2XL2XL2XL Summer Newsletter 2013Summer Newsletter 2013Summer Newsletter 2013 Cylchlythyr yr Haf 2013Cylchlythyr yr Haf 2013Cylchlythyr yr Haf 2013

Sporting Excellence

Clubs & Activities

School Productions

Ysgol Stanwell School

Greetings from the School School Calendar 2013/14 School Trips 2013/14 School Holiday Dates 2013/15 Eco-Schools Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme Outdoor Pursuits Department News Year Group News 100% attendance pupils

Contents

The achievements of the past academic year by Stanwell pupils certainly makes for impressive reading! It is wonderful to see the range of extra-curricular involvement both in school and in the wider community. We have enjoyed many highlights this year, such as our productions of ‘Miss Saigon’ and ‘Oliver’, our multitude of sporting achievements and academic successes. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the pupils, staff, par-ents, governors and friends of the school for their support this year. I wish you all a happy and relaxing summer break. Mr D. Jones, Headteacher. Y mae campau’r flwyddyn academaidd ddiwetha gan ddisgyblion Stanwell yn drawiadol tu hwnt! Mae’n arbennig i weld y gweithgareddau all-gyrsiol di-ri yn yr ysgol a hefyd yn y gymuned. Rydym wedi mwynhau sawl uchafbwynt eleni, fel ‘Miss Saigon’ ac ‘Oliver!’, llu o gampau chwaraeon a llwyddiannau academaidd. Hoffwn i gymryd y cyfle hwn i ddiolch i’n disgyblion, staff, rhieni, llywodraethwyr a ffrindiau’r ysgol am eu cefnogaeth eleni. Dymunaf wyliau hapus ac ymlaciol i chi gyd. Mr D. Jones, Pennaeth.

Greetings from the school

School Announcements AS and A level results are published on Thursday 15th August GCSE results are published on Thursday 22nd August First day of Autumn term for students is Tuesday 3rd September. Monday 2nd Sep-

tember is an INSET day for staff only Parents are reminded that fobs can be topped up over the holidays using PAYPAL to

avoid delays on the first day of the Autumn term Many schools are now using automated telephone systems and we are consulting on

whether to adopt this method. If you have any views on this subject, please email them to school@stanwell.org

Monday 2nd September INSET DAYTuesday 3rd September First day of term for pupilsTuesday 8th October OPEN DAYTuesday 22nd October Sixth Form Information EveningMonday 28th October HALF TERMTuesday 5th November Year 13 Parents' EveningTuesday 12th November Year 7 Pastoral EveningFriday 20th December Last Day of Term

CHRISTMAS HOLIDAYSMonday 6th January INSET DAYTuesday 7th January First day of term for pupilsTuesday 28th January Year 11 Parents' EveningTuesday 4th February Year 9 Parents' EveningTuesday 11th February Year 12 Parents' EveningTuesday 18th February Year 11 Options EveningMonday 24th February HALF TERMTuesday 4th March Year 8 TEAMX Parents' EveningTuesday 11th March Year 8 WORKL Parents' EveningTuesday 1st April Year 8 Options EveningTuesday 8th April Year 10 Parents' EveningFriday 11th April Last Day of Term

EASTER HOLIDAYSMonday 28th April First Day of TermMonday 5th May Bank HolidayTuesday 6th May Year 7 TEAMX Parents' EveningTuesday 13th May Year 7 WORKL Parents' EveningMonday 26th May HALF TERMTuesday 1st July New Year 7 Parents' EveningWednesday 16th July Last day of term for pupils Thursday 17th July INSET DAYFriday 18th July INSET DAYMonday 21st July INSET DAY

Stanwell SchoolCALENDAR FOR 2013/14

Year Group Date Department Destination7 September Pastoral Llangrannog

9, 10, 11 October Art London8 October DT / French France

8 & 9 November Welsh Glan Llyn13 November Welsh Glan Llyn

10 & 11 November Geography Italy12 November Geography Exmoor8 November History London

10, 11, 12, 13 February Skiing AustriaAll February Art Europe9 February Geography London

12, 13 February Geography International9 February RE London

10, 11, 12 March French Exchange12 March History London

8 & 9 March Skiing Austria8 March Welsh / French Disney Paris

7 & 8 March Art London10 April History Berlin

7 & 8 April Art London12 & 13 April Economics, BiS, ICT New York12, 13 June Outdoor Norway

9 June History France9 June PE Storey Arms7 July French FranceAll July Music Europe

In addition there will be day trips organised. Information will be sent home as dates are finalised

Proposed overnight trips September 2013 to July 2014

Stanwell School

School Holiday Dates

2013/14

2014/15

Eco-Schools

The academic year 2012/2013 has been a very busy and successful time for Eco-Stanwell com-mittee members. During March 2013, as part of a two year cycle, Stanwell School was assessed on its progress in making the school/local com-munity more environmentally friendly. Mem-bers of the Eco-Stanwell committee worked hard trying to improve four areas covered within the award. These included water, recy-cling, Fairtrade and a new wildlife/conservation area for the school. The assessment day was a great success and as a result Stanwell was awarded its third Green Flag.

Other success stories: 1. The annual Christmas card recycling com-petition organised by the Vale of Glamorgan County Council was won by Clodagh McKechnie in form 8W for contributing the largest amount of cards individually. Pu-pils from 30 Vale schools collected used Christ-mas cards for this competition. Overall, the school collected over 26,000 Christmas cards, a record number for Stanwell School. Clodagh successfully contributed an amazing 7,250 cards and won a £100 gift card. The Eco Stanwell committee would like to thank you all for sup-porting this event.

“these reports were brilliant and very professional”

Mrs J Laity

3. Bicycle maintenance skills: Two pupils in Year 11 with a keen interest in cycling showed initiative and motivation in attending a bike maintenance workshop in the Bike Shop, Penarth. Richard Arthur and Ben Dain-Smith are hoping to continue with the idea of holding regular bike maintenance ses-sions with Year 7 and 8 pupils in the new academic year. The skills the boys gained at the workshop are to be passed onto the younger members of the school in the hope this will encourage more people to use a more environmentally friendly mode of trans-port to and from school.

Eco-Stanwell committee members receiving the third Green Flag award from Julie Giles, coordinator for Eco Schools in the Vale of Glamorgan.

2. Stanwell Year 12 students win a na-tional environmental competition: The “Young Reporters for the Environment” competition is an annual event open to all young people in Wales. The entries are asked to report on a local environmental issue of interest to them and all Year 12 students par-ticipated as part of the Welsh Baccalaureate qualification. Many of the Stanwell entries were shortlisted and two groups went one stage further by winning first and second po-sition in the written 15-18 year old category. The winning report was entitled “Environmental impact of the Severn Bar-rage” by Ralf Warren, Jack Hayward and Bradley Jones, who, along with the runners up, Samantha Wood and Bethany Park-house, will now be representing Wales in the next stage, the “International Young Report-ers for the Environment” competition. Both reports were highly commended by the judg-ing panel that consisted of experienced pro-fessional journalists who were quoted as say-ing “these reports were brilliant and very professional”. Many congratulations to both groups.

Clodagh McKechnie(8W) receiving her award for the larg-est number of Christmas cards collected by an indi-vidual in the Vale.

4.Stanwell conservation/wildlife area. Progress is being made on the new conser-vation area for the school. The more de-manding physical work is planned for the summer holidays 2013, when the plot des-ignated for the wildlife project is to be cleared and designed the way the commit-tee and the pupils from the feeder primary schools wanted. In the meantime, the funds donated by Keep Wales Tidy “Wild Week-end” scheme have been used to purchase two wooden benches for the conservation area. Also committee members have lo-cated the best sites for some of the bird, bat and bug boxes produced by pupils in Year 7. Some of these boxes can be seen in the trees located around the school.

Photographs showing progress in developing and improving the wildlife at Stanwell School.

5. The Eco Youth Conference 2013: A selection of Eco-Stanwell committee members attended the an-nual Eco Youth Conference, held at the Millennium Centre, Cardiff Bay on the 25th June 2013. This event was organised for the whole of Wales and young students from many schools came together to share ideas, participate in workshops and listen to visiting speakers. The Stanwell pupils must be com-mended for the way they represented the school, speaking confidently at the conference and mixing well with other like-minded young people. The high-light of the day according to the Year 8 pupils was speaking to Peter Davies, Commissioner for a Sus-tainable Future in Wales. The commissioner spent the lunch break speaking to Eco-Stanwell members about his ideas for a sustainable future in Wales and asking the pupils about their experiences and ideas within Stanwell School.

Peter Davies Commissioner for a Sustainable Future in Wales with Eco-Stanwell committee members.

Members of Eco-Stanwell committee fly-ing the flag for the Eco Schools award in

Wales.

During the conference some visiting speak-ers communicated through the medium of Welsh and to help with translation pupils were supplied with individual headphones.

ECO-STANWELL MEMBERS WISH TO THANK YOU FOR YOUR CONTINUED SUPPORT.

Eco-Schools Mrs J Laity

“mixing well with other like minded young people”

Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme

We have had mixed weather for the expedi-tion season this year! The Silver participants undertook their practice expedition around Hay on Wye on the 11th-13th April with rain on the first night and the remnants of snow seen on the hills of the Black Mountains. The improved weather on the assessed expe-dition on 25th-27th April was certainly ap-preciated as they followed their route cards through the Brecon Beacons. The pupils were able to gain lots of information about flora and fauna which for many of their groups was the aim of their expedition. The participants successfully reached their check points with many having a great time in their teams. The pupils who successfully completed the expedition section of the Award maintained high standards of behaviour throughout, demonstrating their responsible and mature attitude towards each other, the safety as-pects of using the cookers and general care and respect for the Countryside Code. A number of the pupils stood out for their ef-forts on the expedition and congratulations in particular to Emily Thomas whose enthusi-asm towards the expedition was infectious. She adopted a committed attitude throughout the 3 days, looking after the other members of her team at all times and raising morale when it was needed. The Penarth Gold group undertook their practice expedition on 15-17th March and actually got snowed off! Their assessed ex-pedition takes place on 15—19th July. The Stanwell Open Gold participants will com-plete their practice expedition in the Brecon Beacons on 20th - 22nd September and their assessed expedition on 7th—11th October near Aberystwyth. Good luck to all the par-ticipants undertaking their expeditions.

Due to such large number of participants on the Bronze Award the expeditions were sepa-rated into two groups. The first carried out their practice expedition on 18th –19th June with their assessment on the 25th-26th June while the second group had their practice on the 4th-5th July and the 15th-16th July. Both groups completed the same areas for their expedition, going to the Ogmore by Sea area for their practice and travelling down to the

Gower for their assessment. Participants at all three levels of the Award must remember to obtain evidence including the assessors’ reports and upload the evidence onto their eDofE accounts before they can complete each section of the Award. It is rewarding to see so many pupils partici-pating in the Award and a big thank you as al-ways to the parents for their support and prompt return of clean kit and also to staff who help throughout the year with the delivery of the Award, completing the assessors’ reports for the different sections of the Award (Young Enterprise and PE especially). Thanks also go to the staff who come on the expeditions, camping in usually not very pleasant weather! It would not be possible without this help.

“enthusiasm towards the expedition was infectious”

Miss H Jenkins

Outdoor Pursuits

Pupils in Year 8 undertook a 6 week Paddle-ower course (Levels 1—5)from the 14th Sep-tember to 19th Octoberat Cardiff Interna-tional White Water Centre. They learned about water safety and their own paddling skills in a range of different craft including the canoe, kayak and bell boats.

A group of Year 11 and 12 pupils went from 20th October to 3rd November on a visit to Morocco.

The overseas expedition involved a 4 day trek in the Toubkal region of the North Atlas mountains, followed by some community and environmental project work in Asni. They completed their adventure with a re-laxation day in the coastal town of Essaouira and a final day in Marrakech. On the trip, each of the students took turns to be the

leader for the day which involved managing the budget and making decisions on activities and arrangements for the day. The community project in Asni gave the pupils an insight into a different culture from ours and the limited re-sources in some of the villages. The pupils also had a greater understanding of their own strengths and were able to successfully reflect on their own personal development at the end of the trip. The next overseas adventure is due to take place in July 2014 to Norway. A further group of Year 8 pupils have been at the Cardiff International White Water Centre from 17th May—12th July. They have either been able to try canoeing and kayaking for the first time and 14 further pupils have under-taken the Paddle power (Level 1—5 course). They have received certification of their water safety and get further certification when they successfully complete the 6 week paddle course.

We are looking forward to taking the new Year 7 to Llangrannog in September for a team building 3 days through the medium of the out-door pursuits with plenty of Welsh language practice thrown in for good measure!

“4 day trek in the Toubkal region”

Miss H Jenkins

English Philip Pullman Twitter Event The English department organised an interac-tive session in one of the iPad rooms where fans of the author Philip Pullman participated in a special ‘Questions and Answers Master-class’ via Twitter on their ipads. This excep-

tional event was scheduled following Mr Pull-man’s appearance in the BBC series ‘Great Welsh Writers’. The pupils who took part from Years 7, 8 and 9 are all keen readers of ‘The

Northern Lights Trilogy’ and the questions they posed in the live feed were really engag-ing and intelligent. Well done to all involved and we look forward to the next live Twitter event.

Writing Competition

A number of Year 7 students entered the Young Writers ‘The Poetry Games’ competi-tion. The following selection of pupils were successful and have the opportunity to see their work published in a special anthology: Evie Bamford, Kaitlin Daly, Chantelle Jones, Taiya Jones, Christina Kulamannage, Christina Luo, Dylan Penry Williams, Rhian Shillabeer, Joya Sims, Niamh Taylor-Hoare, Bridget Turner and Hannah Weeks.

Visit from local author

Four KS3 classes enjoyed a visit from local author Des Mason on Friday 28th June. He talked to them about his book "The Scrim-shaw of Sa-ble Island" a story about the sea, whaling, pirates and treasure set in the 19th century. Pu-pils then asked many interesting questions and Mr Ma-son was particularly impressed by how much the Year 7 classes knew about the whaling in-dustry! Well done to all who took part, you were a credit to the school.

