36805-74 tonypandy times 24pp layout 1 - … of seeing pirates of the carribean 4 and transformers...

36805-74 Tonypandy Times 24pp_Layout 1 06/09/2011 13:46

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A Fond Farewell

Special mention must be made of:-

Mrs Lynda Trembath who leaves theCollege after 25 years. Lynda hasworked in the school whilst it wasknown as Tonypandy Comprehensiveas well as Community College and wewish her all the very best in herretirement.

Mr Nathan Prygodzicz ( who has beenin the College for the past 15 yearsleaves us to take up a post of AssistantHead in Treorchy ComprehensiveSchool, we wish him all the very best.

Pictured with Mr Nathan Prygodzicz isMr Geoff Dixon who also leaveCollege to take up an Assistant Headpost in Weston Super Mare – GoodLuck to both.

It is with great pride that I write this foreword and reflect on what has beenanother very successful year for students and staff at Tonypandy CommunityCollege. We have once again successfully supported students through KeyStage Four and Post 16 studies.

At GCSE we have outperformed Welsh Assembly targets and at Post 16results were exceptional with over 50 students gaining the top A* and Agrades. All students who applied to university were successful in gainingplaces.

Our College statement “Working Together to Achieve Success” is evident inthe success we have achieved, it is a real team effort.

This term we welcome new students, staff and parents and progress to datehas been very pleasing.

We also have the benefits of a refurbished Quad area for Year 7 and thesecond access into the College site has improved management of the site.Over the next term the final phase of the roof upgrade will be completed andfurther improvements to College grounds will be completed.

These are very exciting times for the College and together we look forward toa successful 2011/12.

If you have any issues or concerns please contact me at the College on01443 436171 or via the website.

Helen O’Sullivan Headteacher

We would like to take this opportunity to wish allstaff leaving the College at the end of this academicyear all the very best for the future.

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Tonypandy Community Collegewhole school project “1910 ACommunity Remembered” wasawarded joint first place at theprestigious Welsh HeritageSchool Awards at a ceremonyheld at Carephilly Castle inJuly 2011.

The year long programme ofcommemorative activitiesremembered events surroundingthe “The Tonypandy Riots” of1910 and the effect on ourcommunity.

Congratulations to all involved.

Welsh HeritageSchool Awards


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The project on a whole was certainlyfull of talent and catchy songs. Sevenschools were present to compete inthe final; Tonypandy CommunityCollege, Aberdare GirlsComprehensive, Mountain AshComprehensive, Hawthorn HighSchool, Y Pant Comprehensive,Pontypridd High School and TonyrefailComprehensive School.

Everyone had taken a liking to theproject, especially us, the students ofTonypandy Community College.Everyone had participated in thecompetition before so we all knewwhat it was about and what wasrequired to place in the top three. It isan understatement to say that webettered our song from the previousyears. Our song, “Waves of Waste”certainly enticed the crowd, with ourspellbinding performance. The songstarted off with a catchy riff, levellingout into a disco-beat verse, next ajazzy bridge section, straight into an‘anthemic’ chorus. The song thenwent into a classic guitar solo theninto a huge chorus to finalise; it was aproud moment for us all!

The top three placed as follows:

Aberdare Girls Comprehensive in 3rdwith an extremely catchy pop song,“Love the Food, Hate the Waste”winning £100.

We, Tonypandy Community Collegeplaced 2nd for the third year runningwith our song, “Waves of Waste”winning £300. It’s safe to say we wereall very disappointed again, but wegave it our all and I think we definitelyhad the best song, from a completelyun-biased view of course!!

1st again for the second year runningwas Y Pant Comprehensive with,“Living in a Bubble”, generating avery unique Eastern-European vibewith spoken parts present in the song,which won them £600.

We all thoroughly enjoyedparticipating in the project this yearalthough it was quite a disappointingend again. I can’t remember anybodywho’s come second in every SongQuest other than us! So near again…

Personally I’ve learned a vast amountfrom the Envirovision Song Quest.Not just about our environment andour community but also song-writing,along with many key skills includingworking with others, communicationetc.

Performing at the Muni Arts Centrecertainly improved my confidence andtechnique as a guitarist and I wasgutted when the competition endedagain. Nevertheless, I’m sure theEnvirovision competition will carry onfor many years and I’m convincedmuch talent will form as a result of thecompetition. Let’s hope Tonypandywon’t finish 2nd again next year!

Josh Embling, Guitarist of Tonypandy Community College.

The Envirovision Song Quest 2011 definitely had animpact on the whole of the Muni Arts Centre. It wasthe fifth and foremost song competition, simplyfocusing on raising awareness of how theenvironment should be looked after and how youshould recycle as much as possible through theprocess of original song writing.

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DAY ONE:

Monday morning began with atrip to Pontypridd to meet

Mayor Sylvia Jones and have atour of her chambers. All of the pupils enjoyed theopportunity to see what a WelshMayor does and a few of the bravepupils asked her questions about therole. Next on the agenda was a trip tothe Rhondda Heritage Park in Trehafodwhere they were treated to a tour ofthe Park and a buffet lunch.

The tour guides took them downbelow in to the mine shaft, showedthem exhibits and gave them aninteresting explanation about theWelsh Mining Industry. The pupilsasked lots of questions about theworking hours of miners and the jobsthat some children were given.

The afternoon was spent at theCollege giving the German visitorstheir first chance to see the school andmeet their buddies. An officialwelcome speech was given by theHead Mrs Helen O’Sullivan, and thenall of the pupils mixed together for ateam building session.

