Morgan Rees for receiving an award for being a valuable and versatile football player. Well done to Amy Bond who came 2nd in the butterfly race and 3rd in the backstroke race in the British Swimming competition. Olivia Barrett is currently acting on the Sky 1 TV programme ‘Stella’. Ffion McGowan will be completing her Grade 4 intermediate ballet exam. Rhys Capener came 2nd in the shooting District Competition. Jamie Cross has received a level 2 sailing award. Rosina Peterson was scouted for the Welsh basketball team. Well done to Rebecca Hardess who has a piece of artwork on display in a London Museum. Arbennig!

8X Congratulations to Caitlin Ellis on passing her Grade 5 piano and Joe Burge on passing Grade 5 guitar. Congratulations to Seren Lewis on achieving 3rd in a gymnastics competition and completing Grade 6. William Marsh has been busy representing the school at several sports. He was a member of the team which won the Vale tennis tournament, served as captain of the football and athletics teams and was also a member of the rugby team. Emily Pearce moved up a class in kayaking and completed 3 levels. Good luck to Rhiannon Pearce who is preparing for Grade 2 after successfully passing Grade 1 piano. Ethan Hutchings won the Dinas Tennis Tournament. He is also a member of the school’s athletics, rugby and tennis teams. Ardderchog!

“valuable and versatile football player”

8W Well done to Sam Wiltshire who is moving up to book 4 guitar. Adam Yusuf has a brown strip 2 in karate and has won player of the year in football. Samuel Lawrence has completed Grade 6 performing on the drums. Lauren Jennings-Slater came 2nd overall in a gymnastics competition. Well done to Beth MacMillan who has completed her Bronze level in lifeguarding and floor gold in gymnastics. Cameron McJennett-House came 2nd in the 1500m race. Good luck to Shazel Prosser who will be completing her Grade 5 ballet exam. Anhygoel!

8O Congratulations to Rachael Salisbury on passing her level 6 ice skating NWA exam and good luck with her solo in the Cardiff Summer Gala. Tom Pascoe has been busy representing Sully at cricket and the Vale at football. Well done to Emily Wooster who won two silver medals in the Welsh Regional Championships for Athletics. Congratulations also to Megan Jones on achieving a distinction in her brass exam Grade 4. Lloyd Hanson took part in an International Swimming gala in Germany. He achieved a bronze medal in the 100m butterfly. Fingers crossed for Lloyd who will also be completing his Grade 4 trumpet exam soon. Well done to Faye Bramhill on achieving Grade 2 in her violin exam and coming 2nd in the discus. Talentog iawn!

Miss L Jenkins and Mr G Penny

Year 8 8R Congratulations to Izaak Lee on completing Grade 4 guitar. Frankie Norton and Benjamin Walsh are both are members of the victorious Sully A football team. Morgan Hayman attended a charity football training session organised by the FAW and this involved playing a match against the Welsh disabled football team. Well done to Matthew Rogers who has successfully completed guitar Grade 4. Da iawn!

8K Rebecca Humpage was pleased to be selected for the Lily Ann Rogers award while Thomas Lam was awarded the Dow Corning award for his achievements. Sam Jones has beaten his personal best for the 100 metres sprint. Kaylan Coombs was awarded the Manager’s player for Cogan B football team while Basil Crack has been nominated clubman of the year for his rugby club. Abby Mills has raised £200 for Breast Cancer Care. Robert Harvey has finished formulating his second Music Technology song. Morgan Rose has become the Welsh karting champion. Dylan Jones has secured his orange belt in judo. Talentog iawn!

8L Well done to Tom Collins who has represented the school at athletics. Elizabeth Ingram has passed Grade 5 ballet with a merit and Grade 3 singing. Good luck to Amy Walsh who will be completing Grade 4 in Performing Arts. Olivia North sang at Buckingham Palace for Prince Charles with the WNO, she is currently preparing for her Grade 4 singing. Well done to Megan Lim who won the National Badminton

“ considerable contribution to extra-curricular activities”

5x60 tournament. Bendigedig! It is clear that the year group has made a considerable contribution to extra-curricular activities this year and all the pupils mentioned deserve great credit.

