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‘Stronger Together’

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Cwmbran High Summer Edition 2017

Stories and photographs provided by staff, pupils and parents.

Edited by D Baribeault.

Armed Forces Day

Celebration of Achievement Evening

A massive ‘Well done!’ to those pupils who received awards at our recent Celebration

of Achievement Evening. A record number of pupils made their way, confidently (or not so confidently in some cases), to the stage, to collect their award from our distinguished guests. There was the usual array of departmental and pastoral awards, and what was particularly pleasing was the number of ‘Outstanding Pupil

Awards’, given to those pupils with 100% attendance and no behaviour points.

A big ‘Thank you’ to our Guest of Honour, Ash Randall, a (world) famous football freestyler who dazzled the audience with his skills and then encouraged two pupils to learn a trick, there and then, on the stage, in front of hundreds of people. Unfortunately, he also encouraged two members of staff to get involved. While it wasn’t quite a ‘Where were you when Neil Armstrong landed on the moon?’ moment, in years to come, those who were present will re-call the moment when Mr Chapman

stood on one leg and balanced a football between his thigh and his chin, whilst trying to push Jacob Guy (who was making a significantly better fist of it) over. Despite this distraction, Ash’s message, about the need for practice, perseverance and resilience in order to achieve one’s goals came through, loud and clear.

A special mention to Mrs McDuff and Mrs Siviter, whose work behind the scenes made everything run like clockwork.

A big 'Well Done, You!' to Tabitha Clough, who represented CHS at Cwmbran Council's

Armed Forces Day. She contributed to the ceremony by reading a thoughtful extract from the Bible, beautifully in Welsh. She really was a credit

to the school.

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Beauty & The Beast

C wmbran High School’s production of Disney’s Beauty & The Beast really has left an

everlasting impression on the school, which everyone is talking about, including social media, Governors and a whole host of VIPs.

The musical show was held in our performance hall on 12th and 13th July 2017 with the final night exceeding all expectations and selling out!

The pupils have all worked extremely hard over the last six months during lunch times, after school and even weekends! There were a range of pupils who participated in the musical from Year 7 to Year 13 demonstrating the diverse Performing Arts Community that

the school is proud of. Audience members raved about the show passing on comments such as: “The pupils were amazing and an absolute credit to your hard work. Everything looked and sounded so professional.”

The real Disney magic sparkled throughout the hall and enchanted young and old from start to finish. The costumes encapsulated the iconic scenes and characters from the film in a way that left the audience mesmerised by the singing, acting and choreography.

I am exceptionally proud of everyone involved in this production. It takes an insurmountable level of effort and dedication to produce a performance of this calibre. I would personally like to thank the staff and pupils in the Performing Arts Department and additional members of staff for giving up their time and supporting the show. I feel privileged to lead a department full of such talented pupils and staff.

Paris Trip

I n May half term 35 pupils and 7 staff went to Paris for 4 days on the annual MFL trip. Pupils went up the Eiffel Tower, had a

boat trip on the Seine, a tour of the Stade de France and spent a day in Disneyland Paris. Lots of fun was had by all, and some pupils have already signed up for next year’s trip!

Some quotes from pupils:

“It was fun and we learnt lots. The best bit was Disney – so much fun.”

“It was amazing, There wasn’t anything I didn’t like. Disney was the best – I loved Hyperspace mountain. I’ll definitely go again next year.”

“It was cool! The Rockin’ Roller Coaster was the best! The food was good, and the hotel was great.”

Congratulations to Fraser Evans on finishing first place in the shot-putt and discus at the inter-schools district athletics championships this term.

James Probert also finished 2nd in the 100m. Both Fraser and James have now qualified for the county championships.

Jermarie Chatham (100m), Lawson Hooper-Obrien (200m) & Jessica Tolley (hurdles) also finished 3rd in their events narrowly missing out on qualification for the county championships.

Sporting Achievements

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PGL Maths Trip

A t the end of this academic year we said a fond farewell to one of our Year 11 pupils,

Liam Tanner. He will start his bricklaying course at Nash College in September and we all wish him the very best of luck as he embarks upon this new path.

The HIB, along with other Bases in South Wales, has begun working with Chainworks Productions to build links with a Deaf school in Kenya. We’re all looking forward to exploring the different ways stories can be communicated and we may even pick up a little bit of KSL (Kenyan Sign Language) along the way!

Our Deaf Choir has continued to be in high demand and as well as performing at CHS’s Awards Evening, they recently closed the day’s events at an Aneurin Bevan University Health Board’s training day. In our last newsletter we mentioned an upcoming visit to Marlborough Primary School, Cardiff. This went very well and the pupils taught some BSL as part of the school’s focus on promoting the language.

We hope that all our year 11 pupils have a restful summer holiday after the pressure of their exams this term. See you in September!

T eam work played a massive part on the PGL Trip and despite the fire alarm going off students

kept their moral high.

Students took part in a number of activities from flying down the trapeze with ease to jumping off obstacle courses against the

clock.

Then a battle on the waters commenced at dawn with their self-built rafts and communication skills were used when creating the tallest tower,

before it toppled over!!!!

The majority of the students also conquered their fear of heights by abseiling down a giant wall before putting their general knowledge skills to the

test against the teachers.

Here are some pupil

testimonials.

“I think that the rooms in PGL were good because there was a good amount of space to do what you want in the room. I also liked that there was a

bathroom.” Lillie

“I think that the teachers and leaders on the PGL trip were all very nice and the activities were also really enjoyable!”

Olivia

“I enjoyed the zip wire BUT know I have a phobia of fire

alarms! Haha!” Davis

“Abseiling and Zip Wire was

the best” Brandon

“I loved the fire alarm in the

morning” Jake

“My favourite part of the trip was the zip wire and raft building. The fire alarm was very annoying. 10/10 for the

trip” Leo

“My favourite part of the trip

was zip wire.” Adam

News from the Hearing

Impaired Base

Ben Taylor Signed by the Newport Dragons

Over the last month Ben, along with another 126 boys, have been training with the Dragons.

Yesterday Ben found out he has been picked for the Dragons

regional side.

We are all very proud of him !

We wish him all the best luck.

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O n the 29th June we celebrated our second annual sports day at

Cwmbran High School. The students had the opportunity to compete in a range of traditional track and field athletics events plus some fun less traditional fun events. The response in terms of participation from the students was excellent and we were really pleased and grateful that former Pontypool, Wales and British Lions prop forward Mr Graham Price could join us to present the medals and

trophies.

Congratulations to the following pupils who gained the most points during the day and were awarded trophies

Sports Day 2017

for the best boy / girl for sports

day 2017.

Year 7 – Callum Miller & Livia

Draper

Year 8 – Josh Preece & Sol Jackson (Joint winners) & Olivia

Harvey

Year 9 - Amy Payne & Jermarie

Chatham

Year 10 – Abi Trotman & James

Probert

Congratulations to the following form groups who achieved most points throughout the day and were the winners of the form competition. (Got some pictures

from assembly if you want them)

Year 7 – 7CH1

Year 8 – 8CH4

Year 9 - 9CH1

Year 10 – 10CH3

Many thanks again to our special guest Mr Graham Price for giving up his time to present the medals and

trophies on sports day.

Athletics

This year the students again participated in the inter-schools athletics championships and represented the school really well. At district level there were a number of successful students who finished 1st or 2nd in their event and qualified for the county

championships.

Boys

Dylan Wallington, Jasper Davenne, Llewi Edwards, Sol Jackson, Josh Preece, Rhys Nicholson, Harry Evans, Bam Thanoi, Callum Miller, Riley

Beard, Jake Cartwright

Girls

Amy Smith, Cordelia Goodger, Caitlin Hodder, Maia Elsworthy, Summer Bowen Quirk, Maddie Greeen, Olivia Harvey, Ellie Chapman, Ellie

Rogers, Olivia Brown

County Champion

Congratulations to Harry Evans who finished 1st place in the Year 8 Javelin at the county championships and is now

county champion.

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O n Thursday 29th June Year 11 had their fairy-tale ending to a

challenging year of study, hard work and success.

Students arrived in style from 6pm onwards, and were welcomed by their teachers and staff at the Hotel with a complimentary mocktail. As the doors to the function room were opened, students saw a room decorated from top to bottom in gold, white and black; the Prom theme colours. A very classy ensemble as requested by

the Prom Committee. We were also spoiled by a very kind donation from Harry Lewis and his family in the form of a spectacular, home-made

A Fairytale Ending at the Year 11 Leavers Prom

Prom cake. Not only did it look amazing, it tasted just as good!

Students and teachers were all dressed in their finest and enjoyed the activities that had been organised for the event. The photo-booth in particular proved to be a popular stop for both students and teachers alike; evidence below!

Another highlight of the evening were the Prom awards, hosted by Harry Lewis. Students had completed nominations during the run up to the night and teachers voted for Prom King and Queen at the start of the evening.

Some of the awards included:

Prom King – Charlie Paraskeva

Prom Queen – Carys Hale

Best hair – Jamie Knott & Gracie Wells

Nicest person – Huw Dando & Evie Copeman

So, you get the idea, the evening was a success and everyone had a great time. This wasn’t just because of the hours

of planning and preparation that had gone into organising the event (thank you Mrs Watkins), the evening was such a fantastic one because of our Year 11 students. They celebrated together and the bonds and friendships that they have developed over the years were apparent. They represented Cwmbran High School in the best possible way.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who helped us organise the event and those who supported us and celebrated with us during the evening. As a school we wish our Year 11 students the very best of luck in picking up their GCSE results in August.

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O n Wednesday 28th June, The Army Outreach team visited the school to

hold the Intro PDA (Resilience, Team Building and Leadership Session) workshop with Year 12 Public Services and Business Studies students. They arranged an outdoor session that gave students a taste of Army team building and problem solving with a wide range of hands-on activities. 15 students took part and the event lasted the entire day. It was full of challenging

tasks that developed mental and physical attributes. The students were also provided with a careers presentation

with the Army staff.

The students had a really enjoyable day, taking part in tasting rations that soldiers eat out on the field and team work activities such as getting items across a river with limited resources, moving tyres in the correct order, lifting and moving a box using just 2 ropes and an assault course.

The students also had the opportunity to try on camouflage

clothing and paint.

All students got stuck in on the course with plenty of laughter along

the way!!

Army Outreach

T he school have actively been involved in the 5 x 60 programme this

year.

We have attended Newport county football festivals both boys and girls, basketball festivals, badminton and

athletics competitions

Our leadership pathway has been very active with Young Ambassadors, Coaches of the future and sports leaders that have been active in helping with school 5 x 60 clubs, PE clubs, Dragon sports clubs with local feeder schools, festivals and events including 2 year 5 transition festivals that had nearly 250 pupils from our 6

feeder schools

As a result Declan Rawlings has been shortlisted for ‘young coach of the year’ award with the FAW and also won the

sports cup at awards evening.

Madison Green has designed a #IFYOUGOIGO campaign poster (above) to get women and girls more active, this was done as part of her Young

Ambassadors responsibilities.

5 x 60 Sports Development

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CHS Pupils a Great Success at Coed Eva Football Club

W e received this letter from the charity Macmillan

after the following pupils took part in an event to raise money in partnership with the

Congress Theatre Cwmbran.

Holly Greening, Abbie-Mae Alford, Olivia C Lloyd Molly Felvus

“My name is Julia, the fundraising manager for Macmillan Cancer support in Gwent. I wanted to get in touch to say a huge thank you to your students Holly, Abby, Olivia and Molly for winning a donation of £1000 for us. It is such a fantastic amount and we cannot thank them enough. It will make a huge difference to people affected by cancer in our community. £1,000 could pay for a Macmillan nurse for a week, helping people living with cancer and their families receive essential medical, practical and

emotional support.”

We are extremely proud of our pupils at CHS for their

hard work and commitment.

most recent achievement is they are through to the SWGGL under 12s 9 v 9 league plate final after beating Tredegar in the semi-final 2-0. A number of these girls attend the girls football sessions as part of 5 x 60 on a Friday lunchtime and played in the girls only football festivals run by Newport ‘County in the community’ in October at the

stadium.

T his is Coed Eva girls FC and their coaches Neil Jones and Steve Bartlett (Blenheim Road PE

coordinator)

They have been very successful over the past few years, as you may notice a number of the players are pupils at CHS. Their

Macmillan Fundraiser

I am delighted to confirm that the students listed below were selected as winners of the recent Year

7 skills Welsh Water

Competition.

Amy Jones

Anna Roden

Mollie Felvus

Olivia C Lloyd

Welsh Water Competition Abigail Brown

Rea Barton

Caitlin Hodder

Summer Bowen-Quirk

Students completed independent research and produced work to raise awareness of the dangers of

swimming in reservoirs.

A huge thank you to all the Year 7 skills teachers in preparing the work for the competition and the judge from Welsh Water was extremely complementary

about the work produced.

Mr G Brenton