DAY TWO:

After driving from Dare ValleyCountry Park where they were

staying for the week, the Germanvisitors were welcomed back in tothe College for a morning of lessons. The pupils were joined up with theirWelsh Buddies and given the chanceto see what the curriculum is like inWales and how it differs fromGermany. It wasn’t all school workthough as the visitors were alsotreated to a tour of the valley.

Dai, Carly and Pip took them upthrough the Rhondda in order toshow them how the Mines influencedthe villages and what the valleys looklike. The first stop off point wasPenrhys to see the view back towardthe school and check out the statueof Our Lady of Penrhys. For a breakthe pupils were then taken to ClydachLakes to see the wildlife and have ahot drink.

The tour continued up to the top ofClydach Lake to see the location ofthe mine. Pip was the star of the showgiving a great commentarythroughout the tour telling the pupilsall sorts of interesting facts!! In theafternooneveryonechanged in totheir sports kit fora 5x60 OlympicEvent. A greattime was had byall, and a fullwrite up can beseen on the 5x60News Page!

DAY THREE:

On Wednesday everyoneinvolved in the exchange

enjoyed a trip to the beach. Two coaches headed west fromRhondda Cynon Taff and met in theMumbles, Swansea. Pupils bothWelsh and German enjoyed sometime on the beach before enjoying adelicious Fish and Chips lunch.

As the weather took a turn in theafternoon the buses headed toMcArthur Glen retail park for a visit tothe cinema. Pupils were given thechoice of seeing Pirates of theCarribean 4 and Transformers 3. It wasthe perfect end to an action-filled day.

On Sunday July 3rd a group of 30 German Students and Staff arrived toRhondda Cynon Taf for an exchange trip with Tonypandy Community College. Aweek of exciting and interesting activities had been planned in order for them toget to know the Welsh people, land and culture.

German Exchange

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DAY FOUR:

On Thursday the pupils fromRavensburg spent all day at

the College working alongside ourown staff and pupils on an Eco Project. Presentations and group tasks kepteveryone busy and gave them a newinsight in to everything “green”. In theevening we treated everyone involvedto a wonderful Welsh Farewell.Ravensburg and Tonypandy studentssat together amongst the staff andvolunteers, developing their newfriendships.

The celebrations began with adelicious meal of Leek and Potatosoup, a Welsh Beef Roast Dinner withall the trimmings and a selection ofdesserts. All three courses wereprepared and cooked on site byHead Chef Ceri Collins and her teamof helpers. As dessert was beingserved the first part of theentertainment began, with aperformance by our new Rock Schoolgroup. Jack Barrowcliffe, Marc Bees,Gareth Chidzey, Kurt Jones, JordanBowen and Bradley Dickinson sangsongs by the Stereophonics andNirvana.

After dessert had been eaten and thetables had been cleared, the culturalpart of the evening took place. MrsCruickshank and her four studentvolunteers gave a presentation onWelsh traditions and the Eisteddfod,followed by the award winningperformance of “Warwick Avenue” byLaura Flook. In return all of theRavensburg students took to the stageto sing a song that is native to theirlocal area.

To start the formal part of theevening, the Headteacher Mrs HelenO'Sullivan stood to give a speechand in order to thank the visitors shepresented the German staff with giftsand the German students with a RedDragon model. A thank you speechwas then made in return by theGerman teacher Eva, who presenteda thank you gift to the school. Theevenings entertainment furthercontinued with incredibleperformances from Rochelle Emblingand Laura Flook, accompanied by aband comprising of Josh Embling,Kyle Povey and Shane Morgans. Hitssuch as “Firework” and “UseSomebody” had students andteachers cheering and dancing infront of the stage. To finish off theevening street dance group“Cap’jed” gave an outstandingperformance to a mix of songs.

DAY FIVE:

Our visitors spent the daywithout us on Friday as they

took in both the cultural and theretail sides of Cardiff. They spent an hour or so exploringthe exhibits in Cardiff Museum beforeheading in to the shops and spendingthe remainder of their money!!

They left us on Friday eveningfollowing a very enjoyable time atDare Valley Country Park. Theevening rounded off an amazingweek where new friendships weremade and a strong bond was securedbetween our two schools. A farewellparty was organised where all pupilsand staff, both German and Welshfeasted on a delicious Hog Roast andhad the opportunity to spend sometime in Water Walker balls.

German pupils had the chance topractice their English a little bit more,and our students had the chance todiscuss their return trip toRavensburg. A great time was had byeveryone until the sad time came forthe visitors to leave. We all wish thema safe trip home and hope to seethem again in the future.

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FilmClubFilmClub is still going strong in the library and

all our members are still making the most of the

exciting opportunities FilmClub offers.

On June 9th we had a very exciting opportunity to take part in a

“Close Encounters” live web chat with well known British film director

Kevin McDonald. Members were invited to send questions to Kevin live

via Twitter where he talked openly about his film making career, the

famous people he has had the pleasure of working with and his latest

film “Life in a Day.”

Kevin, also famous for his film “The last King of Scotland” spoke very

openly and was very inspirational ensuring all our members had a very

memorable experience.

New members are always welcome so call onto the library any

Wednesday between 3pm and 5pm.

Students Corner...Hi, my name is Lauren Jones. I am 15 years old and am

currently in year 10 studying for my GCSE’s.

The subjects I am studying are: Business Studies, History and French, along with the core subjects. My

favourite lessons are I.C.T and welsh. My not so favourite subjects are P.E and Maths.