Miss L Jenkins and Mr G Penny

Year 9

There have been many exciting and interesting events taking place for Year 9 this year. Pupils have begun their GCSE courses in all subjects and have coped well with the challenge this has presented. Pupils received valuable business advice from guest speakers in the recent Dynamo Project. The Proto Toy Day was a success with some in-teresting and innovative designs being shown. It appears there are some budding entrepreneurs in Year 9! There was considerable interest in applying for courses at Barry College next year. All pupils performed very well in their interviews and thor-oughly enjoyed the taster sessions at the college. 100 pupils also travelled for a fun-filled day to Oakwood after receiving the most housepoints in Year 9. Many pupils have helped Mr Baldwin with the Year 6 transition days and new parents’ evening, as well as Year 7 parents’ evening - all pupils have been extremely helpful and have repre-sented the school with distinction. 36 members of the year group have been in-volved in the excellent Year 8/9 joint production of ‘High School Musical’. Year 9 students have had many memorable and inspiring visitors during the term. Carol Evans from the Malarchi Pooncholai Trust spoke to the year group about an Indian orphanage and fol-lowing this the pupils raised enough money to sponsor two orphan children. Also, Hannah Wil-liams from the Vale Volunteer Bureau spoke to the year group about the valuable aspects of vol-unteering - many pupils were subsequently in-spired to put their names forward for this. Fi-nally, Godfrey, a Headmaster from Lesotho (see photo) spoke to the year group in an assembly

which was a very humbling experience.

9T Shanice Donovan is a member of the Stan-well Girls’ football team that won the league and also is a member of the Girls’ basketball team who are Welsh Champions! Lucy Sharpe has been busy performing in the Orbit Theatre production of Annie. Ver-ity Tucker has passed her modern dancing exams. 9E Isaac Dyer is a member of the Cardiff City Development squad and Sam Jennings is a member of the Swansea City Development squad. Edward Drake has been busy play-ing for Penarth Rugby team. Euan Procter has been regularly attending rock climbing at Bolders. Mathew Bennett was a member of the Newport Football Academy team who won their league. 9A Tom Hann powered through a sponsored cycle ride from Penarth to Pontypridd and back - it was for Pedal Power and the John Ellis Tay lending library. Jacob Grant has played tennis for the school team this term.

“Pupils raised enough money to sponsor two orphan children ...”

Miss R Povey& Mr A Meddins

Year 9

9M Joshua Lewis has had trials for Cardiff County football. Alex Candy has been busy playing Rugby for Penarth and Football for Sully. Rhys Fford won the ‘Road to Wim-bledon’ tournament at his local tennis club. Sarah Brabham has passed her Grade 1 pi-ano exam. Ludwig Mai, a German student, is shadowing Max Shepherd for the last 4 weeks of term. 9X Harry Jowett is working towards his Grade 7 Piano. Alice Holder and Kate Wilkins are involved in a tap dancing show for charity at the Paget Rooms. Emma Davies’ cricketing career has progressed further – she has now achieved her 4th cap for Wales and has had trials for England! Kwabena Fordjour took part in U15 Athletics competition final at Leckwith; he ran in the 100m and the relay. 9W Sian Smith was in the Orbit Theatre produc-tion of ‘Annie’. Amelia Rowlands passed her Grade 6 trumpet exam. Katie Moger en-tered the “Race for Life”. Josh Whittaker has been very busy playing cricket for Dinas Powys, and Football and Rugby for Sully. Joe Fettah has been involved in boxing for a club in Rhoose. 9O Lauren Jones has raised £90 for cancer re-search by completing the race for life. Mollie Britton and Lydia Ferriday have been lucky enough to hold the Olympic torch in Cardiff at the Coca Cola festival. Calum O’Neill was a part of the cast for ‘Les Miser-ables’ 9R Sophie Gracia-Thomas has taken part in rowing regatta. Harriet Alderman and Emily Franks were in the cast of High School Musical and are also taking part in the UDO Welsh Street Dance Champion-

“ ... have represented the school with distinction. “

ships. William Brown is a member of the Year 9 football team and Thomas Moreton is a member of the school badminton club. 9K Rebecca Egerstrom is the goalkeeper for the Welsh Girls’ football team and has attended Welsh football training camps. She also met Olly Murs on her 14th birthday before watch-ing his concert! Scott Dutfield has played tennis for the school team and has played football for Sully this term. Kenn Rufo took part in the Penarth fun run. He ran 5km and raised money for Lesotho. Edward Herbert has passed his Grade 4 trumpet. Niall Seeley has represented Penarth Tennis Club at U14 level. 9L Ioan Morgan-Jones came 1st in a swimming gala at Cogan Leisure Centre. Max Scott has been busy performing as Ryan in Stanwell’s

production of ‘High School Musical’. Other pupils that must be mentioned for their outstanding performance are the Year 9 net-ball team; they won the Vale Netball Tourna-ment and also came 4th in the South Glamor-gan County Netball Tournament. The Year 9 Girls’ basketball team (above photo) were champions at the Welsh Schools Basketball finals. Well done!

Miss R Povey& Mr A Meddins

Year 10 As the summer term draws to a close for Year

10 pupils, we can look back over a very varied

and successful year. Pupils have had to work

hard as they prepared for their external GCSE

exams and we are now looking forward to re-

sults day in August. Good luck to everyone

who has worked so diligently. Many subjects

have already completed coursework assign-

ments and pupils realise the importance of time

management and meeting deadlines.

A ‘Work Experience Preparation Day’ has

been completed and students found it both fun

and informative. All Year 10 pupils completed

their Work Experience and found it very useful

and inspiring.

We are very proud of Suzie Collins who car-

ried the Olympic torch through Barry; she has

also been able to share her experience with

some local primary schools.

As usual the take-up for Duke of Edinburgh

has been impressive, unlike the weather during

the expeditions! The end of year reward trip

was very popular and congratulations to all

pupils who went. Pupils and staff had a great

time.

10T

Kathleen Ahearne has passed Grade 6 clarinet

while Cengizhan Ziyaeddin has been part of

Cardiff Blues U16 training squad. Calum

McWilliam has completed a 100 mile charity

bike ride in aid of Teenage Cancer Trust and

Hannah Green took part in a fun day in aid of

Ty Hafan and raised £505. Calum and his

friend Tom Geen were part of the team who

won the Vale football U16 for Cogan. Ollie

Jones and Jack Powell took part in the Young

Enterprise and Jack had the honour of being

the ‘Top Notch’ managing director. Well done

to Namika Birchall who helped to raise £750

in aid of a local sports club and to Chloe Tho-

mas who has completed her Bronze Medallion

in life saving.

10E

Many members of the form went to the Gower

on their Bronze Duke of Edinburgh award. A

special mention must be made of Tamsyn

Harrington who saved a man’s life when he

fell overboard and got his leg caught in the an-

chor. Tamsyn and her dad were sailing in

Barry when she heard cries for help and re-

leased him from the anchor chain. Well done

Tamsyn. Katie Way went on a midnight char-

ity walk (6 miles) raising money for Ty Hafan.

Luke Morley was part of the Young Enter-

prise team that won an award for the best ad-

vertisement at the Welsh finals. Congratula-

tions to Ben Dain-Smith and Thomas Dwyer

who have passed their Grade 7 guitar exams.

“We are very proud!”

Mrs K Chellingworth & Mr H Roberts

Year 10 Emma Donovan has been performing in a

dance show at the Paget rooms.

10A

Amrit Banga and Ben Chalke have been

working towards their Bronze Duke of Edin-

burgh this year. Ben Chalke has also been

working towards his Grade 3 saxophone.

Daniel Parselle has achieved his Grade 4

electric guitar and Richard Arthur is work-

ing towards his Grade 3 drums. Phoenix

Kaged has been a member of the school ath-

letics team participating in many competi-

tions throughout the year. Finally, Georgia

Carde is preparing for an upcoming show

jumping competition. Good luck Georgia!

10M

Fiona McGavin has recently signed up for

the Cancer Research ‘Race for Life’. She will

be running later in the year. Jay Kapuria

represented the school in the Welsh Finals of

the Young Enterprise scheme with his group

‘TopNotch’. Alasdair Cavaye has recently

passed his Grade 5 viola with distinction and

came 9th in an air rifle competition. Seren

Robinson played an important part in the

‘Phantom of the Opera’ musical. Well done to

George Kynaston for representing Wales at

basketball.

10X

On the sporting front, congratulations go to

Joel Ringer who has been chosen for the Car-

diff Blues U16 Academy and Lambert Ka-

longo who has been selected for the Cardiff

schools under 18s. Elliott Davies and Thomas

Chandler have been taking part in the Duke of

Edinburgh bronze award. Rebecca Thompson

has just taken her Grade 7 in singing and she is

now awaiting her results.

