Category: Gwenfo Primary School

Well, we have had a very busy half term in school and we cannot believe how quickly the time is going!

Year 1 and 2 have thoroughly enjoyed African drumming sessions – they really have created some wonderful music.

Year 4 have visited St Illtyd’s and Years 5 and 6 went to the Story Museum. The children were all very well behaved and a real credit to school.

Years 2 and 3 have both led super assemblies – families of the children are invited to their assemblies and stay afterwards for a cup of tea and biscuit – it is always a very special time.

PC Emma has been into school to talk to parents about Internet safety. Parents of children in our Foundation Phase were also invited into school to work with their children. Many thanks to all who attended.

To raise money for Velindre Hospital, we all wore red to school for the day. This happened to fall on the day it snowed and a super day was had by all. The children and their teachers went onto the field and built snowmen. This was followed by hot chocolate and biscuits in the classrooms!

Parents Evenings were held this week and last week and it was lovely to share with parents and carers how hard their children have been working; parents and carers also had an opportunity to look through their children’s books.

We are looking forward to a restful half term and a wonderful celebration of St David’s day in our Eisteddfod, during the first week back.

Now that Christmas is over, all too quickly, we
have rolled back the clock to the end of last
term, to show how the children decorated their
classroom doors.

A very happy New Year to all!

The time is going so quickly and it is hard to believe that we are now firmly in the throes of practising for our Christmas concerts!
We have had a very busy few weeks and the children have engaged in super learning experiences:
Years 1 and 2 enjoyed a wonderful party as a grand finale to their Happiness Topic.
Years 3 and 4 enjoyed a hugely enjoyable trip to Pizza Express as part of their Global Gourmet topic. They had great fun learning about and experimenting with ingredients with tasty pizzas being made by all!
Year 6 pupils visited Abernant for a 3 day residential trip. During their visit, they engaged in activities such as raft building, zip wires and abseiling. The children were an absolute credit to school and their families.
The Soroptomists paid a visit to Year 6 pupils recently; they gave freely of their time and spoke to the children about Kiva, an American charity which supports families in developing countries to become entrepreneurs.
We were very sad at the end of last term to say goodbye to our wonderful school cook, Mrs Sian Farrugia. Sian has taken up a new post working for the Salvation Army. We are delighted to welcome Mrs Nicola Perkins to our Wenvoe team.
Christmas is fast approaching with all the excitement and preparation that entails in school! We are

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We have had a busy start to the term, entering several categories within the Wenvoe Village Fair. We were thrilled to hear that artists, handwriters and bakers all did so well! We are currently busy designing our scarecrow for St Mary’s Scarecrow festival as well as practicing with our choir to sing at the Harvest Service.

We have all voted for the Year 6 children, who all have a job in school, and have a brand new Head Boy (Alfie) and Head Girl (Tia). We know that they will be busy helping Miss Starke over the coming year. Other jobs including School council representatives ( ensuring all children have a voice), eco committee members, who look after our wonderful grounds, as well as health and safety representatives and tuck shop monitors.

Our Value this half-term is generosity and we plan to organise a harvest collection at the end of the half -term to donate to the local food bank. Families always donate so generously so please do pop in if you would like to add to our collection. A list of items we are collecting will appear on the school noticeboard shortly.

At Gwenfo we love to welcome visitors and volunteers so if you have some free time we are always looking for helpers to garden, read or share their expertise! Do pop in for a chat if you are interested!

In the words of our school mission statement we look forward to a really happy year living and growing together in a Christian Way!

Well, we can’t believe that another school year has come and gone!

We would like to say a very big thank you to our PFTA who have raised over £4000 this year. We really do appreciate all their tireless work in raising funds to enhance the children’s learning experiences.

The children have enjoyed super school trips this past year; Years 1 and 2 visited Green Meadow Farm where they saw Dipsy the Cow being milked, rode on a tractor and enjoyed a lemonade ice lolly. Reception children visited Porthkerry Park; they went bug hunting in the woods, ran through the meadows with butterfly nets and built dens in the woods; the den ranger tested to see if they were waterproof by throwing a bucket of water over them! Great fun was had by all.

Year 6 had their Leavers Assembly last Friday. It was super occasion, with the children sharing memories of their time in Wenvoe. There was a lovely slide show of baby photos and the staff and children alike all enjoyed guessing who was who! Following the Leavers Service, they then went to Cosmeston Lakes for a barbecue. We wish them every happiness and success as they move onto the next stage of their education.

Our musicians and choristers gave a wonderful musical soiree on Wednesday when they entertained family and friends with their wonderful recitals. Thanks must also go to our music teacher, Mrs Jones, for her excellent work and dedication.

Councillor Penrose (Vale of Glamorgan) and Alun Cairns, MP, visited school this morning to present certificates for the runners up and winner of the Vale of Glamorgan 500 Word Writing Competition: Highly Commended was awarded to Sienna Kelly, Amelia Rees, Poppy Davies, Taryn Tyson and Oliver Fulthorpe; In third place was Tori Bellamy; second place went to Rhys Hill; the winner was Milly Jorna. A very big well done to all who took part and of course to the winners.

We are very sad to say goodbye to Miss Kerry Williams, our reception teacher, who leaves us today to return to Pembrokeshire. Mrs Woodiwiss, our dinner supervisor and LSA support is also leaving today. Mrs Maunder is beginning her maternity leave today. We wish them all every happiness for the future.

We wish you all a very happy summer – fingers crossed that this beautiful weather continues.

WE look forward to seeing you again in September!

The Gwenfo Team.

Well, here we are at the start of the Summer Term already! The time really is going by so quickly.

Just before we broke up for Easter, the children in our Foundation Phase took part in an Easter Bonnet parade! The bonnets were, without exception, delightful! The parade took place in our school playground and was well supported by parents, grandparents, carers and friends. Our judges were Oliver Fulthorpe (Head Boy and Millie Jorna (Head Girl). Thanks go to all our families for such amazing efforts in making the bonnets and, of course, to our PFTA, who provided the prizes.

Thank you again to the PFTA who arranged an Easter egg hunt for all the children on the afternoon we broke up for Easter. This is always hugely enjoyed by the children.

Year 1 attended a multi skills festival at Barry Leisure Centre, enjoying taking part in activities such a karate and tennis. They were very well behaved and a real credit to school.

Year 1 also led worship towards the end of term– speaking and singing beautifully. Very well done, Year 1!

The children all took part in the Sport Relief Mile; this was a great success, with circuits of the playground mounting up magnificently!

We were delighted to have been invited to the Memorial Hall, Barry, to showcase the work the children in Year 2 have been undertaking in their Creative Writing. The children have been working with our hugely talented, Mrs Michelle Briscombe: Mrs Briscombe is a published author and has been developing the skill of story writing in the Foundation Phase. Miss Starke and Mrs Briscombe presented this to a wide audience of school leaders from across the Vale of Glamorgan.

We are engaging in a partnership with Cardiff Metropolitan University; this saw us welcome 13 student teachers for a day in March; the students were investigating what effective teaching learning looks like in practice. The trainee teachers visited all classes as part of their observations; thanks really must go to all the teaching and support staff and to the pupils, who created such a good impression. Feedback received was very positive indeed. Later this week, we will be welcoming the students again, when we will be facilitating opportunities for them to learn about cross- curricular learning.

We are looking forward to the warmer weather and with that, the lovely opportunity to play on our school field. We really do count ourselves blessed to have such a wonderful and stimulating environment.

Well, the past half term has passed by in a flash!

The children have engaged in various activities; some have been playing African drums with specialist teacher, Mr Rees. Pupils in Lower Key Stage 2 have thoroughly enjoyed taking part in a Creative Schools project and have been learning how to screen print; the finished results are truly beautiful. Pupils are also benefiting greatly from learning how to create computer code.

Years 3 and 5 have both led worship this past half term. Parents are welcomed into school to join with their child’s class worship and are invited to stay for a coffee and biscuits afterwards; this is always a special time. Well done to the children and thank you also their class teachers for their very hard work in the planning and facilitation of the class assemblies.

The week before breaking up was Arts Week; the children have been very busy in their preparations for Saint David’s Day, including art work and story writing. They will, no doubt, also be enjoying being creative over half term, making items for the home entries. All entries receive House Points. We have four Houses in school, named after local farms: Ballas; Greaves; Whitehall; Wrinstone. On entry into school, pupils are placed in one of these Houses. House Points are also earned throughout the year, with the winning House presented with an engraved trophy, on an annual basis.

We are looking forward to next half term, with Saint David’s Day celebrations and also the run up to Easter, which is always a very special time in school.