I have been a member of the college library for the past 3 years. I really enjoy going to the library because

you can relax and chat in a nice atmosphere with your friends. We have done lots of exciting things in the

library over the past couple of months such as, a treasure hunt, spot the ball competition and FilmClub.

I find the library very useful as you can not only use the books but, also

the computers and iPad. The homework club has also been great for

course work. I really love going there!

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Essential SkillsWell done to all the ladies from Soar Chapel Penygraig who completed their City

and Guilds Essential Skills Wales qualifications during June. Congratulations go to:

Clare George.

Claire Evans

Alison McLean.

Gemma George

Ria Williams

Mandy Hallett.

A celebration ceremony is being planned for the start of next term when we hope to

present all the girls with their certificates.

Book ClubThe library book club is still

running on Thursday after school.

This term we have read and enjoyed “The Boy in

the Striped Pyjamas” by John Boyne. We then

watched the film of the book in order to

compare and contrast the two.

Morgan Williams, year 7 wrote in her review of

the book:” I REALLY enjoyed the book it was very

interesting and I couldn’t wait to get to the end to

find out what happened. It was a sad story

though but one we should all know about.”

The next book we are reading is

“Noah Barleywater Runs Away” by the same

author John Boyne.

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Building The Future Together has helpedmore than 3,000 11 to 19-year-oldsthroughout the county borough, who wereat risk of underachieving and leavingschool without any qualifications.

Working in partnership with the council’sServices For Young People, Children’sServices, Cultural Services, ColegMorgannwg and various secondaryschools, the three-year project aims toimprove the life chances and careeropportunities of thousands of youngpeople in RCT.

The £14m scheme offers a range ofactivities and intensive one-to-onesupport for those who may be strugglingwith literacy and numeracy at school.

It aims to raise aspirations, boostconfidence and support pathways tofurther learning and employment.

Through the support of a key worker andyouth coach employed in each secondaryschool, as well as street-based detachedyouth workers across RCT, the project isable to help those youngsters who needthe most guidance.

We have worked closely with a number ofyoung people over the past year atTonypandy Community College andreferred many of these students onto anumber of exciting interventions that havehelped to meet their learning needs. Theseinclude working closely with Cardiff CityFootball club to run the ‘All Skilled Up’Literacy initiative, whereby young peoplehad the opportunity to attend the CardiffCity Football stadium and follow a 6 weekliteracy programme in school whereby thefocus was learning through sport. Many ofthe students have been enrolled onto theGotcha International Academy outdoorActivity programme whereby a number ofthe students gained the BTEC Level 2Workskills Award, there are many moreinterventions that have been runningsuccessfully this year and we would like tocontinue to inspire young people and workclosely with students on a 1:1 basis toprovide confidence building, raising levelsof self-esteem and providing academicsupport to young people at TonypandyCommunity College.

Meet the BTFTTeam at TonypandyCommunity CollegeHello!My name isKirstyMickiewicz.

I am the KeyWorker atTonypandyCommunityCollege, Ihope to work closely withmany of you over the nextAcademic year. We are based inthe Careers library Monday-Friday. We welcome young peopleto come and talk to us and offerhelp, support and guidance alongyour career pathway’.

Hello!My name isKatie Churchill.

I am the YouthCoach atTonypandyCommunityCollege. I willbe working with

young people to provideacademic support, 1:1 mentoringand assist in a range of groupwork interventions that areavailable to young people throughthe BTFT project.

Assist NHS ProgrammeWe would like to celebrate the success of the 8 studentsthat participated in the Assist NHS programme for theirdedication and commitment to the programme. The 20students that took part in the initiative were voted as ‘rolemodels’ by their peers in year 8. These students and arenow trained as peer supporters to prevent smoking amongstyoung people in Tonypandy Community College .

Well done guys… continue the hard work!!

About the BTFT Project…A MULTI-MILLION-POUND partnership helping to change thelives of young people in Rhondda Cynon Taff has gone fromstrength to strength since its inception in 2009.

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Gotcha International Academy ProgrammeSeven students at Tonypandy Community College achieved theBTEC Level 2 Workskills qualification as they participated in a 7week programme at the outdoor activity centre in Llanwonno. The learners gained an understanding ofskills such as giving feedback, decisionmaking and allocating tasks andresponsibilities within a leadership

context whilst undertaking activities suchas paintballing, archery and participatingin an assault course. A big well done toall for all your effort and hard work!

Uni of Glam Campus TourFollowing the success of their entry in to a local Europe Daycompetition five students in year 8 were given the opportunity tohave a tour of the new state of the art facilities being offered atthe University of Glamorgan.

The girls were challenged by RCTsBuilding the Future Together project tomake a model of a famous EuropeanLandmark out of recycled materials onlyto celebrate Europe Day on May 9th.Along with the support of the Youth Coachand Keyworker the all girls group broughtin as many of the recycled equipmentthat they could from home and decided tomake their very own version of theMillennium Stadium.

The model was judged by a panel fromBuilding the Future Together and wasincorporated in to a STEM (Science,Technology, Engineering and Maths)taster day at Rhondda Heritage Park withthe aim of increasing interest andawareness of STEM related careers forfemales. The Millennium stadium modelcame second from all the entries inRhondda Cynon Taff and as a result thegirls were invited to a private tour of thenewly refurbished facilities of bothcampuses at the University of Glamorganin July.

The students were able to see theChemistry and Astronomy labs, theForensic Crime Scene House, theEngineering Workshop, ComputerScience and Forensics workshops andthey were also given the opportunity tovisit the Aircraft hanger and fly and landtheir own plane in the flight simulator.