10W

10W is a sporty form as shown by Fletcher

Mace who is through to the second set of trials

for Cardiff City FC while Rhys Savory is a

member of the Cardiff Blues U16s squad.

Spencer-Jon Ward-Henry has played for the

Wales under 15 rugby league squad and is a

member of the Cardiff Blues U16s squad. Ja-

mie Hitchen has been playing for Cardiff and

Vale 1st XI and has made his debut for

Penarth’s senior 1st XI. Jade Detheridge has

passed her St John’s First Aid course, Yas-

mine Cole helps out at a youth club for dis-

abled teenagers and Emily Thomas has

achieved distinction in Grade 7 ballet. Well

done to everyone.

“Good luck to everyone who worked so hard.”

Mrs K Chellingworth & Mr H Roberts

Year 10 10O

Congratulations to Elisabeth Britten on

passing her Grade 6 drum exam with a merit

and Rebecca Te Water Naude on passing

her Grade 5 violin with merit. Courtney

Bridge has been a valuable member of the

trampoling team. Hywel Ainsworth was

very proud to represent his Army Cadet De-

tachment as a guard of honour when the

“Barry at War” plaque was unveiled. Well

done to Ailsa Jones for winning a DT award

and Matthew Holder who was named Mid-

dle Sports Boy. A special mention must go to

Daniel Hourihan for coming 3rd in a recent

high diving competition.

10R

Well done many pupils who have taken part

in local sporting activities. Cea Jay Morgan

has captained the Cogan B football team. Ed-

ward Betts, Jack Goldsworthy and Joel

Freebury-Jones have played in the Penarth

Patriots basketball team. Congratulations

also to Peter McDonough who has passed

Grade 8 with distinction on the euphonium.

A talented musician, Peter is also preparing

to take his Grade 4 piano and is now playing

second euphonium for the Tongwynlais

Brass Band. Megan Wookey is making a

name for herself in the Guides as she works

towards her ‘Young Leader’ qualification.

Special congratulations go to Utako Wirth

who has achieved A* in her GCSE German

exam this year.

10K

Tom Farmer has completed his level 1 squash

coaching course. Tommy Higgins has been

successful in his Grade 3 clarinet exam. Nils

Deeg was part of a percussion ensemble which

played in St David’s Hall. Emma Bright is a

member of the “TopNotch” Young Enterprise

team which went into the Welsh finals. Eliza-

beth Trott is preparing for her Grade 6 singing

exam and she is also looking forward to a con-

cert later this month. Elinor Brunker and

Ellie Jones have both been involved in charity

work raising money for Marie Currie and

Shine.

10L

There are some very keen and talented per-

formers in 10L. Catrin Morgan was an extra

in the Sky TV show “Stella” while Gabrielle

Williams has won a Silver Medal at the “Stage

Coach” drama school. Kate Coker has contin-

ued her excellence in athletics by representing

the school successfully.

“TopNotch!”

Mrs K Chellingworth & Mr H Roberts

Year 11 Since Christmas, Year 11 have been preparing themselves for the forthcoming GCSE examina-tions and deciding on their options for Septem-ber - whether to stay at Stanwell and study A Levels, to study at college or to seek employ-ment. To aid this process, there has been the 6th Form Options Evening, intention interviews and assemblies to introduce the new subjects avail-able in the 6th form. Intentions interviews have been carried out with all the pupils to help and support the choices they make post-16. All this preparation has been to give the pupils the best chance of success in their GCSEs and to ensure they make informed choices regarding their future studies and career paths. The GCSE examinations started on Monday 14th May and ended on Monday 18th June, during which time formal revision sessions were held in Maths, English and Science; further ses-sions were arranged by other departments in or-der to consolidate learning and ensure key skills were refreshed immediately prior to the impor-tant external exams. Attendance at the formal revision sessions averaged 85%, which shows the enthusiasm and commitment of Year 11 pu-pils. This has been a very exciting year for Year 11

with regards to their sporting achievements. Several indi-viduals have had great suc-cess in their particular fields. Samuel Jones (11A) has been signed up by Premier League champions Man-chester City on a two year contract with their youth team.

Thomas Williams (11A) and Matteo Holmes (11K) were invited to compete at the Sainsbury’s 2012 School Games in London in May. Harry Roberts (11E) was selected for the Welsh Under 16 Rugby Squad. He took part in an interna-tional tournament in Wellington, England which included teams from England, Canada and the USA. Also, Erin Murray (11T) has represented the Welsh ladies football team at Under 17 level, scoring against Finland. She has just been awarded a 2 year FUTSAL scholarship with Cardiff City.

Nine Year 11 pupils have successfully completed a BTEC Level 2 in Public Ser-vice at the Military Preparation School in Cardiff. The pupils took part in a very impressive parade and drill formation in an evening Award Ceremony in May. Both Daniel Harrison (11K) and Liam Hudd (11T) spoke about their time at MPCT and went on to win awards; the Award for Public Speaking and Best PFT respectively. Alex ander Huntley (11M) won a Citizenship Award and Matthew Allen (11M) won Most Promising Stu-dent. All pupils were presented with a portfolio of their achievements.

“This has been a very exciting year for Year 11 ...”

Ms L Bekker & Mr B Crompton

Year 11 The Year 11 Senior Football team were proud winners of the Cardiff & Vale Cup. They suc-cessfully reached the final against Barry Com-prehensive beating them 4-3. This was a massive achievement considering the match had been postponed three times and they played the final after their GCSEs had commenced. Max Bram-hill (11T) was presented the trophy in the Year 11 final assembly in May to a round of thunder-ous applause! Sixteen Year 11 girls were invited to attend a prestigious event in Barry Memorial Hall to mark International Women’s Day in March. The theme of ‘Connecting Girls—Inspiring Futures’ provided the pupils with inspirational and thought-provoking presentations to help them aspire in society and their chosen careers. Speak-ers included Lieutenant Colonel Caroline Whittaker of the 203 Field Hospital Volunteers, who was awarded the Royal Red Cross First Class for services in Iraq, and Deputy Chief Constable Colette Paul of the South Wales Po-lice. Emma Hughes (11M) wrote a letter of thanks to Councillor Janice Charles, who organ-ised the event, thanking her on behalf of the pu-pils for the hospitality shown to them, in particu-lar the delicious cream tea!

“We wish Year 11 every success ...”

The Year 11 Moodle pages have been successfully developed and enhanced throughout the year. They have proved to be an invaluable source of information to pupils and parents with details of exam timetables, GCSE re-sits and homework clubs being published on them. In par-ticular, key information was communi-cated to pupils once the GCSEs had com-menced and pupils were on study leave. Details of arrangements for results day will be published via Moodle and the school website, so please keep checking for updates. Indeed, we look forward to results day on Thursday 23rd August where we hope that the pupils’ hard work will be suitably rewarded with excellent GCSE grades. We wish Year 11 every success and look forward to seeing many of the pupils re-turn in the 6th form. We wish those not returning to Stanwell all the best in their chosen career paths.

Ms L Bekker & Mr B Crompton

Year 12 It’s been a busy couple of terms for the Year 12 students. The new prefect team has been appointed with 24 of the year group being cho-sen to fill these positions of responsibility. The Senior Student Leadership team were se-lected from this group; Lloyd Allen and Cath-erine Porteus are the new Head Boy and Head Girl with Harry McDonough and Beth Hopkins as their deputies. Jemima Bushby, Daniel Seal, Joseph Keenan and Charlotte Preece are the senior prefects who will assist and support this leadership team. Since their return from study leave for their external AS examinations, the students have been focusing on completing several elements of the Welsh Baccalaureate qualification. The vast majority of students have completed one week’s work experience and all have been working on the Individual Investigation on a subject area of their choice. Work has also been completed on several of the Essential Skills, namely ‘Improving your Own Learning and Performance’ and ‘Problem Solving’. The year group has also enjoyed sessions with some guest speakers; Damaris spent the day with the students working on a ‘President for a Day’ workshop and the Friends of Israel deliv-ered a presentation on Israel and the Arab World. In addition to this, the whole year group visited the Museum of Wales, St Fagans as part of the Heritage and Culture element. Students have also started to consider their post A Level options. The vast majority at-tended the UCAS Higher Education Fair at Cardiff Metropolitan University and the Uni-versity of Wales College Cardiff Open Day in April. These were opportunities for students to speak with various institutions and visit aca-demic departments of interest in order to help them in their decision. Individual students have also been attending various university open days up and down the country.

Barrie Clark of Swansea University spoke to the students about the advantages of studying at this level and Caroline Coleman-Davies, also of Swansea University, led our Higher Education evening providing parents with vital informa-tion about the UCAS process and financing the university years. The Problem Solving Essential Skill task was incorporated into our Higher Education week. Students were introduced to the UCAS process, given a presentation on gap year choices by ‘Lattitude’ and were provided with an opportu-nity to attend a ‘CV Writing and Advice on Seeking Employment’ workshop. May we take this opportunity to wish all our students the very best of luck for their AS ex-amination results and hope that they all fulfil the requirements for returning to study at Stan-well in Year 13. AS results will be available for collection from 10am on Thursday, August 16th from the sixth form area. Catherine Porteus and Lloyd Allen, the Head Boy and Head Girl.

‘the new Head Boy and Head Girl have been appointed’

Mrs A Mansfield & Mr M Gershenson

Year 12 WO1 Good luck to Lisa Gourley who is working towards the ISTD intermediate Grade 8 Mod-ern Theatre Dance Qualification and to Joe Ingram who is composing music for the Penarth Operatic and Dramatic Society pro-duction of ‘Twelfth Night.’ Joe is also a member of the National Youth Orchestra for Wales. Congratulations also to Andrew Rich-ards who is this year’s Senior Rugby Team Player of the Year. WO2 Samuel James has been working towards the Duke of Edinburgh Gold Award and Jessica Green has been working towards the silver. Well done to Georgina Attwood who won the Lily Ann Rogers cup for endeavour at our an-nual awards ceremony and to James Porteus who has been chosen to play cricket for Penarth’s first XIs. Both James Chaffey and Hamish Couper have completed the EESW Engineering scheme and good luck to Laura Elder who will be running the Race for Life on July 15th; she has raised £150 thus far. WO3

Well done to Tom Murray who won the Play-ers’ Player award for the Penarth Youth Rugby Team, to Joshua Ellis who has passed his Grade 8 exam on the trumpet, to Joseph Keenan for passing Grade 8 exams on the cello and in singing and to Beth Hopkins for passing Grade 8 on the saxophone. Good luck to Kirsty McGarrigle who is currently fund-raising for the Joshua Foundation.

WO4

Well done to Taite Drew who won both the ‘Highly Commended’ and Most Promising Singer awards at the South Glamorgan Festi-

val. He also sang for the Cardiff Bay Rotary Club in a fundraising event for Cancer Re-search. Good luck to Mikaela Wood who will be representing South Wales in the Trampolin-ing competition in the Gemau Cymru (Welsh Games) which will be held in July. She will also begin her third year on the YAS acting course at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama. Finally, well done to Alana Thomas who won an award for her services to Stanwell School in this year’s award ceremony.

WO5 Well done to Jessica Leighton-Price who has completed her National Award 3 Dance exam, to Jonathan Wise who has been work-ing towards Grade 3 on the guitar and to Oliver Oswin who has been working to-wards the Duke of Edinburgh Gold Award. Leah Dalby has had a final call-back for a BBC Wales short film production, Amy Palin has been working with Penarth Youth Action and the Vale Youth Forum helping to set up youth events and Charlotte Preece has gained two gold medals in the first part of her swimming club championships. Charlotte has also been supporting the Drama department with the choreography for the Year 8/9 production of High School Mu-sical. Visiting the Nursing and Midwifery depart-ment at the University of Glamorgan.

‘students have been attending university open days’

Mrs A Mansfield & Mr M Gershenson

Year 12 WO6 Well done to Emily Woodley who has passed a judging course for the trampoline, to Seren Vickers who has passed Grade 6 saxophone and has also been accepted into the National Youth Orchestra for Wales and to Alex Benja-min who won the Rotary Club award for Community Service at this year’s awards cere-mony. Miles Jones has been playing for the Senior Rugby team whilst Rebecca Rumsam has been involved in this year’s Young Enter-prise scheme. WO7 Well done to Harry Wood who won the Eng-lish Award at this year’s awards ceremony and for playing in the Senior Rugby team, to Law-rence Middleton who has earned Grade 5 in Music Theory and to Adam Jones who has won a WWT photography competition. Adam has also been working towards the Duke of Edinburgh Gold Award and is taking part in the expedition to Morocco which will take place during the summer holidays. Cath-erine Porteus has been working towards Grade 8 violin and will be accompanying the Cardiff County and Vale Youth Orchestra on their tour to Florence. John Ellis has been supporting younger pupils in Homework Club.