“ impressed by how much the Year 7 classes knew about the whaling industry!”

Mrs M Williams

English Creative Writing

Led by visiting speaker Mr S Chapman, Year 8 pupils participated in a workshop that stretched their creativity and the technical accuracy of their work. There was an added bonus when ITV Wales turned up to film an educational feature for Wales Tonight and the pupils were inter-viewed explaining how they helped one an-other to make progress.

Award Ceremony George Lush was awarded the Key Stage 3 prize as a result of all his hard work. His en-thusiasm and independence is always a key part of his learning and consequently he has made outstanding progress in Year 8. Joshua Lawes was awarded the Key Stage 4 prize as he has made excellent progress in all aspects of his work and approached his ex-ams with a great amount of maturity and commitment. He attended every session of homework club. The Key Stage 5 award went to Lauren Beeslee as she has impressed the English de-partment with her commitment to the Buddy

Scheme and her passion for her English stud-ies this year. She has shown commendable dedication by attending additional sessions with her allocated students and has been a su-perb and well respected mentor. Lauren has also been a key member of the Year 12 web-site team with weekly contributions.

Podcasts

Year 8 pupils have been very busy this term creating podcasts to promote wider reading. Pupils worked in groups to review a range of popular children’s novels including John Boyne’s The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas and The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. The podcasts will be available on Moodle for all pupils to access.

‘There was an added bonus when ITV Wales turned up to film’

Mrs M Williams

Art

Barcelona Visit Pupils from Year 7 to 13 thoroughly enjoyed a wonderful visit to Barcelona where they mar-velled at the works at the Dali Theatre in Fi-gueres, the Picasso Museum and MACBA (the Museum of Contemporary Art). Research was balanced by a gentle walk around the marina in glorious sunshine, shopping and dining in La Ramblas and visiting the magnificent cathedral of La Sagrada Familia. Primary Liaison Pupils from all our feeder schools created beauti-ful monoprints with Miss Lewis, Miss Owens and Mrs Penny using block printing ink or oil pastel. This workshop gave the Year 6 pupils an idea of the materials and processes we use in the department in Year 7.

Penarth Pavilion Project

Work has continued on the mural for the Penarth Pavilion. Katie Streets (7R ) and Amy Stout (7A) plus many other Year 7 pupils have given up their time to help paint the boards.

‘Ces i ddiwrnod bendigedig! Mwynheuais i edrych ar y planhigion bach ac enfawr! ’.

Miss R Lewis

Department News

Royal Botanical Gardens at Kew For the first time this year a one day visit was or-ganised for Year 7 and 8 pupils to experience the dramatic plant specimens at Kew Gardens, Lon-don. Staff accompanied 39 pupils around the vast grounds. We visited the Shirley Sher-wood and Marianne North galleries to study the fantastic botanical paintings. Magnificent palms and tropical plants were seen in the fa-mous Temperate and Palm Houses, whilst cacti and other de-sert plants were viewed in the con-servatories. The beautiful drawings by the pupils complemented the ‘Pattern’ and ‘Gardens’ project undertaken in the summer term.

‘I had a great day today. I loved looking at all the unique plants from really small to absolutely huge! I also liked looking at the patterns in the plants because each and every one was different. Also there was an aquarium and I loved looking at the colours and patterns on the fish’. Celsea Ferry 7X

Business Studies

Young Enterprise Welsh Finals

On 19th June ‘Innova8’ took part in the Welsh Finals for Young Enterprise. This year the competition was hosted within the prestigious location of the Celtic Manor Hotel resort in Newport.

The students have designed and manufac-tured the ‘Amplitune’. This is a device which will attach to a tablet computer ena-bling the user to amplify the sound pro-duced. It requires no batteries or electric sources to power this phenomenon.

At the event the students were awarded the Welsh ‘Innovation and Enterprise Award’ (Arloesedd a Menter) for their product. This was presented by Sara Ed-wards and the Mayor of Newport. The students think that Young Enterprise is a great scheme:“We think that it is a great learning experience and allows us to de-velop the skills that are transferable in the world of work. It has allowed us to get used to the business environment. Plus

you can also make money from it!”

Year 9 ‘Tenner’ Challenge

Congratulations to all those Year 9 students who have taken part in the ‘Tenner’ Challenge. This was a nationwide competition to find the next generation of budding entrepreneurs. Students were each given an initial investment of £10 to use as start-up capital to get their businesses off the ground. The students had the whole month of May to make a maximum profit!

The students worked hard and created a va-riety of different products and services to generate their sales revenue. They would also like to thank the local businesses that enabled them to run a raffle within the school. The students donated some of their

profits to a variety of different charities such as the British Heart Foundation, Marie Curie and Macmillan.

‘Profiad addysgol gwych!

Mrs J Macnamara

Drama

“the sophistication and skill of the professional theatre”.

with great energy and flair. Year 10 have pro-duced some poignant and powerful devised ideas based on stimulus surrounding the Aberfan Trag-edy and contrastingly some witty interpretations of Godber’s infamous play ‘Bouncers’. Other achievements include: Alexander Collins, Gabrielle Williams, Calum O’Neill and Max Scott (Year 10) participating in Mark Jermin’s excellent performance of ‘Honk’. Eleanor Croft (Year 7) appearing in the profes-sional touring production of ‘Joseph and his Technicolor Dreamcoat’ at Wales Millenium Centre. Holly Keith (Year 7) appearing in two episodes of Casualty. Beth Evans, Ffion McGowan and Isabelle Grafton dancing in the ballet ‘Gisele’ at the New Theatre, Cardiff. Beth Cowley, Seren Vickers, Taite Drew and Mikaela Wood (Year 13) attending the Young Actors Studio at the Royal Welsh College of Mu-sic and Drama.

It has been yet another busy and exciting term within the Drama Department. Stu-dents in both Key Stages 4 and 5 have ex-celled in preparing for their GCSE and A level practical examinations, applying their practical Drama skills to various devising and scripted tasks. It was extremely posi-tive to observe a number of pupils at GCSE achieve an outstanding 100% in their practi-cal coursework projects. Rebecca Thomp-son, Grace Leland and Luke Morley, to name but a few, have been highly praised for their practical commitment and flair within the GCSE course as a whole. Year 12 students were given the opportunity to refine their skills of critical analysis by re-viewing some very interesting theatre dur-ing their visits to The Theatre Royal, Bath to watch ‘Midsummer Night’s Dream’ and the Wales Millennium Centre to see the out-rageously witty ‘One man Two Guvners’. Both performances come highly recom-mended! For the first time the Drama department welcomed parents and friends of year 13 students to an open rehearsal, where they were able to observe the practical exam work being prepared for the external exam-iner. The response was overwhelmingly positive, with audience members comment-ing on the work, which reflected, “the so-phistication and skill of the professional theatre”. One statement given as feedback sums up the exceptional standard of work perfectly; “I had no idea that the pupils were so thoughtful, mature and skilful. Their work has moved me and challenged me in a way that I did not expect.” Key Stage 3 pupils have also been demon-strating great enthusiasm in lessons and in Drama Club. Staff report that the work pro-duced within this club has been presented

Miss R Matthews

Drama

In particular, Zachary Ghazi –Torbati Year 12, Luke Waddon Year 12, Calum O’Neil Year 10, Alexander Haines Year 10, Max Scott Year 10 and Sian Smith Year 10 sup-ported cast members in refining and honing the action and choreography, organising

props and worked as stage crew. Younger pupils were inspired by these older role mod-els and as staff we were impressed by their commitment and dedication to the arts! An enormous well done and a fond farewell must be extended to all year 13 Drama stu-dents. We applaud Taite Drew and Seren Vickers for the last time upon the Stanwell auditorium stage and look forward with pride and anticipation, as they make their way to Drama school. Seren will study acting at the prestigious Welsh College of Music and Drama whilst Taite heads to the outstanding institution of Guildford school of Acting where they will both hone their theatrical skills and prepare for their career as profes-sional Performers. Furthermore, Beth Cow-ley, Amelia Eveleigh, Ella Maxwell and Michael Davies all bid us goodbye to follow their creative dreams by pursuing further training and education within the Arts. It is with great pride that we wish you all good luck for the future!

The Junior Production of ‘Oliver’ in July was a roaring success as 180 performers took to the stage to present their ener-getic and explosive interpretation of Lionel Bart’s Musical. Enormous accla-mation must go the incredibly talented principal performers, including; Jona-than Ignacio as Fagin, Ian Margrain as Dodger, Andrew Salter as Oliver, Eb-ony Rees as Nancy and Thomas Tunley

as Bill Sykes. Their exceptionally pro-fessional and captivating performance work suitably frightened, entertained and moved a full house on each and every one of their 5 public performances. A huge round of applause must also go to the tremendously talented ‘pick pocket gang’, the intimidating ‘Bill Sykes gang’ as well as to the commitment and enthusiasm of the whole cast, who pro-duced an explosive and exciting show. During this recent production staff had the great privilege of working with an inspirational group of students who com-mitted a tremendous amount of time and effort to supporting the rehearsal process and stage management for the junior show.

Miss R Matthews

“Younger pupils were inspired by these older role models”

and make a range of costumes. Paul, with his inspirational design of a sensory room for a disabled client has been shortlisted by the WJEC for the student Innovations Award in October and we are anticipating great success in this prestigious competition.

AS Product Design.

This year students from Year 12 are sitting the Product Design course in either 3D design or Textile Design. Students have en-joyed the opportunity of

specialising in either 3D or Textiles at this level and both groups have produced a out-

standing range of outcomes. Jenni Davies is worthy of praise for she has developed a new concept for emergency shelter which can be de-ployed in either flood or drought conditions. Marco Sun impressed

staff with his development of a wooden bal-ance bike for a 4 year old.

Well done to all our students, the visiting mod-erators were unanimous in their praise!

It has been a very busy and rewarding year in the DT department.

Students have once again displayed the high-est level of creativity and commitment, with many spending evenings and weekends in school completing their coursework.

A2 Product Design.

Once again the visiting moderator was im-pressed with the range and creativity of work on display, stating, ‘Your stu-

dents at Stanwell show a great deal of creativity and enthusiasm for their DT work’. Rebecca Trigg and Paul Keeling were singled out as displaying true creativity and huge dedica-

tion in their projects, in particular Rebecca, who decided to use the char-

acter of Titania from ‘A Midsummer's Night Dream’ as the inspiration to design

Design Technology

“displaying true creativity and dedication in their projects”

Mr N Gifford

diff bay, the team enthusiastically developed a grand design that included a range of activities from Mountain biking and Bungee jumping to Surfing and Scuba Diving. At the presentation day, the team impressed all who listened and were awarded the ‘Pupils’ Award 2013’. Land Rover Visit On Monday the 24th June, 39 students partici-pated in field trip to the Land Rover factory in Solihull. The day proved to be a unique and exciting experience

for everyone. Students had the opportunity to visit the factory floor and view the construction

of the new Land Rover range followed by a ride in a Range Rover around the test track. KS3 Activities Year 8 Production Once again under the guidance of Mr Pepper, staff and students have assisted in manufactur-ing items for the Junior production of Oliver. This year the challenge was to change the stage from late 1960s Saigon to Victorian London! After School Club After school clubs for Food, RMT, Textiles and Graphic projects continue to be popular. During the year, many pupils from all year groups have attended the workshops to com-plete projects, to increase their skills or for any extra support.

GCSE Design & Technology

This year has been a very successful year with students once again producing some outstanding design work. Elizabeth Trigg was identified by the moderator as producing an excellent range of themed cup cakes while Ellie Munro produced outstanding textiles work.

Graphic Products students have produced a number of impressive designs based on a company producing fruit drinks and a fan-zine, most impressive of which was the sub-mission by Joshua Lewis. His range of prod-ucts displayed an empathy for the company and environmental concept which again im-pressed the visiting moderator. The Resistant Materials focus area was topped by Stuart Keeling who developed a design for a low energy light. His attention to detail was impressive and worthy of praise from the WJEC. KS4 Activities

Year 9 stu-dents: Basil Crack, Rowan Jones, Luke

Pringle, Ella Buehner-Gattis, Alfie Cham-bers and Natalie Richardson have been par-ticipating in Go4set and once again they have been linked with ARUP Engineers in Cardiff. Having been set the task of producing a pro-posal for a outdoor activities centre to be placed in Car-

Design Technology Mr N Gifford

“the team impressed all who listened”

Economics and Politics

Economics The past year has been a very exciting and interesting time for Economics. Not a day goes by without the economy being mentioned in the press. Students have been exploring the rationale behind the economic decisions of the day in trying to achieve the government objectives of stable prices, balance of trade, low unemployment and economic growth. It was also great to have Economics Profes-sor Graham Hall paying us a visit to pre-sent his own views and ideas on the cur-rent global financial crisis. To further their understanding, students took part in a visit to London. They vis-ited the Bank of England, the London Metal Exchange and Deutsche Bank. Af-ter an overnight stay to recharge the bat-teries, the students went to Chelsea Foot-ball Club for a tour of the stadium and a business presentation on the challenges faced by a Premiership Football Club.

Pictured above are Stanwell students visit-ing Chelsea Football Club

‘’mae astudio Economeg fel astudio’r byd o’n cwmpas”

Government and Politics Government and Politics students have been extending their understanding of the democ-ratic processes in the UK and the USA. Year 13 students have taken a keen interest in US Government this year—including analysing the evolution of the US constitu-tion and evaluating the effectiveness of the US Congess, the Supreme Court and the Presidency. For example, they investigated the legacies of the post war presidencies to form an as-sessment based on their domestic policies and foreign policies. Opinion was fairly di-vided but Johnson, Roosevelt and Reagan were rated as the top three presidents in terms of their success and authority. They also debated which of the Executive or the Legislative branches are the most influential - the general consensus being that the term ‘Imperial Presidency’ is actually an over-statement. Year 12 students were given the opportunity to participate in a Model UN assembly in March at the NAW. The debate focused on the world food issue and 6 students had to represent the UK and Iraq. In addition, a number of Politics students enjoyed the ex-perience of a guided tour of the Houses of Parliament in a recent History London visit—where they were able to watch de-mocracy in action at Prime Minister’s Ques-tion Time! The visit also entailed the oppor-tunity to engage in a Q+A session with the Penarth MP Stephen Doughty—a fascinat-ing experience and one that the students really appreciated.