The tour was a huge success which thegirls thoroughly enjoying their time at theUniversity and we would like to thank thegirls for their enthusiasm, hard work andpositive attitude and for being a credit tothe College.

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Student Success with BTFTAs part of the BTFT celebration event that took place in theRhondda Heritage Park Hotel, Shane Maunder (Year 11)was awarded the ‘Personal Achievement Award’ out of the19 schools throughout RCT.Shane has taken part in many activitieswhile working with the BTFT Youth Coachand Key Worker. Shane has showncommitment and dedication to taking partin a number of interventions that havebeen arranged through the Key Workerand Youth Coach at TonypandyCommunity College this past year. Shanehas attended and successfully completedthe following interventions includingGotcha international Academy, Educ8,OCN Level 1 Employability Skills, YouthGateway revision programme, a long-termwork-placement at Spick and Span carvaleting garage and is on target to gain 5GCSE qualifications grade C and above,having worked particularly hard this yearwith the Youth Coach, Key Worker and

Science learning coach. Shanehas shown initiative by takingownership of his workload andcompleting outstandingcoursework with the help fromlearning coaches, BTFT staff and teachingstaff. Prior to this academic year Shanehad shown consistent poor behaviour inthe classroom environment and washighlighted to BTFT staff as beingdisengaged from education, he was veryagitated, got bored easily and would findthe pressure of the classroom particularlydifficult. Entering year 11, Shane hascommitted himself to a number ofinterventions and has made a consciouseffort to change his attitude towards workand his behaviour in the classroom.

Shane has become a role model toyounger students and has demonstratedhow having a positive and strong attitudecan transform your education andperformance dramatically. Shane hasachieved positive outcomes throughsheer hard work and commitment, and isa particularly deserving winner of the‘Personal Achievement Award’. Shane isrespected by his peers and staff alike.

Congratulations Shane and Good Luck for Year 12!

Phoenix Project Successat Tonypandy Fire StationTeam work and developing skills was top of theagenda for a group of Tonypandy students whofollowed an intensive and exciting course at thelocal fire station thanks to Rhondda Cynon TafCouncil’s Building the Future Together scheme.The teenagers were selected aspart of the Phoenix Project beingdelivered through Tonypandy FireStation which challenges existingattitudes and promotesindependent thinking in youngpeople. Through a series ofactivities, the young people wereable to develop personal skillssuch as working as a team,exploring physical and mentallimits.

The course is delivered across afour day period with a maximumgroup size of 10 people. It allowsstudents to engage in Fire and

Rescue Service activities such ashose running, using ladders,search and rescue and first aid.There are many opportunities forself exploration such as copingunder pressure as part of a teamand dealing with demandingtasks as part of a day activities.

‘Well done to all students inYear 9 who took part in thisproject, and good luck for theCrimes and Consequencesprogramme that you are nowfollowing!’

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Important reminderabout Seatbelts!All e3+ buses are equippedwith seatbelts. The seatbelts arecompulsory for anyone wishingto travel on an e3+ bus. Failure to do so will result in aban from e3+ activities.

Tuck Shop...The e3+ tuck shop runs everyday from Monday to Friday from4pm onwards.

ROCK ON!After the success of our Rock School in the

February half term, our Rock School tutors willnow be delivering a weekly session every

Tuesday from 3pm – 5pm.

In the session, the tutors will not only be tutoring young people,they will also shoot a music video with everyone who attends!

If you play an instrument and are seeking stardom, get along tothe session by signing up in the Community Room!

We have the X-FactorTen young people from Tonypandye3+ have recently had a doublewhammy of great days out. Due to their impeccable attendance at our CanvasArt session, the girls were invited down to theLiberty Stadium in Swansea to paint a life sizepicture of the JLS band members. To theircomplete surprise, the girls were then invited toattend the JLS concert at the stadium in June! It issafe to day that the girls thoroughly enjoyed bothdays and lost several vocal chords in the process!

Goodbye, thank you

and Good Luck!The e3+ team would like to extend their sincere thanks

to Abi Jones, Connor Griffiths, Leon Jones and Tamsin

Jones for all their hard work as e3+ support workers

over the past year. All are moving on to university and

we wish them all the best in their new challenge.

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Welcome Back!After a one term absence, two of our most popular activities are making a much demanded

return to the e3+ timetable:

• Ferndale Skate Park – Every Wednesday

• Canvas Art – Every Thursday

Both of these activities will get booked up very quickly so please sign up early with Laith in the Community Room.

Sea Cadets Summer Special

Tonypandy e3+ recently put on a day trip to

Swansea for the Rhondda Sea Cadets, one of our

local partners in the community.

During the day, the group worked with Jon and Sally

from Pippins Designs at the Liberty Stadium,

Swansea, where they created murals to celebrate

Swansea City's promotion to the Premier League.

The finished paintings are going to be displayed in

the players tunnel, and as an added bonus, the

group will receive free tickets to watch the Ospreys

this season. Jeremy Williams, lead of the Sea Cadets

gave the following report of the day:

“The day started early with our drive to Swansea we

arrived a little late as usual because chief williams

got lost again but when we did get there we were

met by jon and we were told what we would be

doing during the day. We split into groups so we

could start our paintings in total we did four

paintings after about an hour we had the first part

of our tour where we got to look round the stadium.

When we got back we did some more painting then

broke for lunch after lunch we got to look at all the

trophies and have our photos taken with them.”

“We spent the rest of the day finishing our paintings

and by the end of the day with a little help from jon

and sally our paintings were excellent. We would

really like to thank Laith and Tonypandy community

college for the chance to go on such a great day.”

Outdoor Gym proves a hit!The new hanging bars in the outdoor space have beena great addition to the college, especially in the case ofthe e3+ free runners who have been utilising the barsto full effect! Just look at the picture!

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Next Stop, Hollywood!Massive congratulations are in order for several of our young people! Conner Bowen, Katie Jo

Pritchard, Luke Thomas, Sam Jones and Thomas Hawdon have all achieved a level 1 OCN

accreditation in Making a Film.

The group have worked tirelessly over the course of the activity and have even given up some of

their lunchtimes to complete the work. The final movie – ‘Ten ways Sylvester Stallone doesn’t die

in his movies’ will now be put up for a young filmmakers award next year. Film making has now

moved to a Wednesday and all newcomers are welcome!

At Long, Long LastPerhaps the biggest news from e3+ this summer is that we areintroducing Quad Biking to the e3+ timetable! The session will be held every Thursday and to ensure everyone hasa chance to attend, we will be having a rolling sign up list. Pleasesee Laith to sign up.

Laurens Special Day!After the e3+ team found out that Lauren Phillipswas attending our e3+ summer holiday JewelleryMaking session on her birthday, we thought wewould throw a little party to show her how gladwe were that she chose to spend the day with us!We decided to treat the whole group to lunch andthen we surprised Lauren with a 'Me To You'birthday cake and matching card whilst the wholegroup and community staff sung Happy Birthdayto her. To make the occasion even more special,the headtecher Mrs O'Sullivan even signedLauren's card!

Any publicity...The old mantra of anypublicity is good publicitywas the order of the dayhere when we got some ofour e3+ graffiti artists toshow off our recent copyof the, now famous,‘Tonypandy Times’

The Boys are Back in Town…After being hounded with requests from boys wantingto learn to cook, we have given in and decided to puton a ‘Only Boys Allowed’ Cookery session. The session will run every Tuesday and there are amaximum of ten places available so be quick to sign up!(Don’t worry girls, there’s a girls only session too, everyThursday!)

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Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday

Open Play Astro Open Play Astro Girls DodgeballSports Hall

Girls Tag Rugby SportsHall

Tug of War Astro

Boys Dodgeball SportsHall

Open Play - Astro

Funky FlowersStreetdancePhotography

TheatricalMake-up

Mountain Biking -Pump TrackBadminton

Weightlifting (14ysplus)

PyrographyBoys CAN CookCrafts & Design

Table TennisRock School

Girls FootballHockey

Elite Netball Acadamy

Hair & BeautySinging

4pm-5pmFilm Club

Skatepark FerndaleFilm Making

Sporting MarvelsPop Art

CookeryGaming ClubTable Tennis

Quad Biking Taff Valley3pm-6pmCanvas Art KS3 Netball

Hair & BeautyKayaking Cardiff Bay

3pm-6pm5 a side

Graffiti Art

Streetdance FREEColeg Morgannwg

Llwynypia5pm - 7pm

Community Zumba£3 pp

TonypandyCommunity College

6pm - 7pmCommunityKettlebells

£4 ppTonypandy

Community College7pm - 8pm

Community TableTennis £4 ppTonypandy

Community College5pm - 8.30pm

Combine House YouthClub

Dunraven StreetTonypandy

7pm - 10pmFree of Charge

Tonypandy e3+

Autumn 2011 Timetable

All 3pm activities are 2 hours durationunless otherwise stated. to sign up foran activity, please see Carly Jones in the community room.first come first served

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Time Schools PageWe welcome Carly Jones back to the College as shetakes up her new role administrating the Timebankingproject in the school. Carly joined students from the College as they travelled toThe Pierhead building in Cardiff Bay to take part in acelebration of the Spice Time Schools Project.

Hosted by Leighton Andrews AM, Minister for Educationand Skills together with Spice, students celebrated theachievements of the project to date as well as sharing theirexperiences with the invited audience.

The project encourages young people to getinvolved in volunteering to the benefit of theschools and their communities.

To date four schools from South Walesarea:- Tonypandy Community College,Pontypridd High, Glyn Derw High Schooland Michaelston Community Collegehave piolted the initiative which will berolled out to other secondary educationalestablishments from September 2012

Timebanking has been running at Tonypandy CommunityCollege for over a year now and its grown from strength tostrength with more and more volunteers signing up tohelp! Each time a young person or community memberhelps out for an hour they receive a Time Credit which canbe spent in a variety of different places.

The Climbing Station on Treforest Industrial Estate is oneof the newest additions to the long list of Spice Partners.Starting in the Autumn Term of 2011 volunteers will beable to exchange their Time Credits for Boulderinglessons!!

As Wales’ only dedicated Bouldering Centre it boasts over9000 square feet of climbing facilities set in a perfectlocation for visitors from all over South Wales. With easyaccess from the A470 and bus and railway stops withinwalking distance it’s the perfect afternoon out!!

Bouldering is a form of rock climbing on low level with noropes. There are set routes of different difficulty making ita fun and exciting activity for people of all ages and fitnesslevels.

It’s easy to take part as there is no previous experience ortraining needed, no equipment needed, no age restrictionsand you don’t need a partner!!

A 90 minute “Grasshopper” kids session also runs whichencourages and teaches little ones how to boulder.

The centre is open seven days a week and opening timescan be viewed on their websitewww.climbingstationwales.co.uk!!

Coaches Simon Rawlinson and Paul Walters are always onhand to help climbers to improve their skills and have funbouldering.

For more information about Timebanking please speak toCarly in the Community Room. For more information onthe Climbing Station phone 01443 843623 or [email protected]!!

New Spice Partner

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Llwynypia Primary School

The Archibald Hood Community GardenOn Thursday 7th July 2011, the ceremonial opening of the

Archibald Hood Community Garden by the Mayor of Rhondda

Cynon Taf, Councillor Sylvia Jones, took place.

The celebration morning continued at Llwynypia Primary School, where

the Eco and School Council members and children who took an active

part in the clearance and planting of the site enjoyed tea and cake with

the Mayor and all the volunteers involved in the project. The children

were keen to talk about their involvement and how they will be using

the outdoor classroom. Everyone thoroughly enjoyed the morning both

at the opening and back in the school.

Children at the school have been involved in the regenerated garden environmental project from

the start, in 2008. Our Magpie Development Group worked with children and staff in the school, Keep

Wales Tidy, Tidy Towns RCTCBC and Communities First in this intergenerational community scheme. A

big thank you to all those involved and for all the hard work clearing the site, planting and painting.

There is now a lovely garden surrounding the Archibald Hood Statue and an outdoor classroom for

children in the community to benefit from.

Penygraig Infants’ SchoolThis school year has been both busy and successful but we have also had lots offun. We have achieved the Basic Skills Quality Standard which is a prestigiousaward that recognises the hard work of pupils, staff and parents in ensuring ahigh standard of Literacy and Numeracy in the school.We have also just achieved our Bronze Eco-schools’ award which compliments our HealthySchools award at level four. We have the BECTA award for excellent I.T.C. work and had a verysuccessful ESTYN inspection during September 2010.

Folly FarmThe school visited Folly Farm in July and had a very good time. Mums, Dads and Grandparentswere allowed to come and help us learn about the farming industry. Year Two went on a field trip to Porthcawl comparingand contrasting the landscape of Penygraig to that of the coast.

Festivals & CompetitionsWe participated in the Rhondda Cynon Taff music festival and performed a medley of songs on the theme of colour and aspart of the transition programme between the Infant and Junior schools sang at the Juniors’ end of year concert. Several ofour pupils have won art competitions. Samuel Hughes Acton, won the Rhondda Cynon Taff’s design a calendarcompetition and had his drawing reproduced to mark the month of June. Cody Nash won the Rhondda Radio competitionto colour an Easter Egg and Ffion Jones won a lovely set of colouring pencils at the Rotary art competition.

Visitors to the School...We have had visits from P.C. Paul Tipple who talked to the children about keeping themselves safe. Father Chris from StBarnabas’ Church taught the children about the Christening service and then we held our own at the church using a dollas the baby. Major Wise of the Salvation Army regularly visits to take assemblies as do members of the Living Church.16


Penygraig Junior School News

Welsh Heritage Schools Initiative

This term Penygraig Juniors were winning finalists in the Welsh Heritage Schools

initiative. This was a fantastic achievement considering 130 schools across Wales

entered and the competition was fierce!

The pupils had a wonderful time researching Penygraig through Victorian Times,

World War 2 and the 1960’s and news of the project even reached as far as

Australia ! A huge congratulations to all our pupils, staff and parents!

Small School NetworkOur Small School network last term focused on improving music skills and this

culminated in a celebration concert showcasing the pupils’ work and was held at

the Soar Centre.

This was a hugely successful event which highlighted the talents of our young

children across six schools and was well attended by parents, governors and the

local authority. Students from the RWCMD had worked with years 5 and 6 pupils

at Penygraig to develop a composition based on a Welsh Legend. The

composition was truly outstanding and certainly had the ‘Wow’ factor in front of

the Soar audience!

Netball TeamWe are pleased also to announce that Penygraig Juniors’ Netball Team became

the overall RCT champions, at their age group. This is a tremendous achievement

which took a great deal of dedication and perseverance from our pupils who

fought their way through several preliminary rounds. We are very proud of all the

pupils who participated.

Sporting MarvelsSporting Marvels have had a huge impact on the Health and Well Being of our

pupils this year by running a ‘Wake up and Move’ plus after school fitness club.

They are excellent role models for our pupils and continue to enthuse everyone to

make the right lifestyle choices. Pupils in Class 3 have also nominated Chelsea for

an RCT School’s Coach Award and she has been put through to the final

presentation evening.

Chitty Chitty Bang! Bang!The overall highlight of this term however must be our end of year production of

‘Chitty Chitty Bang! Bang!’ accompanied by our Year 2 pupils singing a medley of

songs. Pupils really excelled themselves and the singing, dancing and acting was

without doubt first class! The quality

of the performance has been

praised by parents, governors and

members of the community and all

our pupils can be very proud of

this amazing achievement. It’s

great to go into the Summer

holidays riding a crest of a wave!

Well Done everyone!

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This innovative programme of activities, given the name ‘LoveWhere You Learn’, encourages students and staff to view thecollege as more than a building that houses learning.

Supported with grants from the Countryside Council ofWales, Co-operative Community Fund, Awards for All andcontributions from the College, the site has beentransformed.

The College grounds now include two outdoor classroomswith canopies and benches, an outdoor gym with apparatusfor creative and free play, a commemorative garden, anorganic community allotment and a heritage garden and trailcelebrating the historical importance of the surrounding area.

The changes have made a visible difference to the look of theCollege and the variety of workshops – from Yr6 to Yr13have made learning about the environment and outdoorsenjoyable for all.

The students have been an integral part of the whole processfrom consultation, design and delivery which has enabledthem take ownership of the results and gives pride in theirwork and a lasting legacy.

The evaluations and feedback from staff and students alikehas been excellent and the project has recently hosted a visitfrom the Welsh Government Education Minister LeightonAndrews.

Over the past year the ‘Love Where You Learn’ project has been evolving atTonypandy Community College to develop, co-ordinate and deliver a project toimprove the outdoor space and for the students and staff to realise it’simportance as an extension of the teaching environment.

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Strengthening Families Programme This term has seen the successful end to our first Strengthening Families Programme. Allfamilies who took part enjoyed the seven week course, made some new friends, gainedsupport and valuable techniques to help both parents and young people through thechallenging difficulties we all face during the teenage years.

Strengthening Families is a seven week programme open toall families living in RCT with young people aged between10 – 14 years. The programme focuses on buildingconfidence, setting goals and coping strategies for peerpressure with the young people where as the parent/carerssession focus on supporting parents in helping young peopleto have a good experience throughout these years,

increasing confidence in setting boundaries and buildingskills to avoid future problems with drugs and alcohol.

If you are interested in taking part in future StrengtheningFamilies programmes please don’t hesitate to contact theschool. The course is free, provides transport andrefreshments.

London TripThe English department enjoyed another fantasticday out in London to finish this year`s summerterm! Students from year`s 9, 10 and 12 spentthe day exploring Covent Garden, The BritishMuseum and did a little shopping in OxfordStreet before attending a performance of theacclaimed prodoction WarHorse at the NewLondon Theatre. The production based on thebook by Micheal Morpurgo was outstanding andreally took everyone`s breath away. "We feltreally priviledged to be there when we sawpeople queing around the theatre to buy sparetickets for the performance" said Joseph Sweeneyin Year 9 who immediatly wanted to see the playagain as soon as it was finished! "The horses inthe performance were played by 4 actors whowork a huge puppet. It really was breathtakingand we all enjoyed the story so much" said MrsOwen who looks forward to taking the studentsto see the film version of the story which iscurrently being filmed by Steven Spielberg.


Stephen Jenkins Rhondda TableTennis Community Club a Success!This new and exciting community club has been greatly received withmembers of the community and members from outside the borough. Regular attendees include CharlotteCarey the Welsh Number one u15and u18 and the world no 50 in theu15s. Charlotte travels from EbbwVale each week as she enjoys thesessions so much. Charlotte’s 65 yearold grandfather, Malcolm, also enjoysthe club and as well as taking part intraining helps coach beginners andyounger players.

On average there have been 25different players each week with awide variation of abilities and ages.Ages have ranged from 5 to 65 years.The club has two coaches on theevening to assist who attend.Commonwealth Medallist StephenJenkins is the head coach who looksafter the older players, while CameronThomas, the Welsh international,looks after the beginners. Bothcoaches are ex-pupils of TonypandyCommunity College and now want tohelp current students becomesuccessful and ambitious players.Welsh u15 and u18 champion andTonypandy pupil Connor Edwardsenjoys training at the club and alsowon the Community tournament,beating Jonny Gregory in the final andCharlotte Carey in the semi-final.Connor said, “The sessions are so

much fun as there is so much variety. Ienjoy doing specific exercises toimprove my shots and game; however,I also enjoy playing tournaments andteam events. It is also good to seekids as young as 5 attending and Ienjoy helping them when I can.” AlexProsser, who is also a Welshinternational and Tonypandy pupil,attends with his 7 year old sister,Romy. Alex said, “Usually sessions inWales include people of the same ageand you just train for the duration ofthe time you are there. With this clubit’s so different and there are so manydifferent styles of play and people Ienjoy challenging”.

Although the club has been a hugesuccess, next school year will see aslight change with a beginner classbeing separated from the older andmore experienced class. The beginnerclass will run from 5pm - 6.30pm,with the more advanced class runningfrom 6.30pm - 8.30pm. More information will be posted onthe schools website and onStephen’s website:www.stephenjenkinssportsagency.co.uk

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Tug of War • Hockey

Skate Park • Kayaking

Girls Football

Top Attendees Winners The 5x60 top attendee scheme continued to run during the spring and summer

terms at the college. Below is a list of top attendee winners.

Spring Term

Nathan Davies • Yr7

Moy Trott • Yr7

Bethan Markey • Yr7

Kaillum Chubb • Yr8

Caitlin Clark • Yr8

John Leader • Yr9

Harri Jones • Yr9

Katie Pritchard • Yr9

Summer Term

Sam Berbillion • Yr7

Tia Williams • Yr7

Jonathan Thomas • Yr8

Helena Marchant • Yr8

Luke Nicholls • Yr9

National School Sports Week and Olympic DayPupils at the collegehad the chance tocompete against otherlocal schools and have a taster to

what taking part in the Olympics is all

about. Pupils from years 7 and 8 took part in athletics, golf and Frisbee

golf as part of the national sporting events. A member of the

nurture department at the college stated “Pupils from the nurture

group thoroughly enjoyed the Olympic day and gave everything a

go. They made new friends from different schools and held their

own Olympic torch up high when they won the school relay. They

had an amazing time and can’t wait to do it again!” 21


The Tonypandy Olympics!As London prepares itself for the 2012 Olympics, TonypandyCommunity College has already beaten them to the winning line! The school's 5x60 team organised aMini Olympics event for the benefitof its pupils and the group of 30German schoolchildren who havebeen spending time with them.

Invitations to the Mini Olympicswere then extended to pupils inHawthorn High School, TonyrefailComprehensive School and St Johnsin Aberdare.

As well as offering a great day outfor pupils from across the CountyBorough and beyond, the day wasalso a good example of what canachieved by 5x60, which is part ofRhondda Cynon Taf Council'sServices For Young People provisionand promotes regular exercise.

More than 80 pupils completed acarousel of events ranging from tugof war, team building, football,wheelchair basketball, table tennisand streetdance.

They had 20 minutes and 12seconds (to mark 2012) to completeeach activity where countries werecompeting against each other.

Points were awarded for the winnersand losers of each activity andcountries could also gain extrapoints for fair play, teamwork andsportsmanship.

Everyone agreed that they had agreat opportunity to try new,challenging Olympic sports andwere rewarded with prizes andcertificates at the end of the day.

Countries fought it out to becrowned gold, silver and bronzemedalists but in the end the winnerswere: Sweden, with Japan in secondplace and the USA in third.

Rhondda Cynon Taf Council’sCabinet Member for Education,Skills and Lifelong Learning CllrEudine Hanagan said: “This was yetanother successful event which hascertainly inspired young people inTonypandy and Hawthorn schools toenjoy plenty of exericse while alsohaving lots of fun along the way.

“With the Olympics just around thecorner this has given the youngpeople a real flavour of

competitiveness and sportsmanshipand hopefully inspire them toexercise more and live longer andhealthier lives.

This is what a few pupils said:

“I enjoyed wheelchair basketballbecause it was different. I coulddrive in a wheelchair andunderstand what it would feel liketo be a disabled person. I think it’sa cool sport for the disabledathletes”. Gregor (German Student)

“I thought that the Tonypandy 5x60Olympics was amazing. It was a lotof fun and I really enjoyed it. Iwould love for this to happenagain. My favourite activity was thewheelchair basketball”. Zoe Arundell (TCC Student)

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Sports Day 2011Tonypandy Community College built upon the success of last years sports day bystaging an even better one this year! For the first time the event was open not only toyear 7, 8 & 9 but also yr 10. The whole day was dedicated to having fun and trying towin as many points for your house.There were some excellent performances from all year groups in both the track and field eventsthroughout the morning and early afternoon. The points totalfor each house before dinner was extremely close,setting up a nail biting finish with the relay eventdeciding on who would be the winners overall.After a thrilling finish to the day with some excellentrelay races the points were counted and the winnersannounced over the loudspeaker system... Glas weretriumphant!

Well done everyone who took part.

Sports Award EveningIt was a busy day for the P.E. faculty on Wednesday 13th July.

After completing the organization of the annual sports day, it

was time to stage Tonypandy community college’s sports

award evening.

The evening was set up in order to give recognition to sporting success achieved by our

students throughout the year. Awards were given to a number of students from all year

groups who have excelled in their chosen sport.

The event was very well attended with close to 200 guests. The evening saw awards

given to students who had excelled in school

sport, students who had achieved regional and

national honours in their chosen sport. We also

had 2 students who had represented the United

Kingdom, those being Ryan Jones – Water polo

and Corie Southwood – Moto Cross.

The night was brought to a close with the

presentation of the ‘Mark Evans Sports Person

of the Year Award’. This year the award was

given to the worthy winner Joseph Couch.

The night was a brilliant success, highlighting

the excellent sporting talent we have in the

college. Well done to all students involved.

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Although the presentation included some fun awards likethe 'You've Been Tango'd' award which went to ChloeWilliams of Tonypandy for her constant 'tan', the moreserious awards were presented towards the end of thenight.Each school nominated a pupil from each year group forthe All Star of the Year award.The All Star of the Year is chosen on the basis of a pupilwho shows a consistently good attitude, has excellentattendance at Sporting Marvels events and hasendeavoured to be a good role model to othersthroughout the year.Choosing the All Star of the Year is always a difficult taskwhen so many pupils are deserving of the award.

To end the evening there was an opportunity for SportingMarvels to honour the year 13 All Stars who are goingon to University.These pupils have been involved in the programme sincethey started school in year 7. They have continued toserve the All Star programme as leaders and excellentrole models within the schools.We would like to wish all the best to:

• Tamsin Jones (Tonypandy)• Abi Jones (Tonypandy)• Alex James (Tonypandy)• Joseph Couch (Tonypandy)• Ashleigh Parfitt (Ferndale)• Toni Edwards (Ferndale)

Brand New Netball Academy for GirlsOn Friday 8th July Tonypandy Community College Sport and PE faculty launched abrand new elite Netball Academy for selected students in year 10-13 which werepersonally invited to the open day.

During the open day students tookpart in a number of fitness tests, teamchallenges and Netball trials.Following this 30 students in totalhave been selected for the Academywhich officially starts on Tuesday 13thSeptember. The academy squad willconsist of 3 teams in total: Academy1st Team, Academy 2nd Team and a

development squad. Teams will befinalised in September during the firsttraining session. Students will receivespecialist coaching from a number ofNetball players/coaches and will beentered into 2 leagues as well asrepresenting the college in normalschool fixtures.

Congratulations to all studentswho got selected for the Academyand we look forward to workingwith you in September for theNetball Season! Good LuckTonypandy Netball Academy: bring on the girls!

Miss Bushell, Director of Sport


36805-74 tonypandy times 24pp layout 1 - … of seeing pirates of the carribean 4 and transformers...

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