WO8 Gwynfor Parr is playing for the senior rugby team and has also been chosen to play for the Welsh under 18s academy squad in bowls, Thomas Downey has won a place in the Na-tional Youth Brass Band of Wales and is a re-serve for the National Youth Wind Orchestra. He has also been chosen to play in the Liberty Big Band. Thomas Lewis has taken part in the sailing trip to France and has also completed

EESW Engineering scheme. Well done to Alex-andra Phillips who has achieved fifth place in a trampolining competition. WO9 Well done to Bethan Morgan who received an award for academic achievement, to Allister Hill who received the Information Technology award and to Ben Ware who was awarded the A. P. Bartlett cup for Computing at this year’s award ceremony. Rebecca Trigg and Alexan-dra Nickels have been working towards the Duke of Edinburgh gold award. Alex has also been working towards Ice Skating tests, field moves 4 and 5. Andrew Ott is a member of Penarth and Dinas runners and Sol Whiteside’s band, The Knox, has recently been playing gigs around the Cardiff area including one in the Clwb Ifor Bach.

Students visit the MediCentre at the University Hospital Wales.

‘Students have started the UCAS process’

Mrs A Mansfield & Mr M Gershenson

Year 13 The Spring term began in earnest with the January examinations. The majority of the year group were involved in either re-sitting AS units or working towards new A2 modules. The results for these examinations were pub-lished in March and showed a definite im-provement, with a high percentage of the year group improving upon their grades and indeed exceeding their A level target scores.

Virtually all UCAS applications were com-pleted and submitted on time and students have now made their final decisions. Con-gratulations go to all members of the year group who have been offered conditional places.

For much of the second half of this term, com-pletion of the Welsh Baccalaureate Qualifica-tion has been an important factor for our stu-dents. They have worked hard to cover all ele-ments of this qualification, and it has been en-couraging to see the vast majority of Year 13 rewarded for their efforts with the ‘Welsh Bacc’ featuring in many of the offers they have received.

Visiting speakers have once again contributed to the pastoral programme and this year have included Dr Julian Gould-Williams from Car-diff University Business School. He provided

our students with a mock lecture based on an excerpt from the film ‘Antz’ , in order to pre-pare them for the style of learning and teaching they will experience at undergraduate level; even setting students a task to complete and submit for assessment. Further preparation for higher education included a most entertaining and interesting address given by Barrie Clark from Swansea on the realities of university life. Tom Hay from Glamorgan University also gave a very informative talk on student finance. Year 13 were also fortunate enough to experience a very inspiring assembly given by Dr Mark Pic-ton, who shared with the students recent experi-

ences from his expedition to Antarctica.

Of course, many of our students have immersed themselves in a range of extra-curricular activ-ity ranging from music and sport to charity work. Sinead O’Brien was voted Winning Players’ Player for the Satellite netball team in Canton. Laura Soltys has passed Grade 8 pi-ano. Kieran Jones and Matthew Rodwell have enjoyed a successful season with Dinas Football Club. Congratulations must go to Jasmine Vincent who has raised £2000 for the Joshua Foundation charity and is heading to New York in the summer to further support the charity. Alex Samuel and Zachary McCaul took part in a local five a side football tourna-ment. Zachary McCaul also played rugby in a team which finished 3rd in the Youth Tourna-ment.

“Many of our students have immersed themselves in extra curricular activity”

Mrs R Connor, Mr K Watkins and Mr R Relph

Year 13 Otto Putland managed to raise £300 for the Teenage Cancer Trust by doing a press-up challenge which entailed completing 1000 press-ups in a range of unusual places around Penarth and Cardiff. He has also become the 4th fastest swimmer at the Welsh National Swimming Competition.

Iestyn Penry-Williams and Lucie Thompson have helped to design the new conservation area in school. Zoe Tucker is planning a vol-untary trip to Ghana over the summer holi-days, where she plans to teach in an orphan-age; she has also become involved in conser-vation and building projects. Liam Pace and Joshua Rees have made their first regional appearance for the Penarth table tennis team. Hal Szary has been involved in local fundrais-ing to support people in need in Penarth. Tom Pain has been teaching sailing to aspiring young sailors in Penarth; he has also been cho-sen to represent Great Britain in the Under 18 sailing squad and has been elected as the young persons’ representative for Penarth Sailing Club on the Welsh Platform.

Ashley Vickery completed a sponsored dive into the River Taff in order to raise money for cancer research.

Thanks must go to Rhys Ward and Cerys Young, our hard-working Head Boy and Girl who have led our senior prefect team with dedi-cation and commitment throughout the year.

This academic year drew to a close with the year group photograph and final assembly. This was a fitting way for students to reflect upon their school life in a light-hearted and nostalgic manner, before embarking on the intensity of the examination period, which we hope went well. We now look forward to the Valedictory Dinner at the Mercure Holland House Hotel in Cardiff on the 13th July and wish all members of Year 13 the very best, not only for Results Day on August 16th, but in everything they do in the future. We have enjoyed working with them.

“We wish all members of Year 13 the very best”

Mr K Watkins, Mrs R Connor and Mr R Relph

100% ATTENDANCE SEPTEMBER – JUNE (HALF TERM) 2011-2012

Please see below for a list of pupils who achieved 100% attendance this year – our biggest number ever! Attendance plays an integral role in success at school and all our ‘100%ers’ are to be commended on their fantastic achievement.

Year 7Name Reg

Baker, Thaine 7R Bratby, Rebecca 7T Bushby, Noah 7A Carr, Jake 7O Chamberlain, Olivia 7R Croll, Ben 7T Donlan, Gwyn 7K Duggan, Caitlin 7R Dutfield, Lucy 7E Eastwood, Jade 7A Ellis, Lauren 7W Friedl, Tobias 7R Griffiths, Thomas 7R Harris, Genna 7L Hills, Naomi 7O Howe, Georgia 7O Jenkins, Megan 7K Khan, Aymen 7K Knupp, Kabir 7L McConkey, Jack 7L McSorley, Niall 7X McSorley, Tomas 7M Morgan, Kathryn 7A

Name Reg Peacock, Antonio 7K Robinson, Adam 7X Scrivens, Joseph 7X Smith, Harry 7E Smith, Liberty 7M Whitfield, Alexander 7E

Year 8

Name Reg Cole, Gregory 8W Collins, Tom 8L Crimp, Morgan 8O Ellis, Caitlin 8X French, Elias 8W Frost, Nathan 8W Gale, William 8L Geen, Emily 8A Glaze, Emily 8E Grafton, Isabel 8R Grosfils, Daniel 8O Hanson, Lloyd 8O

Name Reg Harvey, Robert 8K Hayer, Jorawar 8L Hermogeno, Lex 8X Humpage, Rebecca 8K Ignacio, Jonathan 8M Jones, Anna 8T Jones, Gwennan 8M Jones, Kyrsty 8L Jones, Megan 8O Loweth, Grace 8A Mock, Abigail 8E Price, James 8M Rees, Morgan 8O Rees, Morgan 8M Saji, Linda 8A Shamte, Maya 8O Turpin, Benjamin 8L Way, Charlotte 8L Williams, Harry 8A Wiltshire, Samuel 8W Wincott, Calum 8W

100% ATTENDANCE SEPTEMBER – JUNE (HALF TERM) 2011-2012

Year 9

Name Reg Barber, Simon 9R Chapple, Alicia 9O Chatham, Evie 9W Cummins, Lauren 9E Dumitrescu, Sebastian 9X Dyer, Ella 9X Dyer, Isaac 9E Evans, Megan 9W Gillingham, Holly 9L Guerrier, Rhodri 9X Hallett, Maisie 9L Herbert, Edward 9K Jones, Jack 9W Lieu, Kerstin 9T Mahdi, Samir 9K McConkey, Joshua 9E Moreton, Thomas 9R Seeley, Niall 9K Tuthill, Peter 9T

Year 10

Name Reg Chalke, Ben 10A Fisher, Liam 10A Frost, Jacob 10R Gale, Laura 10A Howe, Benjamin 10T Monaghan, Siena 10A Paley, Phoebe 10X Thorne, Emma 10K Turton, Robert 10M Union, Sian 10X Weston, Jake 10O Wooster, Daniel 10X

Year 11

Name Reg Beeslee, Lauren 11A

Boudier, Nicholas 11K

Carter, Eve 11W

Duggan, Jessica 11A

Hall, Joseph 11T

Hodgkins, Fraser 11W

Johnson, George 11E

Pollock, Joseph 11A

Prusak, Sofia 11R

Skentelbery, Daniel 11T

Thomas, Sion 11O

Turton, Thomas 11R

Warren, Ralf 11T

Learning to Excel

Ysgol Stanwell School