Mr J Crook/Mr G Penny

Geography

“Geography matters - the planet will still be here when the politicians are long gone”.

Once again the Geography department has been exploring the wider world, both within and beyond the classroom. The theme this term has been ‘Geography Matters’, so the various Year groups have been investigating the concepts of the environment and sustainability.

As part of our Primary Transition project we welcomed a number of Year 6 pupils from our feeder schools into the Geography department. Whilst they were visiting, the pupils had to complete a number of tasks about the tropical rainforest, so that they could escape the jungle. Tasks included building their own hut, smelling and touching foods and other items that come from the rainforest and navigating their way around. I think the Year 6 pupils would all agree with us when we say a good time was had by all!

As part of the Year 8 curriculum, pupils have been investigating the problems of rainforest exploitation. Over 110 pupils visited Bristol Zoo in June to explore the challenges of conservation and sustainability in the tropical

rainforest environment. The opportunity to get up close to snakes, hissing cockroaches and other rainforest animals was a highlight of the day.

In February, 44 Year 9 pupils had the opportunity to visit the Natural History Museum in London and to explore the site of the 2012 London Olympics. Whilst in London, the pupils had the chance to try out an earthquake simulator, visit the Rainforest Cafe and delve into the concepts of regeneration and sustainability of the Olympic Park and its legacy for London and beyond.

Mrs H Jarman

Geography

“Mae Daeryddiaeth yn bwysig achos mae’n ymdrin â phethau sydd yn wynebu ni heddi– ac fydd yn wynebu ni yfory”.

Also in June, as part of their GCSE studies, 130 Year 10 Geographers visited the city centre of Cardiff to complete a field enquiry entitled: ‘How is retailing changing and what effect does this have upon people and the environment?’. During the day the pupils completed land use maps, pedestrian flows, environmental surveys and questionnaires in and around the St Davids 2 area. As a department we look forward to reading their results when they complete the write up in September, which accounts for 10% of their final grade.

Year 12 also visited Cardiff this term, however the 30 students concentrated their studies on Cardiff Bay and the surrounding area. Whilst in the Cardiff Bay area the students investigated the economic, social and environmental impacts of regeneration on the original inhabitants of Butetown. The students gathered a wealth of information which lead to much debate about the success of the regeneration scheme.

The Year 11 and Year 13 geographers have now completed their GCSE and A level studies at Stanwell and on behalf of the department we would like to wish them all the best with their examination results in August.

Finally, the Year 7 Sustainable Day this year was held at The National Museum of Wales St Fagans. The day proved to be a great success. Whilst visiting the museum, the Year 7 pupils had the opportunity to explore the past, present and future, build outdoor shelters and play softball. All pupils and staff had a fun filled day whilst learning about global concepts that affect us now and in the future.

Coming Soon.......

The Geography Department is looking forward to:

The GCSE Italy visit in November 2013

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

Mrs H Jarman

History It has been another very busy and enjoyable term in the History Department. Year 7 pupils have been studying what life was like in medieval society and the chal-lenges that Medieval Kings faced. They have been learning about medieval religion, town and village life, as well as the gruesome de-tails of medieval medicine and the Black Death. A large number of Year 7 pupils have also recently experienced the drama and ex-citement of a medieval jousting contest at

Cardiff Castle. Year 8 have been thoroughly interested in studying the slave trade and its importance and legacy in the present day. They have also spent the term investigating Britain during the Industrial Revolution. They have been par-ticularly interested in topics such as child la-bour and the Merthyr Rising. Year 9 have been studying the rise and fall of the American economy as part of their USA 1910-1929 course. Topics covered include the causes of the boom and the Wall Street Crash. They have worked impressively all year and this effort and enthusiasm will no doubt be carried through into Year 10. In preparation for their coursework in Year 10, thirty Year 9 pupils recently visited the

battlefields of The Great War. They visited the Flanders Field Museum, St Georges Memorial Chapel and attended the Ceremony of the Last Post at the Menin Gate. The pupils also visited Mametz Wood, the

scene of tragic heroism by men of the 38th Welsh Division. The trip was a roaring success and the pupils thoroughly enjoyed themselves. The pupils were also commended on their ex-cellent behaviour and enthusiasm during the trip. Well done! Once again, the thriving annual History De-partment visit to Berlin was a huge success. It is now in its fourteenth year and is more popu-lar than ever. Eighty-eight Year 10 pupils trav-elled to Berlin over the Easter holidays to visit several sites of historical interest with particu-lar emphasis on Nazi Germany and the Cold War. Sites visited included Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp, the Olympic Stadium,

Checkpoint Charlie, the Brandenberg Gate and the Reichstag. On a lighter note, pupils watched, listened and danced to tribute acts such as Robbie Williams, the Blues Brothers and Amy Winehouse and enjoyed a lively meal in the Hard Rock Café! The pupils thoroughly enjoyed themselves and were a credit to the school.

“Mwynheuodd y disgyblion yn fawr a chynrychiolon nhw’r ysgol yn wych.”

Mr G Morgan

Information Technology

Jessica Teague. Key Stage 4 Year 9 option pupils have completed some excellent work this year, they have particularly enjoyed web design and editing html. Additionally, Year 9 option pupils David Bird, Joshua James, Sean Mian and Callum McSorley have enjoyed learning some programming skills with Codeacademy. Year 10 pupils Jack Bosley and Rhodri Guerrier have very successfully held a programming club all year teaching Years 7 – 10 how to programme with Python. Year 10 option pupils have submitted their graphics unit to the exam board and awaiting confirmation of their results. Well done to all pupils involved. There were many excellent pieces of work submitted by students, these include; Simon Barber, Jack Bosley, James Caple, Sebastian Dumitrescu, Rebecca Egerstrom, James Harvey, Sasha Horrobin, Katie Macleod, Thomas Mullett, Mark Norton, Joshua Lewis and Rebecca Rahman. . Key Stage 5 At AS and A2, exceptional Graphics and Multimedia projects were produced by Ben Ware and Jemma Pitt as part of their A2. Also congratulations to Balaji Krishna who produced a flawless AS Computing project.

Mr P Davies

Primary Liaison Many Year 6 pupils enjoyed the e-safety transition lessons using Movie Maker and Flash Animation software. iPad Club The school’s iPad club has enjoyed a fun packed year. The pupils have enjoyed being able to use the iPads throughout the year and have produced some lovely work. The members have experienced using iMovie, GarageBand as well as graphics apps to pro-duce some interesting work. The group have especially enjoyed using the Maths chal-lenge games and the biology dissection apps! This has given pupils the op-portunity to experience the iPads and ex-plore the many apps the school has purchased for the differ-ent subjects.

Key stage 3 classes have had a packed term studying databases, graphics, desk top publishing and presenting information work. They have had the opportunity to collaborate with each other as well as work individually to produce another term of excellent work. A number of pupils are to be commended for their lesson participation, achievement and effort this year including: Year 7 pupils; Felicity Allen, Jack Ruelle, Joshua Cook, Tom Atkinson, Joe Hitches, Mary-Kate McGrath and John Mark Jones. Year 8 pupils; Seb Ackerman, Lauren Ellis, Sam Holland, Georgia Howe, Emily Skinner, Sam Stapleton and

Key Stage 3

“Year 6 pupils enjoyed the e-safety transitions lessons”

Miss E Murphy Maths

It has been a successful year in the Mathematics department. Years 11, 12 and 13 have taken their GCSE, AS and A Level examinations respectively. We say goodbye and good luck to our Year 13 students and look forward to welcoming back some Year 11 pupils for AS Maths and Fur-ther Maths in September. Year 10 have now nearly finished the GCSE Maths course. They will be concentrating on revision techniques and practising past pa-pers as preparation for their GCSE exam in November. A weekly homework club will run from September and will be open to all pupils. Following on from recent success, a team of Year 8 and 9 pupils was entered into the prestigious UKMT team challenge. The team consisted of Daniel Grosfils and Seren Marsh (Year 9), Daniel Anderton and Ben-jamin Roderick (Year 8). The team finished in 6th place out of 24 teams. They all thor-oughly enjoyed the challenge and competing against schools from across the UK.

In February, the top sets from Years 9, 10 & 11 took part in the National UKMT Maths challenge at Intermediate level. Congratula-tions to Year 11’s Balaji Krishna, who

achieved the best score in the school and quali-fied for the IMOK Maclaurin round of the competition. Following his excellent perform-ance in the competition, Balaji was invited to attend the National Mathematics Summer School. Huge congratulations go to Suzie Collins, Adam Jones, Tato Katsikeas, Balaji Krishna, Rebecca Te Water Naude, Leo Tucker, Robert Turton and Elis Vandyck (all Year 11) who achieved gold certificates in the competition. Also, well done to Jack Bosley who achieved the best score in Year 10 and Daniel Grosfils who achieved the best score in Year 9. In April, the top sets from Years 7 and 8 took part in the National UKMT Maths challenge at Junior level. Congratulations to Year 8’s Ben-jamin Roderick, who achieved the best score in the school and a gold certificate. Other gold certificate winners were Annie Higgins, Dy-lan Hughes, Elin Gray (Year 8), Felicity Al-len, Ben Evans, Phoebe Skelton, Andrew Te Water Naude, Evan Warburton and Han-nah Ross (Year 7). Well done to all the pupils that took part in the UKMT Maths challenges, in particular those that achieved a gold, silver or bronze medal. Key Stage 3 Maths Homework Club continued this year with games, numeracy activities, help with homework and revision tips. We have had several regulars, including Saumik Dhar and Joseph Hobbs. Finally, a big thank you to the Year 12 and 13 pupils who complete their community service with the Maths department. Whether it’s help-ing in Key Stage 3 or Key Stage 4 Homework Clubs or assisting within Maths lessons, their time and efforts are greatly appreciated.

‘Dymunwn hwyl fawr a phob lwc i’n myfyrwyr Blwyddyn 13’

Media & Film

It is most satisfying to look back on a produc-tive year in the department; so many things have happened and so much has been achieved. Year 9 & 10 students have started to become confident media analysts, with two examina-tions under their belt and some very promising pieces of early coursework – especially their self-devised Comics and Science Fiction Con-trolled Assessment. This work will be on dis-play in the Autumn Term in time for Open Day. Year 11 applied themselves throughout the year to the task of becoming thoroughly pre-pared for their GCSE examination. This in-volved the production of a coursework folder reflecting their very best work, and sitting a written examination in June. Outstanding coursework was produced by Bethan Gillum, Tommy Higgins, Duncan Keeling, Kirsty Lam, Sinead McCausland and Alexandra Wagstaff. This year’s paper focused on TV Drama and Web-based Drama. Both topics stimulated great interest and enthusiasm on the part of pupils, many of whom naturally enjoy these aspects of media output in their personal lives. Year 12 seem to have relished their first year of A Level study, and have just finished the first two of their four modules. The first mod-ule was a series of coursework pieces that tested their creative and analytical skills to the limit and the second was a tough external exam that focused this year on magazines for older people. Students of note for coursework excel-lence include Chloe Brady, Tamsin Hackett, Bethan Miller and Dan Skentelbery. Year 13 have concluded their two year pro-gramme of study and we wish them all the very best for their exam results and future choices. We have seen some of the most accomplished coursework pieces ever from this cohort par-ticularly from Leah Dalby, Victoria Isaac and

Mikaela Wood for their originality and technical excellence. Extra-curricular The department has also been extremely busy with extra-curricular activities this term. This has included the design and production of the promo-tional material for ‘Oliver!’ Members of the de-partment also continue to provide back stage sup-port and assistance for the shows.

The department also designed and produced the programme for the Stanwell School Awards Cere-mony. At the ceremony, the Media Studies Awards for GCSE and A Level were won this year by Kirsty Lam (Year 11) and Mikaela Wood (Year 13). Kirsty has worked enthusiasti-cally and consistently, producing an outstanding coursework folder, whilst Mikaela received this year’s A Level Media Prize for her consistently high standards of attainment. Film Studies 2012/2013 has been another encouraging year for Film Studies. The standard of filmmaking has im-proved again with impressive productions in Years 12 and 13. There have also been creative screenplays submitted for the first time and this bodes well for the future. The inaugural Film Studies prize goes to Elis Jones for his contribu-tion to an excellent short film and his overall en-thusiasm throughout the year.

“Blwyddyn gyffrous arall ar gyfer Astudiaethau Ffilmiau”

Mr I O’Rourke

MFL Spelling Bee Regional Final 2013

Following their success in the Stanwell Year 7 competition and, as the Year 7 champions, James Dawson, Ben Evans, Karishma Krishna and Phoebe Skelton travelled to Llanelli to take part in the South Wales re-gional competition of Spelling Bee. A num-ber of other local schools took part with 163 Year 7 competitors in total. All had worked hard to learn the vocabulary and to master the French alphabet sounds with the help of Jack Ruelle and Guillaume Bigsby, their ‘mentors’. They all displayed their ability and courage on the day and are to be com-mended for their performances. Our hopes were on Karishma who managed to progress to the second round where she faced stiff op-

position. She gained a high score but was unfortunate not to progress to the final round. This is the third year the competition has been held but the first time Stanwell has taken part. We hope that our finalists this year gained from their experience and will be

able to advise our future Year Seven ‘Spelling Bees’.

Year 8 Paris Trip

The annual visit to Paris was again thor-oughly en-joyed by both the staff and

the 53 pupils of Year 8. Pupils visited some of the famous Paris monuments including the Eif-fel Tower and Notre Dame Cathedral. On ar-riving in Paris there was the chance to enjoy the atmosphere of the city on an evening cruise on the River Seine followed by a meal in a res-taurant. The highlight for some pupils was the day spent in Disneyland where a St David’s Day event was taking place. The pupils had the

opportunity to celebrate the cul-ture of Wales and then contrast it with that of France. Pupils practised their language skills and quizzes were held on aspects of the French and

the Welsh cultures. Our thanks to Daniel An-derton for his assistance in helping the teach-ers and for his enthusiasm to use his language skills.

‘champions take part in the South Wales regional competition of Spelling Bee’

Mrs T Davis

MFL German Exchange Visit 2013 Easter saw the German department on the move again, as Mrs Davis and Mrs Jones ac-companied 38 pupils from Y8 and Y9 on its 30th annual exchange to Staufen in the Black Forest. As well as attending lessons and learning what our partner school is like, there was also an excursion to see the lake at Titisee, complete with a walk in the snow covered Black Forest. We visited the beautiful city of Freiburg, as well as competing in a treasure hunt around Staufen, after climbing up to see its castle ruins. The day spent at the Europapark was once again a real highlight. The rides get big-

ger and more terrifying every time we go! The trip was rounded off with a farewell party with many pupils sad to leave their partners.

The whole exchange was voted a great success and the Year 8 pupils are already looking for-ward to the arrival of their partners in Penarth next July. Exciting new links with French partner schools planned The French GCSE pupils have been busy writ-ing letters to pen friends in France recently and are eagerly awaiting replies. This is in prepara-tion for a future link with a school in Montpel-lier in the Languedoc region in the south of France. We are planning to take the first group on an exchange visit next March. We are cur-rently finalising arrangements and plan to com-bine this with a Sixth Form exchange with a lycée (similar to a Sixth Form college) for the A level students. Teachers and pupils look for-ward to establishing the links which will greatly improve language skills and be benefi-cial in forging relationships with our closest European neighbours. Year 12 Film workshop In May, the Year 13 German class took part in a film workshop at Cardiff University School

of Languages, which was based on the film which they are studying as part of their A2 course; Goodbye Lenin.

The session was very interactive, and our pu-pils made lots of valuable contributions to the dis-

cussion. All involved agreed that it was a very worthwhile and informative trip.

‘The whole exchange was voted a great success’

Mrs T Davis

MFL Stop Press-Pupil News Congratulations to Bethany Parkhouse of Year 12 who will be enjoying a 2 week study visit to Hamelin (the “Pied Piper” town!) in August where she will stay with a host fam-ily. There was a lot of competition for places and she will be joined by 11 other people from all around the UK and Ireland. She will attend a German school for part of the time and upon returning will have to give a pres-entation to a primary school about Germany and her trip. She is not supposed to speak English whilst there so it should do wonders for her spoken German! We wish her the best of luck! Hannah White of Year 11 has an obvious flair for languages! She is currently studying Welsh, French, Mandarin Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Russian, Polish, Italian and Thai. She has se-cured a place in At-lantic College in Hong Kong where she will study the International Bacca-laureate and study Cantonese Chinese, to add to her impressive repertoire. Due to the cultural diversity of the college, only 2 places have been offered to British students this year, and Hannah is one of them! She was selected on merit by the National Com-mittee of Britain, and underwent a rigorous process of application forms, selective inter-view and nomination to the college. Hannah is contemplating studying international rela-tions in the future. Congratulations Hannah, we wish you well for the years ahead! Silva Brindle (7T) went to Paris during the Whitsun holidays and wrote a wonderfully

detailed diary about her trip which she shared with her teacher and class. Silva was particu-larly enthralled by Paris’ vast array of artistic and cultural sights. Our A level students await their results to finalise their future plans. Cameron Jones has applied for an internship in Buenos Aires as part of his gap year and then hopes to do a de-gree in Spanish and Russian. Beth Morgan, who recently received the Myerscough Schwenk A-Level Languages Cup at the Awards Ceremony, is eagerly anticipating starting her degree in French and linguistics at Southampton University. Best wishes to all those receiving their results and heading off to different destinations.

Libero Tassinari (7X) spent ten days in Foix, near Toulouse in the Pyrenees in the south of France visiting a French family. He travelled independently, attended school with his partner and experienced complete immersion in the language, attending lessons in French. He also took part in school activities and trips. Both culturally and linguistically it was an invalu-able experi-ence. Bravo, Libero!

“Mae llawer o ddisgyblion Stanwell yn astudio dramor”

Mrs T Davis

Music

The Summer Term began in earnest as stu-dents worked diligently to prepare for their practical assessments in GCSE, AS and A Level. A number of Year 10 GCSE pupils took the practical module a year early and the visiting examiners at all levels were really im-pressed with their performances. Coursework was presented after a great deal of creative effort and we are sure that everyone has done their best to achieve their potential. Mrs Rich-ards has worked with all students to finalise the coursework portfolios, and rehearse the practical recitals, along with help from other staff, particularly Mr Sambell. Thanks also to some accompanists who helped out (especially Ms Rebecca Selley and Miss Sara Ghazi Torbati, ex-pupil of Stanwell school). The standard presented was excellent—we wish them all good luck for a brilliant set of results in the summer! Eisteddfod: The music department is always an integral part of the Eisteddfod, and provides a plat-form for many of our young performers to showcase their individual talents. There were many impressive entries this year, both in the instrumental solo category but particularly so in the singing categories. Lesotho concert On March 13th, Luke Waddon (Year 12) or-ganised the Lesotho Concert - Outsiders and Girls' Choir came together to perform a joint item 'You Only Get What You Give' to raise money for charity. Well done to all the pupils involved, and thanks to Miss Cooksey for re-hearsing the items.

Music Department Concert Rehearsals were soon underway for the Key Stage 3 concert which included hundreds of our pupils and took place this year on the 15th May in the auditorium. The whole of Year 7 performed a medley of songs by boy bands and girl bands, which had been learnt and re-hearsed in their music classes. Some of the items included numbers by: The Supremes, Jackson Five, One Direction, Backstreet Boys and The Spice Girls. 26 pupils in Year 8 (2 from each class) were chosen to introduce each act of the concert—and there were clearly a number of potential professional announcers in the making! The Outsiders Boys’ singing group and Girls' Choir also presented pieces that they had been rehearsing throughout the term, and they performed stylistically and with real enthusiasm, playing items that had been rehearsed and prepared by Miss Cooksey. The String Group is always a favourite and they entertained with ‘She’ by Elvis Costello and ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ a terrific arrangement written by Joe Keenan (Year 13) - many thanks for that! Junior Jazz, rehearsed by Mr Sambell performed two numbers: Duke Ellington’s ’It Don’t mean a Thing’ and Leiber/Stoller’s ‘Jailhouse Rock’, which featured a bluesy solo by guitarist Joseph Short (Year 9). Soloists came from the Eisteddfod winners and in-cluded Maddy Carver (Year 7, accompanied by a harp), Sam Hancock (Year 8), Elspeth Robertson (Year 8), Hannah Weeks (Year 7) and Henry Waddon (Year 8). Another fantas-tic success, again following Stanwell tradition; very well done to everybody who took part.

‘..the visiting examiners at all levels were really impressed’

Mrs J Richards

Music

Rotary Club Concert On the 16th May, we hosted the annual Rotary Club competition, where a selection of pupils from Penarth schools and members of our de-partment presented musical items in aid of charity ( this year, Ty Hafan). Stanwell School Brass Band gave their inaugural per-formance and the group, led and conducted by Ms Lomas played two pieces; "Swingin' Sa-fari" and "Get up Go" which were warmly received by the audience! Many thanks to all those who performed – again to such a high standard – and to all pupils and staff who helped to organise and support the event.

Dance

Motion Control Dance company visited the school on the 7th June to deliver workshops to the Year 9 GCSE Performing Arts cohort and to selection of dancers from Year 8, 9 and 10. The workshops focused on developing stu-dents' contemporary dance technique through the performance of complex routines. It also gave them the opportunity to question profes-

‘...warm thanks to all those young musicians who have performed so beautifully’

Mrs J Richards

sional dancers and choreographers about work in the Performing Arts industry.

Meeting dance practitioners was particularly useful for the students studying Performing Arts as their controlled assessment work in Year 10 will involve researching different job roles within the world of the arts. A spe-cial mention must go to Olivia Barrett, Cara Chivers, Shaun Donovan and Beth Evans who attended both workshops and were praised for their creative choreography by the organisers. Award Ceremony Congratulations and warm thanks are ex-tended to all the young musicians who have performed so beautifully in the Award Cere-monies this year. Naomi Farrell Griffiths (Year 12) and Taite Drew (Year 13) per-formed separate vocal items to really appre-ciative listeners in the certificate presenta-tions, and in the main Award Ceremony in July, Rhodri Jones (Year 11) performed a Nocturne by Grieg, and Taite sang ‘Bring

Music

Him Home’ from Les Miserables - both to rapturous applause! They were also recipients of music awards: Rhodri received the Stan-well Music (instrumental Award) and Taite was awarded the Glenda Palmer Award for Extra Curricular Performing Arts, both very well deserved! Other music award winners were Alice Short (Year 7) and Henry Wad-don (Year 8 ) who won the key Stage 3 Young Musician Awards; Zachary Ghazi –Torbati (Year 12) who received the Hilary Midlane Young Singer Award; Joseph Keenan (Year 13) who achieved the Sixth Form Music Award and Charlotte Preece (also Year 13), who was the second recipient of the Glenda Palmer Award for her contribu-tion in Performing Arts.

Performers receiving their prizes from the Guest of Honour, Mr Lewis Vaughan Jones:

Rhodri Jones

Taite Drew

“Always an ambitious project, but the achievements are spectacular”

Mrs J Richards

Key Stage 3 Production 2013

OLIVER!

The end of a summer term in Stanwell would not be the same without the tradi-tional Lower School musical! Now stream-lined to involve talented youngsters from Year 8 and 9; members of the cast, crew and orchestra have been working tremendously hard to present ‘Oliver!’ (July 8 – 10th inclu-sive) in the school auditorium. A terrific amount of dedication and work has been put in by teachers and pupils alike. Always an ambitious project, but the achievements are spectacular. Massive congratulations to eve-rybody involved: the principal performers (Jonathan Ignacio as Fagin, Ian Margrain as Dodger, Andrew Salter as Oliver, Eb-ony Rees as Nancy and Thomas Tunley as Bill Sykes); the remaining cast, and all the backstage and set crew; and finally but by no means least, the orchestra which consist entirely of Key Stage 3 pupils – mainly Year 9. Many congratulations to all in-volved!

Music

OLIVER! Band in rehearsal:

OLIVER! Cast in rehearsal:

Computers and Music The iPad suite has been a welcome addition to the Music department, as Key Stage 3 classes have been introduced to the ‘Beatmaker’ and ‘Garage Band’ to record their creative ideas in Music.

Computer music tuition is available for all pupils at Stanwell.

Mrs J Richards

Pupils in the iPad suite. In addition to this facility, pupils are able to compose using computers in their music les-sons :

Computer music tuition is available for all pupils at Stanwell. Using Reason, Cubase and MIDI keyboards, pupils are taught the necessary skills to create their own elec-tronic music compositions. These skills in-clude drum programming, synthesis, ar-rangement, mixing and a recording studio is

Pupils composing using Cubase in the mu-sic department.

Music

also available where pupils can learn to record and mix live performances. This year has seen the completion of the 2013 album which fea-tures 11 songs from pupils in Years 9, 10, 11 and 12. Included in the album is a DVD disc containing interviews with the pupils regard-ing their music productions. Lessons occur after School every Wednesday to Friday and cost £7. Please get in touch with the music department if you are interested in joining classes. For more information please visit our new website at www.reidsdigitalmusic.co.uk.

“pupils can learn to record and mix live performances”

Mrs J Richards

Goodbye to our Sixth Form! We bid a tremendously fond farewell to all our Year 13 students, many of whom are leaving Stanwell to further their training in Music and the Arts. We have been so proud of you all, and will remember with pride your commitment and superb contribution that you have made, both to the department and to the school. We will miss you dearly – but wish you every success in your future careers. Keep in touch!

Instruments for loan and Peripatetic Mu-sic lessons Looking forward..... Every September, peripatetic music teachers hold a meeting so that existing and potential learners can sign up for lessons – this year, the meeting is scheduled to take place on

SEPTEMBER 10TH IN THE SCHOOL AUDITORIUM at 2.00pm

Interested pupils should excuse themselves from class last lesson and go to the audito-rium for details from Mrs Richards. They will also be given the opportunity to meet up with the peripatetic teachers which are from CAVMS and Cardiff and the Vale County Music Service. It is important that everyone interested in receiving tuition via the school attend this meeting; it may not be possible to sign up so easily at a later date. We advise that the decision to have vocal or instrumental lessons is discussed carefully

Music

before attending the meeting, as the commit-ment is for at least a term. The agreement is made between the pupil and the music ser-vice, either CAVMS or County and Vale of Glamorgan Music Service. All pupils who play or sing are expected to contribute to school performing groups throughout the year. Lessons will commence week beginning 16th September – all information and further de-tails will be available from the music depart-ment at the start of term. Listen out for no-tices!

STOP PRESS!

There are a small number of school woodwind instruments available for loan. These are available for free, but lessons will need to be paid for. Anyone interested should see Mrs Richards.

“ysgol Haf ar gael i ddysgwyr”

Mrs J Richards

ROCK ACADEMY WALES

The Rock Academy runs weekly music workshops in school for aspiring rock per-formers. Pupils sign up for a course, which culminates in a gig held in Cardiff – excit-ing! This is a fantastic opportunity for all

singers and performers interested in learning how to perform as a group – and the results of the 10-week course this year was show-cased in a gig on 7th June in Cardiff’s Buf-

falo Bar. If you want to see what it’s all about, come and chat to staff at the begin-ning of next term – also, there is a summer school available for learners. For further

details, contact info@rockacademywales.com.

Physical Education

Tennis In the AEGON tennis Vale tournament held in May both the girls and boys in the U13 and U15 competition completed successfully. They now go through to the next round in September to be held in the National Tennis centre.10 pupils from Years 8 and 9 partici-pated in a touch tennis tournament at St Rich-ard Gwyn school in June. Pupils played in pairs and played for 2 hours non-stop! Con-gratulations to Thomas Marsh and Harry Williams who won the competition and were given tennis equipment for the school.

Athletics Stanwell pupils have taken part in a number of athletics events held this year and have pro-duced some good results. In the knock out cup, all 4 teams got through to the final where the U16 Girls finished in 2nd place. There were some fantastic performances from Eliza-beth Birch Hurst, Emily Wooster, Emily Ross, Phoenix Kaged, Rhys Jones and Jay Morse. Many of the pupils were selected to the repre-sent the county in July at the Welsh schools athletics competition. The Year 7 boys’ and girls’ teams recently participated in the Cardiff and Vale of Gla-morgan Year 7 Championships at Jenner Park. For many this was their first experience of an athletic competition and everyone rose to the

“U13 and U15 girls and boys competed successfully”

Mr I Summerfield

challenge. Jay Morse won the discus, setting a county record in the process. Callum Eva came 2nd in the 1500m, and Matthew Dawson came 5th in the 1000m walk. Taiya Jones came 2nd in the high jump and 1500m and Silva Brindle came 2nd in the long jump. Well done to every-one who took part and there will be many more competitions next year.

5 x 60 Officer

The 5x60 programme is a government initiative

that aims to increase the number of secondary

age pupils taking part in sport or physical activity

for 60 minutes, at least five times a week. The

PE department are pleased to introduce our new

5 x 60 officer

Sophie Wilkin-

son. Sophie has

already set up

taster sessions

for pupils that

have included

girls’ football,

street dance and

Physical Education

“commitment and enthusiasm”

Mr I Summerfield

lawn green bowls. More clubs and activities

will be available after school in September.

If pupils have any suggestions then Sophie is

based in the PE department on Tuesdays,

Wednesdays and Fridays. Storey Arms The PE department has again this summer run a very successful trip to the Storey Arms Outdoor Educational Centre, where nearly 50 pupils participated in various activities such as gorge walking, rock climbing, caving, ca-noeing and orienteering. They were also re-quired to look after themselves in terms of cooking, cleaning and making beds; all life skills which have hopefully been replicated since returning home!

Girls’ football The Year 9 team reached the SE Wales foot-ball final after coming 2nd in the Vale tourna-ment. Pupils travelled to Heolddu school in Bargoed where they played against the

winners from other counties. Stanwell pro-duced a good performance finishing 5th overall.

Boys’ football All year groups had a successful season in the Cardiff and Vale of Glamorgan Cup. Year 9 and 10 reached the quarter finals, Year 11 made the semi finals and Year 7 made it to the final. The Year 7s had a close game against Whitchurch High, eventually losing 3-2. Outstanding performances by Ellis Dibble, Callum Eva, Lucas Murray, Thomas Atkinson, Wataru Yamada and Cai Lloyd. We are looking forward to continued suc-cess next season.

Girls’ Basketball

Year 7 and 8 girls have had a good season this year obtaining numerous wins against

Physical Education

St Cyres and St Richard Gwyn. Their commit-ment and enthusiasm in participating and im-proving their skills has been outstanding and all the girls have worked extremely hard. The Year 9 girls’ team has also had a very suc-cessful year. Their hard work and training paid off when they were entered into the 5x60 girls’ basketball competition. They played against a number of teams in the Vale of Gla-morgan and achieved 3rd place overall. They were also entered into the Welsh Schools bas-ketball competition at the Rhondda Fach Lei-sure Centre. Again they competed against var-ies schools in the South Wales area and got through to the semi-finals of the competition. They put up a fantastic fight in the final but unfortunately lost the match by one basket. All the girls thoroughly enjoyed the day and were complimented on their high standard of basketball by many coaches that observed their matches. They were outstanding assets to Stanwell School. The Year 10 girls have also played several matches this year against St Cyres, Cwm Rhymni and Pen-Y-Dre. They are now looking forward to starting a new sea-son next year with more games lined up to hopefully continue their success. Special men-tion goes to Rosie Peterson who has this year been selected to represent the Welsh U15s development squad. Well done! Rugby The Year 7 Rugby team has made a good start to their school rugby career, with many boys looking to have the potential to become excel-lent players. In the forwards George Cowley, Daniel Hicks, Dylan Penry Williams, Ellis Smith, George Price and Jay Morse have all played with enthusiasm and contributed all season to become a robust set! In the backs, players have striven all season to play an ex-pansive game and have scored some excellent tries. Matthew Frost, William Hall, Cai Lloyd, Benjamin Hanson and Ben Hayes have all contributed to many games during the season.

“undefeated in the Vale league”

The Year 8 rugby team has had an excellent season, further developing the ability that was evident in Year 7. After winning the Vale of Glamorgan League, the team lost narrowly in the cup final. The benefits of striving to play open rugby has paid dividends this season with many tries being scored on the counter-attack. Geraint Williams, Thaine Baker, Morgan Jones and Jack Vowles have worked tirelessly all season to provide ball for the talented backs Rhys Jones, Ben Jones, Henry Carter and Maximilian Paley. The Year 9 rugby team had a slow start to the season with many matches being cancelled due to poor weather conditions. However, when they did manage to get on the field they showed an abundance of skill and flair teamed with high levels of fitness and power. The standard of rugby in the Vale at this age is at a very high level, however no less than 10 Stanwell players have been selected for the Vale of Glamorgan at county level. The Year 10 rugby team has really progressed this season with the team showing real maturity throughout. This led them to being undefeated in the Vale league. As well as representing the school, many of the players have represented the Vale of Glamorgan schools rugby team. Following this, Dan Watts, Caleb Docking, Edward Drake, Deklan Grotz, Morgan Smith and Soliman Khan have now been asked to train with Cardiff Blues over the sum-mer. The Senior rugby team has had their most successful season thus far. Led by captain Luke Crockett, the side remained undefeated in all 14 league matches with a points difference of 334 points for and just 35 points against. Luke Crockett, Thomas Smith, Miles Jones, Huw Evans, Andrew Richards, Tom Murray, Joshua Ellis and Harry Wood will be sorely missed, but with strong players joining the squad next year this high standard of perform-ance should be maintained.

Mr I Summerfield

Psychology

AS Psychology

In lessons this term, students are receiving taster sessions in the topics they will be study-ing next year. They are particularly looking forward to learning about Forensic Psychol-ogy and how Psychology has been applied to areas such as Eyewitness Testimony and Of-fender Profiling.

A2 Psychology

The Department bids farewell to a number of excellent students this year and we wish them the best of luck for the future. Congratulations go to Elinor Cheason on winning the Psy-chology Award following excellent examina-tion results throughout the course. She is looking forward to studying Psychology at University next year, as are many of our stu-dents.

Welsh Baccalaureate Individual Investiga-tions

Year 12 students have now returned to school following their examinations and have been carrying out their Welsh Baccalaureate Indi-vidual Investigations. They have researched a range of Psychology and Health and Social Care related topics. Students covered a range of areas, for example comparing substance misuse in Wales and another country. Lettie Chatham and Luke Waddon produced work of a particularly high standard investigating mental health issues.

Cardiff Metropolitan University Psychology Open Day

Year 12 students interested in studying Psychol-ogy at University attended an Open Day at Car-diff Metropolitan University on Tuesday 25th June. They attended fascinating talks on topics such as Forensic Psychology, Relationships and Addictions, as well as being given useful infor-mation on applying for Psychology courses and future careers in the field.

Health and Social Care

Year 12 Health and Social Care students fin-ished some excellent pieces of coursework last term and took part in a range of interesting and valuable activities as part of this. All students designed and implemented their own Health Campaign as part of the Promoting Good Health Unit. They covered a variety of topics including bullying, smoking, stress management and healthy eating. As well as delivering these campaigns to Stanwell students, some also went to local Primary Schools. All students were praised for the planning and delivery of their campaigns and were a credit to the Department.

“Students were praised for their campaigns and were a credit to the Department”

Miss K Hall

Religious Education

Carol Evans RE Award 2013

Ceylin As in Year 7 received this award at the Stanwell Award Ceremony on 26th June. Cey-lin is a diligent pupil who shows great enthusi-asm every lesson. Her work is exemplary and expresses deep empathy and understanding. One of her more creative pieces of work, which won the Year 7 Eisteddfod Home com-petition earlier this year, has been displayed in school.

A “Wicked” Time

This year’s London trip was a great success with 40 Year 9 pupils having the opportunity to explore several sites of religious interest including St Paul’s Cathedral and an East London mosque. Our scheduled 30 minute tour of the mosque over ran by an hour and was undoubtedly the best part of the trip as our guide managed to capture all the pupils’ inter-est and answered their challenging questions. We were lucky enough to have time to experi-ence and enjoy London’s culture with a visit to the West End for a performance of the musical “Wicked”. The photo below shows pupils at St Paul’s Cathedral.

.

Rome 2013 Over the Easter holidays, the RE department travelled to Rome with 30 students. This trip provided us with an opportunity to increase un-derstanding and empathy for religious beliefs and practices as well as knowledge and under-standing of culture and history. It also allowed everyone to experience life in Italy's capital city. Over the four days, the pupils thoroughly en-joyed the electric atmosphere of Rome at the start of the Holy Week celebrations which was made even more exciting with the presence of the recently appointed Pope Francis I! We were fortunate to be present in St Peter’s Square dur-ing the Pope’s first Palm Sunday blessing. As well as taste-testing the large variety of ice creams and pizzas Rome had to offer, the trip was filled with visits to the tiny Sovereign State of Vatican City, the Sistine Chapel, St. Peter’s Basilica, the Colosseum, the Forum, the Pan-theon, Trevi Fountain, Piazza Navona, the Span-ish Steps and the Catacomb of St Callixtus, which left everyone in awe. I think it is fair to say we were all exhausted with the amount of walking we did during our visit but with the sun shining it really felt like a holiday!

“Being in St Peter’s square on Palm Sunday was amazing!”

Mrs J Skilton

Science

Mr P Johnson

SCIENCE (KS3) Science Club continues to be a popular activity for Year 7 pupils. Jake Finch, Samuel Froggatt, Harry Lam, Daniel Marsh, Arron and Jordan Speake and Nathan Terry have all attended regularly, carrying out activities such as building a volcano, flame tests , chromatography and making ‘flubber’. The Science Council, under the Chairmanship of Mr Doyle, has met on a number of occasions to discuss matters that affect all pupils studying the Sciences. Members of the panel are; Haaris Khan, Esther Buckton, Jessica Boland, Zed Strong, Henry Stephanakis, Molly Crowther and Andrew Richards. BIOLOGY Congratulations to Lisa Gourley who was awarded the Kathleen Evans Biology Prize this year; this award is in recognition of her effort and commitment to her studies over the last two years. 13 Year 12 students have recently been involved in a project based at Cardiff University. The three day project was funded by a Royal Society grant and gave pupils the opportunity to visit and work in the biosciences laboratory. While there, the students worked with Dr Trevor Hay and Lily Ordonoz carrying out a range of practical activites including DNA analysis, genetic transformations and microscopic analysis of tumour cells. The work was based around the university's research looking at cancer therapies. Isobel Sinnott-Newland

loading a gel to analyse DNA samples.

CHEMISTRY Congratulations and thanks go to Isabella Macgregor for winning the Chemistry prize for this academic year as the best A level student and also serving as a representative along with Lloyd Allen on the Industrial Liaison Panel that meets at Dow Corning on a regular basis.

Our warmest congratulations also go to Jay Kapuria (Year 11) for winning the GCSE Chemistry prize. PHYSICS Congratulations to Kathleen Ahearne and Omar Ghandour for being awarded the KS4 and KS5 Physics prizes respectively. Their commitment and interest in the subject has been exceptional. Year 12 students recently attended a session at Cardiff University Engineering department introducing them to aspects of the Year 13 Physics course. Activities included building a matchbox radio which was highly enjoyable!

“Mae’r clwb Gwyddoniaeth yn llwyddiant o hyd”

Welsh Mrs C Flaherty

We are delighted with the successful events and trips that have been organ-ised by the Department since Christmas. To name but a few, Year 12 immensely enjoyed their revision day at Cardiff University on January 20th where they participated in various language work-shops and attended lectures given by the lecturers in the Welsh Department at the university. Year 12 and 13 enjoyed a trip to the newly renovated Sherman Theatre to see the production of a Welsh play ‘Dyled Eileen’ a new play produced by Theatr Genedlaethol Cymru telling the fascinating story of Eileen and Trefor Beasley’s eight year protest in the 1950s to receive their tax bill in Welsh, a struggle that left them with almost noth-ing. Many pupils were entered in the Urdd Design and Technology competition and we are delighted that Sonal Kerai of Year 9’s work successfully made it to the final round.

Years 7 and 8 thoroughly enjoyed the Eisteddfod on March the 4th. Many pupils took part in the homework and stage competitions. These included Welsh, English and French recitation as well as vocal solo, Musical Theatre and Popular Music, Dance, Instrumental and many others. Mini-Terao Rich came first in the Year 7 Welsh homework competition, Karishma Krishna came second and Mary–Kate McGrath came third. Silva Brindle won the Welsh recitation and Connor Hamilton came second. Powys won the Year 7 Eisteddfod overall. Seren Mirza-Davies won the Year 8 Welsh homework competition, Rebecca Johnson and Simran Sandhu came joint second and George Lush came third. Robert Brown and Iman Haq won the Year 8 Welsh recitation, Michael Conway and Lia-Maree Dyer came second and Annie Higgins and Kathryn Morgan came third. Mor gannwg House won the Year 8 Eistedd- fod overall. Llongyfarchiadau!

“We are delighted with the successful events and trips that have been organised”

Welsh Mrs C Flaherty

The Welsh and French trip to Disney-land and Paris from March 7th to March 9th was enjoyed by all 53 stu-dents from Year 8 and six members of staff. The trip on the Bateau Mouche was amazing and the students had a wonderful day at Disneyland Paris where EuroDisney was celebrating The Welsh St David’s Day Festival. Before returning home, they visited the Eiffel Tower to take in the amazing views of Paris and they also visited the wonder-ful cathedral of Notre Dame.

Congratulations to 9 pupils who are featured in April’s issue of the Welsh magazine ‘Iaw!’ giving their opinions on sport.

In May, Geraint Scott from the Urdd organisation came to Stanwell to give a presentation to Year 8 about the Urdd activity centre in Glan-llyn, Bala, North Wales. We are organising a trip to the centre for Year 9 next year to enjoy the many activities offered by the centre in a Welsh language environment.

Congratulations to Elspeth Robertson of Year 8 who was awarded the Ann Johnson Memorial cup for Welsh and Music. Elspeth is a very conscientious student who has produced outstanding work in Welsh. She shows a passion for the language and culture and has con-tributed to lessons and to the Eisteddfod with great enthusiasm. Also, congratulations to Georgina Att-wood of Year 13 who was awarded the Alwyn Prosser Memorial cup. Georgina studied Welsh at A level. During the course she has shown great enthusiasm for the Welsh language and culture and has been a committed student who has made outstanding progress. She hopes to continue her studies in Welsh at uni-versity level. Well done to Jack Ruelle who has been awarded the Key Stage 3 Welsh award and to Charlotte Thompson who has been awarded the Key Stage 4 Welsh award for their commitment to-wards their studies and the enthusiasm that they have shown in their Welsh studies. We, of course, wish our GCSE Year 10 and 11 pupils, Year 12 pupils, Emma Sharpe, Riah Knowles-Brock, Anja Pepper & Year 13 pupils Georgina Attwood, Lauren Gimber and Eloise Procter the very best of luck as they await the results of their external ex-aminations. Wishing you all a very restful and en-joyable summer. Gwyliau hapus!

“Llongyfarchiadau i ddisgyblion Blwyddyn 9 ar gyhoeddiad eu gwaith yn y cylchgrawn Iaw!

WorkSkills

Congratulations to the all 23 of the Year 11 students who all completed the BTEC Extended Certificate qualification gaining two ‘B’ grade GCSEs. Not only have they gained an academic qualifi-cation but also raised money for the Children’s

Society, Chil-dren in Need and the Brain Tumour Trust. Pictured above are Josh Crothers and Wei Haw Ong

washing car cars to raise money for Children in Need. Pictured below are Katie Way, Jade

Harry, Geor-gia Murray, Hannah Mat-tey and Han-nah Williams with their group

selling homemade cookies for the Brain Tumour Trust. The Year 11 WorkSkills class celebrated their success on a windswept Barry Is-land in May undertaking some voluntary work with the Visible Services depart-

ment at the Vale of Glamorgan Council. Well done and keep up the volunteering work every-one! I am sure that the students will look back and have good memories of their volunteering work at Porthkerry Park, Barry Island and Penarth. This term the Year 10 pupils have been using the WorkSkills course to prepare for their Work Experience placement in July. The pu-pils have spent a week at the following organi-sations - Thomas James; Specsavers in Barry, Harvey Valvo; Penarth Quay Marina, Lewis Carde; Express Motors Ltd Cardiff and Aus-tin Squire-Wood has been working as a trainee chef at the Holland House, assisting in the preparation for the sixth form Valedictory Dinner on the 12th July. Good luck to all students and make sure you get your booklets completed please! The Year 9 students have been undertaking the short course Level 2 BTEC in Money and Fi-nance Skills, they com-pleted the course in June and achieved accredita-tion. Con-gratulations to Emily Rob-erts, Savannah Holbrook-Fox, Ethan Fet-tah, Jordan Sawyer, Luke Spear, Nathan Hicks and David Warner on successfully passing the course and gaining their first GCSE qualification. I know that they are looking forward to under-taking some further volunteering work in the Autumn term and hopefully the weather will remain favourable!

“prepare for their Work Experience”

Mr. R Deighton-Jones

Year 7

A pupil`s first year in a new secondary school is always of such vital importance and we are proud of the pupils who have met with such success this year. Their successes have been across the entire range of activities; academic, sporting and social. The year group has made a superb contribution to charity fundraising and aiding their local community. The pupils have, without exception, risen to the challenges that the year has brought.

7T

Silva Brindle competed in the knock out cup athletics competition in Leckwith and achieved a new personal best of 4.08 metres in the long jump event. Gregory Cole received ‘Player of the Year’ award for Dinas Powys Football Club. He was also chosen to play in the Mike Fowler Elite Soccer side in the Amsterdam cup in May. Darcey Conway obtained her grade 4 in flute this year, while Ellen Driveman passed her grade 3 piano exam.

Taiya Jones competed in the Challenge Cup for gymnastics in Swansea and obtained 1st place and also gained 1st place in the South Wales region for the combined events of vault, bars, beam and floor. Louisa McDonald passed her grade 1 trumpet exam. Jay Morse this year has become the Welsh number one in discus in athletics for his age range. Caitlyn Simmons took part in the 5k Race for Life in June to raise money for breast cancer awareness. Hannah Stephens entered the Great Britain Surf and Lifesaving competition and came 15th overall in the surfboard

category. She has also attained her level 3 first aid award in June. Lily Tanner has been chosen to play a part in ‘Joseph’ in the Millennium Centre in August and Hannah Weeks has also earned herself a part in ‘Grease’ the musical with Superstars drama club in Barry in August.

7E

Jonathan Drake got his purple belt in karate. Connor Evans earned a place in his second football team. Connor Hamilton’s hockey team came second in Wales, but first in South Wales. Hugo Holmes is the South Wales and South West champion of professional karting. Katie Jackson took part in ‘The Big Performance’ to raise money for charity. Grace Mallory won a gymnastics competition and got through to the live auditions of ‘Only Kids Aloud’. Elin Phillips attained a distinction in her ballet exam. Phoebe Skelton won the ‘Abergaveny Bakeoff’ in the junior baker category. Holly Thomas performed in an Agatha Christie play in the Paget Rooms. 7A

Hannah Ross has moved up to the U14 Barry girls` hockey team. Grace Beacall got invited to advanced gymnastics squad after just 3 sessions. She is also doing her grade 3 in piano. Bridget Turner is doing her grade 5 piano exam in a few weeks. Alice Young performed at the St David`s Hall with her dance group, Dance Angels. Karishma Krishna is in the Welsh National Opera and will be performing a piece called Mayhem on the 27th July.

“Player of the Year ”

Miss R Sterlini and Mr M Baldwin

Year Group News

Year 7

Christina Kulamannage is doing her grade 4 piano exam. Jack Ruelle has passed his grade 4 for brass and will be doing his grade 5 on 16th July. Jack also plays football for Sully A. Sonny Edwards and Guillaume Bigsby play football for Sully A. Charlie Thomas & Hannah Fletcher have level 1-10 for figure skating IVI. 7M

James Dawson, Dylan Penry-Williams and Nathan Waite all play for Sully F.C. Georgia Ferda passed a Musical theatre exam with distinction. Luke Haynes won a competition for silver cleaning whist attending Sea Cadets. Emily McConnon sang for Prince Charles at a special concert. Mila Monaghan continues to represent Team GB in sailing at several venues around Europe. Wataru Yamada plays for Mike Fowler’s football club in Sully.

7X

It has been another busy term for the pupils of 7X. There has been much musical activity, Cyril Hickman has continued his flute lessons and is preparing for his grade 4 practical exam. Rhys Meddins has passed his grade 4 trumpet exam and Isabella Morse is preparing for her grade 1 in singing. Joya Sims has achieved grade 5 in piano and grade 4 in French horn, she also played in a concert at St David's Hall while Lou Williams has passed his grade 3 in drums. Continuing on the musical theme, Kate Buckland has passed grade 1 of modern dance. Isobella Morse is busy preparing for a show time concert with Jeff Guppy school of musical theatre and Megan Marsden has

participated in a concert with Anita's Theatre School. Mya Denton and Ellena Jones are both members of Dance Angels dance club. We have some helpful pupils in 7X, both Cyril Hickman and Kayleigh Taylor volunteer to help out at Murchfield and Byrd Crescent local youth clubs respectively. There have been many pupils busy with sporting activities too. Matthew Barber continues to play football and rugby for Sully A team. Alexander Brown plays football for Dinas, Cardiff and the Vale clubs. He also plays rugby for the Old Pens. Jake Finch also plays rugby for the Old Pens. Jack Moloney plays football for Sully B team. Gabriel Butler Kavanagh took part in the Dew Tour Snowboarding event and won second prize in the under 13 age category. Mya Denton has taken part in a gymnastics competition for her local YMCA club. She performed to a high standard and was second overall in the 10 to 14 age category, coming second in both vault and tumble events and third in beam. William Hall has been travelling with his sailing clubs, he has been to Venice to compete with the GB team, France for the Wales squad and is going to the European competition this summer. Elinor Hawkins is a member of Penarth gymnastic and Leige Manor Equestrian clubs. John Mark Jones took part in a badminton competition with his club. Rhys Meddins has reached the men's 4th team at Dinas Powys tennis club. Sarah Pascoe has taken part in a hockey tournament with her vale club. Jordan Sheppard is a member of Penarth tennis club and basketball club. Libero Tassinari and his water polo team Welsh Wanderers took part in the water polo finals in Manchester. John Mark Jones continues to be a member of the kayaking club in Cardiff and CIWW and Sarah Pascoe is a

“Concert at St David's Hall”

Miss R Sterlini and Mr M Baldwin

Year 7

member of the dragon paddling kayak club. Kristy Webley has participated in a horse riding competition at Sully Bank Equestrian Centre and obtained first place. 7W

Pupils in 7W have had a very successful year in a number of activities. Thomas Atkinson, Lucas Murray and Rhys Woolmer were all members of the Newport County team that came first in the regional football league. Dillon Lee and Lewis Donovan came first and second respectively in their football leagues. During May half term, Kab Fordjour went to Amsterdam for a football tournament and reached the quarter finals. Thomas Atkinson, Lewis Donovan, Kab Fordjour, Lucas Murray, Ellis Smith and Rhys Woolmer came first in the inter-house rugby competition.

Morgen Jay came first in a dance competition with Dance Angels and second in a singing competition. At the beginning of June, Kate McCarthy achieved third place in a show jumping competition. Lydia Milward’s athletics team took part in a tetrathlon in Monmouth and achieved first place. She also came third in the individual competition. Charlotte White came fourth in a gymnastics competition. Harrison Williams is preparing for his black belt in karate and he recently won gold and bronze medals in the Welsh karate league in Swansea. Many thanks to our form representatives Morgen Jay and Lucas Murray for all their hard work this year.

7O

Fiona Brunker is a member of a modern dance club that has lessons in Cogan leisure centre, she recently achieved her grade 3 in modern dance. Joshua Cook won the under 14s men Welsh championships in gymnastics that took place in Sophia Gardens in February, he is considered a good all round competitor in his sport. Joe Driscoll plays for Old Penarthians in rugby and Dinas Powys football club. Jacob Hatcher plays for Dinas Powys cricket club. Louis Hilbert achieved level 8 in swimming at Cogan swimming pool; he has also achieved a red belt in karate.

Antony Jomon achieved a distinction in his grade 2 violin exam and is currently working towards his grade 3. Kelli Poole took 1st place in the Cardiff schools trampolining competition. Jacob Rosser plays for Barry Celts football team. Joseph Williams achieved a brown belt in kick boxing at MKA Old school and has got into the Vale of Glamorgan swim squad. Joe also plays for Old Penarthians in rugby.

7R

7R have been keeping themselves very busy in 2013! Holly Keith, Lily Sellick and Connie Shah have all been regular attendees of Stanwell’s netball club, so too were Sara Buckland and Mary-Kate McGrath whose team came second in the school competition; Katy Cutts, Georgia Davies, Toby Dyer and Chloe Lam have continued to play for the badminton squad. There are many promising athletes in the form group, well done to Sara Buckland, Katy Cutts, Georgia Davies, Eleanor-Rose Griffiths, Josephine Harris and

“Dance Angels and champion gymnasts”

Miss R Sterlini and Mr M Baldwin

Year 7 Callum Russell. The participation in clubs and activities outside of school is as impressive as in the Autumn Term. Several of the boys support rugby and football clubs, as well as playing for the clubs in school: Toby Dyer plays for the U12 Cardiff City football team and the Sully A team; Ryan Packer plays for the U13 Cogan team; Benjamin Hayes also plays for the Sully A team and in the Penarth U12 rugby team; Matthew Hocking is involved with the All Penarthian rugby club and Sully B football team, recently winning the accolade of ‘Most Improved Player; Callum Russell plays for the U12 Penarth rugby team, as does Matthew Frost who also plays with the Cogan U13 football team and the U13 cricket team in Penarth! In other sports, Katy Cutts has been moved up another half grade in horseriding; Josephine Harris has been promoted to level P6 in Cardiff Swimming Club – she can cover 50m in an impressive 35 seconds! She’s also pretty fast on dry land, coming 3rd in the 800m at a competition in Leckwith. Kieran Murphy and Jozef Bailey both swim in Cogan swimming club, and Jozef is also training as a rookie lifeguard. Jamie Locke-Jones is a member of the Cardiff Kayak Club enjoying the facilities at the National White Water Centre. Katie Streets was involved in a sporting appearance of a different sort, further adding to her televised appearances: at a recent international cricket match in Cardiff Wales Stadium, shown on Sky Sports, she walked out as mascot with New Zealand captain Ross Taylor. There has also been much involvement in the arts: Eleanor Rose-Griffiths took part in the High Schools concert in St David’s Hall

earlier this year; Matthew Hocking came 1st in the Art competition in the school Eisteddfod; Matthew Frost found time between sporting activities to pass grade 4 piano with merit and grade 3 theory also with merit; Georgia Davies, Holly Keith, Lily Sellick, Connie Shah, Katie Streets are all members of the school’s drama club, and of course a huge number of the form sang their hearts out in the Year 7 concert in May. Well done to all in 7R – have a well-deserved summer break and all the best for Year 8!

7K

Kate Beeslee has just obtained her black belt in karate. Ellis Dibble has played for Cardiff and the Vale Football team all season. Elinor Hain has obtained her Ballet grade two. Zacchary Filliau has recently joined Cardiff Devils Ice Hockey team and after four weeks has made the squad. Seren Lewis gained third place at Sunnybrook dressage competition. Oliver Marsh has represented the County at golf.

Stanley Murphy-Johns has been training very hard and completed five miles in under 40 minutes. Hannah Salmon has just obtained her grade one in tap dancing. Eleanor Warren has recently been awarded a grade three distinction in flute. Benjamin Hanson was player of the year for the Old Penarthians junior rugby. Bethan Woodley has just passed her young Lifesavers award.

7L

7L have had a very busy time since Christmas. In addition to their commitments and responsibilities to their lessons and clubs inside

“....walked out as mascot with New Zealand captain Ross Taylor”

Miss R Sterlini and Mr M Baldwin

Year 7

school, many of them have been working hard on their hobbies outside of school as well. Renee Eshel and Darcy Richardson came 3rd in a trampolining competition in Monmouth recently and are currently preparing a synchro-trampolining routine for another competition in October. Eleanor Croft has passed her lifeguard examination and recently competed in lifeguard competitions on both sea and still waters with her club, Llantwit Major SLSC. Dylan McKee has achieved his inside flag rock climbing badge and has applied for the Welsh rock climbing trials, which take place over the summer.

Despite being only 12 years old, Joe Elias won an over 16s snooker competition. Well done Joe! It seems Gabriella Merrick is multi-talented as she has competed in a tennis competition for under 16s and a golf competition for under 16s. Renee Eshel also competed in a tennis competition in Penarth this summer. We also have an array of musical and drama talent in our form this year and among them are Thomas Ralphs who passed his grade 3 piano exam and Alice Short who passed her grade 6 tenor horn with a merit.

Eleanor Croft has auditioned to be part of the choir in a production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat in the Millennium Centre and Anna Webster has joined Stagecoach Performance Troupe and they are rehearsing for an upcoming show in Barry. We also look forward to seeing Katie

Boden on Junior Vets on CBBC if she makes it through the application process. Well done 7L and good luck to you all next year.

In conclusion, we are sure that readers will appreciate how magnificently our Year 7 pupils have performed and we are confident that they will continue to thrive. Their dedication to their studies has been of the highest standard and we would not be surprised to see any number of these pupils as the top Stanwell sportsmen and women in years to come! We wish them all well in their future endeavours.

Pictured above is Jack Ruelle receiving his award from news reporter Lewis Vaughan Jones at this year`s Award Ceremony.

“Lifeguards and rock climbers....”

Miss R Sterlini and Mr M Baldwin

Year 8

There have been many interesting and exciting events happening since Christmas. Pupils have been taking part in canoeing, where they have had expert instruction at Cardiff International White Water Centre in Cardiff Bay. The Year 8 Musical ‘Oliver’ has been keeping many pupils busy due to rehearsals. The annual Eisteddfod was very successful with many pupils showcasing their talents on stage and in homework competitions, well done to all those involved. We have been very pleased with Year 8’s response to the house point scheme and 85 pupils were rewarded with a trip to the West Midland Safari Park. All pupils have made mature decisions this year regarding their GCSE subject choices ready to start in Year 9. The ‘Show Racism the Red Card’ presentation was informative and a great success!

Our form representatives this year have been - 8T- Harrison Ashby and Emily Alford 8E - Cameron Jones and Holly Strong 8A - Anton Trunin and Jade Eastwood 8M - Alex Milner and Samanta Caramella Vickery 8X - Daniel Anderton and Chloe Taylor 8W - Macauley Winton and Maddie Lloyd 8O - Jake Carr and Lily McJennett 8R - Joe Munn and Tamasin Stephens Collins 8K – Rhys Wookey and Sophie Page 8L – Vaughan Johnson and Rebecca Davies A huge congratulations to the following pupils on receiving an award in the school’s annual Award Ceremony.

Daniel Anderton (Academic Achievement), Elin Gray (Academic Achievement ) Stephanie Knight(Academic Achievement), Simran Sandhu (Academic Achievement), Matthew Charles ( Endeavour), Idrees

Maskeen ( Endeavour), Alec Smith ( Endeavour), Clodagh McKechnie (Service to the School) Elspeth Robertson ( Ann Johnson Memorial Cup (Music/Welsh), Kabir Knupp ( Art & Design Award ), Alexander Whitfield ( Dow Corning DT Award ), Rhys Jones ( Junior Sportsboy), Emily Skinner (Junior Sportsgirl), Joshua Cheeseman (Miss Nancy Jones Cup (Progress), Shannon Davies ( Miss Nancy Jones Cup (Progress), Geraint Williams ( Mrs Y Crotty Key Stage 3/4 Rugby Shield), George Lush ( Stanwell English Award KS3), Lucia Cavaliere (Stanwell Linguist Award (Key Stage 3), Henry Waddon(Young Musician Award.)

Congratulations also to the pupils who have achieved 100% attendance during the year. 8T

There were many impressive achievements from 8T in 2013. Ben Jones won ‘Player of the year’ at Penarth rugby club while Harrison Ashby became ‘Clubman of the year’ at Cowbridge rugby club. Emily Alford was successful at auditioning for the Welsh National Opera’s ‘Tosca’. Elspeth Robertson passed her ballet exam with distinction. Ben Croll and Ben Richard Jones took part in a Sully Sailing Club taster session, just about managing to stay dry. Dylan Hughes achieved a gold award in the UKMT Maths Challenge.

“All pupils have made mature decisions this year regarding their GCSE subject choices.”

Mrs K Chellingworth and Mr R Macpherson.

Year 8 8E A number of pupils have been very active out-side of the school this term. Both Harry Smith and Cameron Jones were part of the Sully Sports team who won the Cup Final this year, as well as finishing top of the league. Alexander Whitfield has been taking to the water recently and came 4th in the Welsh Topper Champion-ships in Llandegthedd, and also won the Gold Fleet Toppers in the Mumbles CYRC. He is currently a member of the Welsh Squad. Con-gratulations Alex. As well as sporting activities, members of the form have been progressing with their music. Lucy Dutfield has recently passed her grade 2 on the clarinet, and Benja-min Roderick has passed grade 4 on guitar and grade 6 on piano.

8A A number of pupils in 8A have been busy dur-ing the last term. Kathryn Morgan been com-peting in gym and dance competitions and Jade Eastwood recently came 3rd and 2nd in two races at a recent swimming gala. Anton Trunin, Eli Jennings, Menna Bafaqih, Olivia Griffin, Caitlin Colley, Jade Eastwood and Dafydd Morgans are all currently heavily in-volved in rehearsals for the upcoming produc-tion of Oliver. Dafydd also won this year’s Drama Cup award.

8M A number of pupils in 8M have raised money for different charities this term. Henry Wad-don swam 5 kilometres in aid of Marie Curie Cancer Care; Lucie Isaacs has been busy or-ganising events, including a talent show for the local charity LATCH and, in addition to this, Rebekah Coles took part in a charity walk (Pen-y-Fan) in order to raise money for Hope for Justice. Tomas McSorley bravely attempted to walk a mile wearing high heel shoes to raise awareness of Domestic Violence. Sporting achievements in 8M include Rhys Walker achieving 3rd place in a recent swimming gala. 8X Many girls from 8X participated in the Cardiff Race for Life including Eiman Khan, Darwin Alford, Daisy Osborne-Walsh, Chloe Taylor and Cora Squire. Cora Squire also raised money for cancer charities by running 6 laps of Cosmeston Lake with her guide troop. Chloe Taylor has also be fundraising with her family raising money for Marie Curie. Sporting achievements include Lauren Stephens who has captained the girls’ netball team as well as representing Canton and Vale netball teams. Torrin O’Neill, Maximilian Paley, Daniel Anderton have represented the school in rugby. Dan Anderton has captained the school foot-ball team. Joseph Scrivens has also represented the school in football and has been recognised for his striking potential as the top scorer this season. Daniel Anderton has also participated in regional and national badminton champion-ships, whilst in a regional Scouts Shooting con-test, Niall McSorley came second. Jack Cooke is a keen athlete participating in national events coming 12th in the national long jump contest. Seren Mirza-Davies continues to develop her gymnastic potential passing her grade 11!

Mrs K Chellingworth and Mr R Macpherson.

“Alex Whitfield is a member of the Welsh Sailing Squad.”

Year 8 Owen Harvey has taken a keen interest in tennis and has joined a local tennis club. In their martial arts club, Mason Dargie and Adam Robinson have each gained another belt. Jack Francis-Oaten is enjoying his participation in Tae-Kwon-Do winning a bronze medal in the national TAGB Goodwill tournament in his age group and has been awarded the title of ‘student of the Year’ for the Vale of Glamorgan TAGB. The school canoeing scheme remains a popular activity, with many pupils including Simran Sandhu, Lia-Maree Dyer and Lauren Stephens taking part. ‘Oliver’ has been popular with pupils from the form with Zain Yousef playing the role of a pick pocket; Lauren Stephens, Bronwyn Morgan, Lauryn Perkins, Chloe Waite, Darwin Alford, Daisy Osborne-Walsh also had parts in the production.

Bristol Zoo has been a popular trip with Simran Sandhu, Holly Courtney, Bronwyn Morgan, Eiman Khan and Katie Hudd participating. Joseph Scrivens has received a silver award in the United Kingdom Maths Challenge, while Zain Yousef, Niall McSorley and Maximilian Paley were awarded bronze. Bronwyn Morgan, Lauryn Perkins and Cora Squire have enjoyed participating in school choir and have helped with the Year 7 concert. Daniel Anderton and George Lush were recognised for their academic efforts this year achieving Year 8 academic awards in the Awards Ceremony. Lauryn Perkins together with her dance club ‘Dance Angels’ performed in Disneyland Paris as a part of the St David’s Day celebrations.

8W Congratulations to Adam Hearne, Macauley Winton, Cameron Jones, Jordan Birchall and Morgan Evans, (otherwise known as ‘would you like fries with that?’) for winning the 5 aside Stanwell School football tourna-ment. Another football victory was for Joshua Lewis and Richard Lee with their team ‘Sully A, Under 13’ who won the Cup and the league. Anna Pringle did very well to pass her grade 4 piano and Samuel Holland also passed his grade 4 NICAS rock climbing. Well done.

8O Lyle Keane-Adams has been actively in-volved with playing football for Sully Sports, this season they have won their league and cup, and have been promoted to the Welsh league. Morgan Ashton has played for Penarth Rugby U13s and has won an interna-tional cup whilst on tour in Ireland. Sophie Watkins has completed her first horse riding competition and came fourth. Tom Trezise has completed his LAMDA exam in Drama. Chloe Adney has reached level 2 in sailing and kay-aking; she has also been promoted to an OC in cadets. Jack Vowles has been selected to play for the Cardiff Spartans rugby league team; he is playing right-centre and scored four tries in his first game. Daniel Rogers plays cricket for Penarth U13s.

8R

Thaine Baker was nominated as ‘Player of the Year’ for his ‘Clubside’ Rugby. Ellis Hawkins-Payne had a poem published professionally.

Mrs K Chellingworth and Mr R Macpherson.

“Production of ‘Oliver’ and Bristol Zoo trip have been popular with pupils from Year 8.”

Year 8 8K Madeline Lloyd has taken her grade 8 flute exam and was also in the band for the Oliver production. Olivia Davies took part in a dance competition as part of a dance group called ‘Iconic me’. They won first prize and have become the Welsh Street Dance Champions of 2013. She was also a member of the Oliver Chorus and part of a group of Year 8 girls who are currently preparing for their second LATCH fundraising event. LATCH is a charity which raises money for children who are diagnosed with cancer. Bethany Keane, Kitty Dunning, Katharine Sellen-Moore, Megan Jenkins, Sophie Chapman and Carmela Hermogeno were members of the chorus for Oliver. Ella McConkey also played the part of an orphan in the show. Katherine Sellen-Moore is a keen horse rider and competes regularly, coming second twice. Katie Thomas is a keen sportswoman. She is a member of the Penarth netball team and has competed in dance competitions and athletics events. Samuel Salisbury plays for Penarth Football Club and was elected by his fellow players as player of the season. Jacob Mills has won a fishing plaque for catching a specimen fish. Sam Stapleton was elected most improved player for the Penarth U13 Football Team. Sam also played in the school’s 5 a side football competition. Antonio Peacock competes for Barry and the Vale athletics club. He has also competed in cross country events for South Wales schools and Cardiff and the Vale. Samuel Hancock played in the band for the production of Oliver. Rhys Wookey and Ethan Harris play for Sully Football Club and they won the Vale of Glamorgan league and cup final. They also came third in a football tournament in Selsea in

“They won first prize and have become the Welsh Street Dance Champions of 2013.”

the south of England. Danny Donovan is a member of Wenvoe Colts football club.

8L

Rebecca Davies has passed her music exams in the clarinet, piano and cornet. Emily Skinner and Alana Stokes have represented the school in tennis, football, running and athletic tournaments. Isabelle Hodgson took part in the writers’ club with Year 6 pupils from the Primary schools. Jack Lee played rugby for Dinas Powys U14s and went on ski trip to Austria. Euan Shardlow completed a 30 mile bike ride for the Scouts, while Harry Newman went to an eco - schools conference. Kristopher Black went on German exchange. Alec Smith won school endurance award. Oliver El-Jawhiri joined Penarth Tennis Club and earned a bronze award in a set 1 maths challenge. Luke Williams got to the final in a 5 a side football tournament. Jack McConkey has achieved two sailing club awards. Owen Day has raised money for Sea Cadets with a sponsored 23k rowing event, he also went on the ski trip to Austria. Joshua Cheeseman enjoys attending homework club regularly and went on the Bristol Zoo trip. Kabir Knupp swam for City of Cardiff Swimming club and is working hard to improve his fitness. Well done all these pupils who have continued to develop their extra-curricular interest both in school and outside school this year. Keep up the good work!

Mrs K Chellingworth and Mr R Macpherson.

Year 9

There have been many exciting and interesting events taking place for Year 9 this year. Pupils have begun their GCSE courses in all subjects with great enthusiasm and have coped well with the challenge this has presented. There was con-siderable interest in applying for courses at Car-diff & Vale College and Military Prep College next year. All pupils performed very well in their interviews and thoroughly enjoyed the taster ses-sions at the college. In March this year pupils took advantage of a careers fair at Howells school. The pupils were excellent and they took full advantage to speak with a wide range of em-ployers and representatives from the Welsh Uni-versities. Year 9 students have had many memorable and inspiring visitors during the term. Taking Flight Theatre Company performed a theatre piece over two days to Year 9 pupils in February. It helped to educate the pupils about the impact of Disability Hate Crime on the lives of disabled people. The pupils thoroughly en-joyed the performance and workshops, in par-ticular the performance by Cara Readle (an ac-tress from Tracy Beaker). Many relevant issues affecting children in their everyday lives were covered. Pupils had a chance to explore the is-sues of Body Confidence and Self-Esteem. In January, ‘Everyone’s Future’ started a rota of workshops at Stanwell. The workshops high-lighted issues of age discrimination and the negative stereotyping of older and younger peo-ple. Pupils received valuable business advice from guest speakers in the recent Dynamo Project. The Proto Toy Day was a success with some in-teresting and innovative designs being shown. It appears there are some budding entrepreneurs in Year 9! 100 pupils also travelled for a fun-filled day to

100 pupils participated in a reward trip to the West Midland Safari Park after receiv-ing the most housepoints in Year 9. Several members of the year group have been involved in the excellent Year 8/9 joint production of ‘Oliver’. 9T Rhys Jones won player of the year for his rugby team Cricc (a Cardiff team). Benja-min Stewart won his first boxing fight in Cogan for Penarth ABC. David Warner plays for the school football team and reached the semi-finals. David also won the finals for Cogan A football team. Seren Marsh received the Middle Sports girl award at the recent Awards Ceremony. Seren also sat her grade 5 piano theory exam and is awaiting results. She also won the Under 15 badminton competition and is now Welsh Champion, as well as reaching the quarter finals of the British School Ten-nis Championships. Matthew Dawson rep-resented Cardiff & the Vale for cross coun-try. He also reached the semi finals with the school football team as well as representing the school in rugby. Matthew reached the finals for the Blues cup for Penarth Rugby & currently plays football for Sully. Ella Buehner Gattis achieved her piano grade 6. She also came second in the Go4Set compe-tition for Engineering for her design of a sports centre. Ella also came second in a sailing race for CYRC. She also played the double bass for the orchestra for the school

“begun their GCSE courses in all subjects with enthusiasm”

Miss L Bekker & Mr G Penny

Year 9

production of ‘Oliver’. Anna Jones received an academic achievement award at Stan-well’s recent Award Ceremony. Anna has also represented the school in a few tourna-ments playing basketball. Victoria Pemberton recently sung in the Millennium Centre in an event run by Vibe – she per-formed the song ‘Skinny Love’ by Birdie to a massive audience. Victoria has also got a part for the production of ‘Grease’ with Super-stars in the Making.

9E

9E pupils have shown their commitment to a wide variety of extra-curricular activities. A number of pupils in the form have been in-volved in a range of sporting events. Jamie Penberthy showed off his football prowess by scoring 24 goals in the season for Penarth under 14s. Ben McCullagh and James Ad-ney play for Sully A football and were part of the team that were runners up in their league. Congratulations to Alexander Drake who was selected for the Vale of Glamorgan rugby team. Clare Halligan made it into the final of the 100 metres and came second in the relay at a recent athletics competition at

Leckwith. Elizabeth McCulloch achieved a merit on her grade 4 piano. She also had a poem published in a Young Writers edition of poetry.

9E is very proud of its musical talent which includes Alice Durham who has passed her grade 3 piano and grade 5 flute, she is cur-rently studying for her grade 4 piano and grade 6 flute. Another musical talent within the form is Jonathan Wright who passed his grade 4 guitar. Sophia Holmes was cast as a supporting actor in the new series of Stella that is being filmed for Sky TV, in addition, Emily Glaze was chosen to play a main part in a short musical production outside school .

9A

George Roberts helped Sully A Football Club reach the Tesco Cup Final. Spencer Robinson and his rugby team, Penarth RFC, made it to the final of the Blues Cup. He has also been selected for the Vale of Glamorgan schools’ rugby team. Victoria Spray ran the Race for Life and has raised lots of money in doing so. Emily Ross has been picked for the Cardiff and Vale Schools athletics team. Georgia Logan Davies represented the school at the under - 15s schools competi-tion. She managed to get to the semi-final in the 1500m. Francesca Merrick took part in the race for life and raised money for a can-cer charity. Rory Andrew has participated in the Beast of Bryn fundraising event as a cook and helper for 3 years. He has managed to raise lots of money for a Cystic Fibrosis charity. Grace Samuel won the first round of a school tennis competition. She also helped

Miss L Bekker & Mr G Penny

“shown their commitment to a wide variety of extra-curricular activities”

Year 9

the school win the National badminton tour-nament in Newtown. Jessica Martin and Grace Loweth took part in a cake sale and raised over £200 for Marie Curie. Grace Loweth and Bethan Hearne took part in the Tenner Challenge. They washed cars and raised over £300, of which half went to charities, including Macmillan, Marie Curie and the British Heart Foundation. Joshua-James has been picked for the Vale of Gla-morgan Schools’ rugby team for next year.

9M 9M pupils have had a busy and productive year, both inside and outside of school. Pu-pils have participated in several charity and fundraising events, such as the Tenner Chal-lenge and have taken part in dance work-shops in school. Many pupils have been in-volved in extra- curricular ensembles for the Music concert in May and cast for the pro-duction of ‘Oliver!’. Several of the pupils are members of the school sports teams: rugby and football teams (Morgan Humphreys, Owen Lloyd and James Price ); athletics and cross country teams (Jonathan Ignacio, Owen Lloyd, Lucy Richards) and the bas-ketball team (Rosina Peterson). Outside of school, pupils have also been very busy in Army Cadets (Samuel Chimuzi and Ryan Lane), go karting (Ethan Maher), Sailing (Jamie Cross), karate (Gwennan Jones), Climbing (Ethan Maher), zumba (Lucy Richards) and chess (Morgan Hum-phreys). Ffion McGowan achieved a merit in her grade 5 modern dance exam and is part of the English Youth Ballet. Bryony Aird is currently preparing for her grade 5 piano

exam. Jamie Cross took part in sailing races at Port Talbot and the Mumbles, in which he was awarded 1st place in the event. Jonathan Ignacio is a member of Penarth Cricket Club, Cardiff Amateur Athletics and Virgin Active Tennis. Rosina Peterson plays Basketball for Barry Huskies and was se-lected to play basketball for Wales in Gibral-tar. Morgan Rees enjoys kick boxing, box-ing, golf, football, tennis and squash. Ryan Lane is a member of the Sully B football team. Owen Lloyd is part of the Vale rugby Squad and took part in the Cardiff football trials. 9X

Rebecca Johnson participated in the 5k Race For Life fund raising event. Rhiannon Pearce raised £53.53 for breast cancer. She also completed her grade 2 piano and took-part in Oliver. Joseph Burge came first in a run to raise funds for a cystic fibrosis charity. Ethan Hutchings and William Marsh rep-resented the school in a tennis tournament. Jay Ruckley has begun filming the new se-ries of “Grandpa In My Pocket”.

Miss L Bekker & Mr G Penny

“busy and productive year inside & outside of school”

Year 9

9W

The pupils of 9W have had an excellent sum-mer term. They have been working hard aca-demically and have also managed to clock up some fantastic extra-curricular achievements. Beth Macmillan achieved her bronze medal-lion for Lifesaving. Well done to Jordan Thomas as her basket-ball team came 2nd in the 360 competition. There was also a brilliant result for Lauren Jennings-Slater, who successfully made it to the British Gymnastics Final. Adam Yusef was selected to take part in the Cardiff football trials and also picked up another brown stripe for his karate belt. Great news for Nathan Frost’s football team, who won The Vale Cup and the rugby team went on to become finalists in The Vale Rugby Cup. Well done to Francine Couzens who was part of the school’s winning tram-polining team. Robyn Iredale had an amaz-ing experience dancing at Her Majesty’s Theatre in the West End! Finally, we would like to congratulate Lily Winnan, who has been training hard all year, and managed to secure 4th place in the Welsh Rowing Championships. 9O Chloe Parselle displayed her sporting prow-ess while being a part of the school’s Welsh Badminton National 5x60 tournament cham-pions. Mohamed Hersi organised a hugely successful 5-a-side football tournament as part of the Tenner Challenge scheme. This

drew in entries from throughout KS3 and the very fact that it all ran so smoothly is testa-ment to his excellent organisation skills. Emily Wooster, a first class athlete, contin-ued her athletics development by winning the county 300m title as well as competing well in the Welsh cross country championships earlier in the year. The range of running events makes her performances even more special. 9R

The pupils of 9R have had an excellent sum-

mer term. Izaak Lee won the ‘Academic Achievement’ Award; Joseph Green the ‘Nancy Jones’ Award; Lewis Campbell the ‘Young Musician’ Award; Emily Roberts the ‘Endeavour Cup’ Award, and Annabelle Birch-Hurst the ‘Sports’ Junior Girl’ Award. The following pupils participated in

Miss L Bekker & Mr G Penny

“working hard academically”

Year 9

a variety of fund-raising events: Annabelle Birch-Hurst, Joeseph Green, Morgan Hayman, Ethan Inker, Alisha Marsh, Elin Matthews, Frankie Norton, Joseph Phil-lips, Matthew Rogers, Benjamin Walsh, and Casey Webley. Pupils have enjoyed a variety of trips, including trips to Storey Arms, London, Austria and Germany. These pupils are: Annabelle Birch-Hurst, Lewis Campbell, Lucie Dyer, Bethany Fitt, Katy Gibbs, Morgan Hayman, Ethan Inker, Daniel Jennings, Izaak Lee, Danielle Lit-

ton, Alisha Marsh, Elin Matthews, Frankie Norton, Joseph Phillips, Nicole Putland, Matthew Rogers, Erin Summer-hayes and Benjamin Walsh. Most pupils of 9R have attended extra-curricular activities and Isabel Grafton has been accepted into the ‘English Youth Ballet.’

9K

Many pupils are actively involved in the school production of ‘Oliver’ whether it be performing on stage or working behind the scenes. These involve: Cerys Carson, Olivia Hann, Thomas Lam, Thomas Tunley and Ray Vandyck. Thomas Lam

also participated in the Tenner Challenge by holding a raffle and washing teachers’ cars after school. £300 was raised in total; con-gratulations Tom! Dominic Alstead achieved 2nd and 3rd place in the rowing races in Monmouth as well as gaining grade 6 gui-tar and grade 3 piano. Ray Vandyck received the silver award in the UKMT Maths challenge as well as pass-ing grade 3 drums and grade 7 clarinet. Basil Crack was chosen for the Vale of Glamor-gan rugby team and received the sports award during the Awards Ceremony in July. 9L Duke of Edinburgh Award : The following members of 9L are involved in the D of E Award scheme at varying levels; Alice Bright, Cian Byrne, Rowena Cameron, Tom Collins, Jordan Fitt, Jorawar Hayer, Lex Hemogeno, Danielle Lane, Megan Lim, Olivia North, Ellie Ritchie, Tom Sharpe, Rachel Short, Amy Walsh and Lily-May Williams. To support the Tenner Challenge, Ethan Fettah, William Gale and Shay Gibbons all played in the 5-a-side Football competition. Jordan Sawyer refereed a number of the matches. The following pupils all participated in this year’s production of ‘Oliver’; William Gale, Lex Hermogeno, Elizabeth Ingram, Olivia North, Thomas Sharpe, Rachel Short, Amy Walsh and Charlotte Way. A number of 9L pupils gave freely of their time to gen-erously help with a number of events; Olivia North and Megan Lim both completed the ‘Midnight Walk’, Megan Lim and Rowena Cameron also competed in the ‘Race For

Miss L Bekker & Mr G Penny

“this year’s production of Oliver”

Year 9

Life’ event. Amy Walsh and Lily-May Wil-liams helped with the cake sale for the Joshua Foundation and Amy Walsh has also taken part in a charity concert. Alfie Chambers, Jordan Fitt and Ieuan Hicks have also contributed to events in aid of the Joshua Foundation and Cian Byrne, Tom Collins and Jorawar Hayer all com-pleted the mile run for Comic Relief. Olivia North sings for the Welsh National Opera and has performed at Buckingham Palace for Prince Charles. She is also a member of the girls choir and has achieved grade 4 in her singing qualifications. Cian Byrne is grade 4 piano and grade 2 clarinet, Thomas Sharpe has achieved grade 8 piano and grade 7 vio-lin and Elizabeth Ingram is grade 5 for both piano and violin. William Gale plays at county level in cricket, football and rugby and has played rugby for Penarth in the final of the South Wales Cup. Alex Lean has achieved Level 2 in windsurfing and Ieuan Hicks is a member of the school badminton team. Alice Bright was a member of the victorious trampoline team in the schools’ competition and Rachel Short was a member of the Welsh gymnas-tics team as well as having trials for the group champion at Penarth swimming club. Jorawar Hayer represents the Cardiff and Vale cricket team and Amy Walsh is the non-age group champion at Penarth swimming club. Shaun Donovan is a member of the school gymnastics team and finally, Megan Lim is a member of the victorious school badminton team that won the national title. Elizabeth Ingram is grade 6 for ballet and tap dance, Kyrsty Jones is a member of the school choir and Megan Lim has achieved

her bronze standard Lifesavers award. Lex Hermogeno is the year representative on the School Council and is also an Eco School representative. