Glantaf news

Glantaf news
Winter 2013
At the end of term it was time to say goodbye to a teacher
who has been working in Glantaf for 23 years. Ms Robinson
-Morgan has been inspiring Glantaf girls to participate in
sports throughout her time at school. She has led many
teams to county and national success over the years. We
would like thank Ms Robinson-Morgan for all her hard work
over the years.
Mrs Helen Thomas from the English Department also left us
at the end of term. She will start a new job at Plasmawr
next term, as the Second in the Department.
We wish them both all the best for the future.
Public Speaking
There has long been a
tradition of public
speaking at Glantaf,
but this year will be
remembered as an
especially successful
year, after the team’s
sweeping success in
the Rotary competition for the whole of South
Wales. The members of the team were Gruff Thomas, Rhidian Thomas and Rebecca Hayes, all in year
12. Rebecca won the prize for the best Chairperson
and Rhidian won the
prize for the best Proposer. He was also
awarded the prize for
best speaker. Congartulations to all three,
and also to Mr Owain
Sion Williams for
coaching them.
Talents from the Taf
In memory of three members of staff
Rhodri Rhys, Muriel Bevan
and Rhian Davies
What a wonderful two
nights, with the best of Glantaf’s talents on show! The
school’s hall was bursting at
the seams and everyone was
thrilled to be entertained in various ways by pupils from years 7 to
13. In fact, all the performances were polished and professional;
from the ensembles and the various instrumental bands to the rapturous choral singing, from the energetic street dancers to the drama presentations that were full of humour and wit and of course,
the unique cerdd dant singing!!!Two excellent extracts from musicals were performed; the younger pupils presented Nia Ben Aur,
and the older pupils staged Jiwdas. The highlight was hearing all the
pupils singing Anfonaf Angel together at the end of the concert–
very inpriring!
It was a pleasure to welcome members of the families to school. It
will be a concert that we will remember for a long time, as we will
also fondly remember Rhodri, Muriel and Rhian.
Important Dates
Yr9 Options Evening
January 22
Parent’s Evenings
Yr 10: January 15
Yr 7: January 30
Yr 9: January 12
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6th Form Presentation
Evening
February 18
School Eisteddfod
February 20
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Inter-Llys Competition
There has long been fierce competition between the four llysoedd of
Glantaf during the annual Eisteddfod and the three Sports Competitions.
This year is a little different, as several more competitions have been
added to the diary.
This term, a 7 a side football competition was held for year 8 boys. There
were a number of very close games between the teams, but Dewi’s team
were triumphant at the end– no mean feat, as the llys only has one class
in year 8! Well done boys! (Dewi’s team– Liam Harding, Morgan King,
Matthew Lincoln, Ceri Griffiths, Craig Miller, Scott Lincoln , absent– Casey
Davies, Alex Ogonovsky).
French Exchange
Glantaf School has been participating in an exchange with St Sébastien, a school in Landerneau in Brittany for twenty-eight years. 30
French pupils came to Wales in November to
stay with pupils from Glantaf. It was a funpacked week, which included many visits and
evenings spent socialising with new friends.
We are excited to see our friends again when
we visit them in April!
The total points in the Inter-llys Competitio
for this term:
Teilo – 2387
Dewi—2384
Dyfrig - 2208
Illtud—2132
The other competition this term was a quiz for years 7, 8 and 9 during
lunchtime. The pupils worked in teams to answer questions from four
rounds; Film and Television, Sports, Wales and a picture round. All the
teams showed excellent knowledge, and it was very tight between all the
competitors, but the winning team this time was Evan, Brecon, Gruff and
Daniel from Dewi. Dafydd, Morgan and Holly from Dyfrig were second
and Tom, Rhys, Jack and Gethin, also from Dyfrig were third.
German Exchange
The German exchange is an excellent and worthwhile experience This
year (not for the first time) we went to Bergneustadt in NordrheinWestfallen, with a group of about 40 pupils from years 10-13. This was an
important year for the exchange, as it was the 18th time that pupils
travelled from Glantaf to Germany. The idea is simple– The Welsh pupils
stay with a German family for a week in their country, and then the
correspondant has the opportunity to come back to Wales for a week–
but the trip includes a lot more than this! We get to go on many
excursions and visits to notable places in the area. This year we went to
two well-known cities in the vicinity– Bonn and Cologne. We had a
fantastic time visiting a number of museums and
attractions. Of course, we also had time to do some
shopping– many pupil’s favourite activity! We went to the zoo, which was full of animals from all over
the world, and on the last day we enjoyed a visit to Phantasialand, a local themepark.
Although the excursions are an enjoyable part of the trip, spending all day Sunday and many evenings
with the German host family was also an excellent experience and very
beneficial in order to practise speaking the language. The exchange is an
unforgetable experience and I would advise anyone to participate, if the ever
Half Term: February 24– February 28
you get the opportunity; you will have lots of fun,learn about a different
Last day of term: April 11
culture, and nobody could deny that it is educational!
Sioned Graves
Remember!
GLANTAF SPORTS
RUGBY
NETBALL
The rugby season got off to an excellent start this
year, with a win for the year 9 team at the County
7 a side competition. Well done boys!
Congratulations to the year 7
girls who were very successful
at the Cardiff 7B Competition.
The C team was second and
the B team was third. Fantastic
news!
Congratulations also to the
year 10 team who has
reached the final round in the
County competition. The year
11 team has also managed
this feat– we have lots of
sporting talent here at Glantaf!
ROWING
The Welsh Indoor Rowing Competition was held in December. A number of pupils were competing individually and in
teams, and many of them were very successful; Fran Richards (yr13) was second in the under 18 Girls competition
and Alys Howells was first in the under 15 Girls. Guto John
was second in the Boys under 15 competition. The under 15
Boys were second in their competition, whilst the under 15
Girls were the winners in their competition. Congratulations
to all!
Chris Coleman’s visit
County Netball
Congratulations to Carys Jones from year 9, she has
been selected for the Cardiff under 14 team. Mari Enoch
also in year 9,Megan Manley year 8 and Seren Davies
year 8 have seen selected for the second team. Good
A very well-known face visited the school in November;
the Welsh football team
Manager came to Glantaf
with a media team to launch
the new campaign “Behind
the line, Behind the Team”.
The aim is to eliminate negative factors that can affect
youngsters playing football.
The campaign hopes to educate people, to improve the
behaviour of managers, play-
ers and spectators of youth
games.
A group of year 7 pupils who
were in Melin Gruffydd
school last year were part of
the promotional film.
The film can be viewed on
the FAW website.
(Picture: FAW)
Pray4Padi
We are pupils in year 11, and we wish to raise
awareness of the work we do fundraising for the Kids
Cancer Charity in memory of our good friend Padi
Johnson. We hope you will learn more about Padi and
the charity that helped him and his family during a
difficult time.
Bullying competition and we have raised over £3700
for Kids Cancer Charity over the past two years.
Our aim is to reach 10 thousand pounds, and also to
raise people’s awareness of Padi, Kids Cancer Charity,
and brain cancer. Next year we hope to complete the
Welsh ‘3 peak challenge’ (Snowdon, Cader Idris, and
Padi was a popular, funny and generous boy– he was
Pen y Fan). We also hope to hold a fundraising gala in
always happy to help. We all feel grateful to have been the Swalec Stadium next Summer for our teachers and
part of his life, and we all loved him dearly.
friends, where there will be music, food and an auction
In 2008 Padi and his family received the devestating
to raise money for the charity.
news that he had a brain tumour. After a course of
chemotherapy, there was no trace of the tumour. But, Pray4Padi@hotmail.co.uk
later, despite everyone’s efforts, the tumour
reappeared. Although Padi missed a lot of school, he
didn’t lose his spirit or his personality... he continued
to smile throughout his illness. Padi completed most of
his “bucket list”, and on the 21st of July he passed
away peacefully in his sleep, at home. His long battle
and suffering was over, and Padi left this world full of
hope, knowing that many people loved him. Although
we miss Padi, we know he is at peace now, and we will
always have happy memories of him.
Padi and his family were given a lot of support by Kids
Cancer Charity throughout his illness. The charity cares
for children who are suffering from cancer, and their
families. They support young people living in Cardiff
and the Vale and offer families the opportunity to go
on holiday to one of five luxury villas that offer them a
peaceful atmosphere. They also promote play therapy
which helps children come to terms with their illness
and the pain they are experiencing. They also give grief
support, where specially trained staff help the family
deal with their loss.
As Padi’s friends, we are very grateful to Kids Cancer
Charity for what they did to make Padi’s life more
pleasureable, so we decided we would try to raise
money for the charity to thank them for helping our
friend.
We decided that the best way to make money would
be through a series of fundraising activities. Firstly, a
non-uniform day was held at our school and our
primary schools. We also collected sponsors from our
friends and families for waxing our legs.
We recently came second in the Cardiff against
George Thomas Walk for Hope
Once again this year, many of the school’s pupils
were busy collecting sponsorship money before completing the Walk for Hope for the George Thomas
Hospice, in Bute Park early on a Sunday morning.
£2,776.59 was raised. The hospice awarded pupils
who collected over
£20 with a special
mug, and Catrin Smith
(yr9) was presented a
trophy for collecting
the most sponsorship
money. Congratulations to all pupils who
completed the walk,
and many thanks to
Ms Gaynor Jones for
her hard work promoting the walk every
year.
Christmas at Glantaf
Christmas Concert
St German Church – Thursday evening, December 12
We were one again treated to an excellent concert by Glantaf pupils this year to celebrate Christmas. There was a lovely
atmosphere in the charming church, and the acoustics were first-rate. There were fantastic performances by the school’s
choirs– the mixed, male and female voice choirs, the jazz bands and the orchestra, the instrumental ensembles, the talented soloists and duettes, the varied readings and the dramatic presentations.
Thank you to all who partricipated in the very accomplished concert. Thank you also to all who contributed generously to
the charity ‘B-eat’. Nearly £500 was raised.
Christmas Fayre
Early in December the school was full of the hustle and bustle of the Christmas Fayre. There were many stalls by local small
businesses, as well as the school’s stalls selling cakes, toiletries, books, DVDs and several delights prepared by the year 10
and 11 Catering pupils– plenty of gift ideas! Food was sold in the Bistro and there was a very popular bunjee run in the
Gymnasium. Thank you to all who contributed, and to Friends of Glantaf for arranging the fayre.
English Speaking Union Competition
Congratulations to Llion Carbis, Charlie Lovell-Jones and Amber Jenkins-Jones from year 10 who won the Cardiff English
Speaking Union Competition. Thank you to Ms Shan Osborne
for helping to prepare the trio and for all her hard work with
the Debating Club over many years.
Sgwad Sgwennu
Shani Evans, Millie Marcenaro, Arianwen Peterson, Caitlin
Jones, Owain Carbis, Lewis Vinnicombe, Bethan Llewelyn,
Ellyn Baker, Cerys Davage and Georgina Savastano, year 8
are part of the Sgwad Sgwennu in partnership with Ysgol
Plasmawr aand Ysgol Bro Edern. The first creative workshop was in November with Leusa Llewelyn. This is an excellent opportunity for pupils to develop their writing skills.
The pupils enjoyed the first workshop and they are looking
forward to the next one!
Fresh Ink Script-Writing Course with the Sherman Theatre
A group of year 10 pupils (Beca Hayes, Emily Ogonovsky,
Hannah Watkin, Sophie Azzopardi, Katie Issac, Branwen
Jones, Sioned Rowlands, Dafydd Manley, Iwan Jones and
Llion Carbis) were part of the Sherman Theatre Fresh Ink
Script-Writing Course last term. They had an excellent
experience in numerous script-writing workshops in school,
and their final scripts were performed in the Sherman
Visit to the Clothes Show Live
Theatre on Wednesday, 9th October . There was high
praise for their work, and the pupils gained valuable
Two buses full of pupils left Glantaf for Birmingham one day
in November. We were very excited! There were lots of stalls experience. All the GCSE Drama students had the privilege
selling clothes and accessories– the hall was enormous! I real- of being in the audience to watch their peers’ work.
ly enjoyed the shopping– there were lots of things for sale at
Presentation Evening
very reasonable prices. I spent quite a lot of money! One of
the highlights of the day was seeing the fashion show– the
It was lovely welcoming last year’s year 11 and 13 pupils
clothes were fantastic; they were full of imagination and colback to school on Monday evening, 16th of December to
our! I would advise everybody to visit the Clothes Show if
receive their exam certificates. We were honoured to have
they ever get the opportunity; there is lots to do, and you
Radio 1 DJ, Huw Stephens, a former pupil of Glantaf
may get a bargain or two as well!
present, as the guest speaker and presenting the
Cerys Evans yr11
certificates.
Sports Day
The annual Winter Sports Day was held at the beginning of December. Pupils from years 7 to 12 competed in a number of
sports (hockey, table tennis, indoor rowing, dodgeball, rugby,
basketball and football) over the course of two days. Both days
were very successful, all the pupils enjoyed themselves, and
there was fierce competition between the llysoedd. Dewi were
the winners in the end, with 1703 points and Teilo were a close
second with 1645 points. The other two llysoedd were very
close, with Illtud in third (1393 points) and Dyfrig in fourth (1315
points). Congratulations to all who competed!
Llangrannog
In September it was time for us year 7 pupils to pack our suitcases and head off to Llangrannog for a week. It was a fun-packed
week! We got to do lots of fun activities. My favourites were gokarting, swimming and horse-riding. It was very funny watching
people on the bungee on the trampoline! We had a belly-full of
delicious food, lots of fun, and many fond memories. We were
all exhausted on the way home, but at least we had an unforgettable time with our friends!
By Lois Drake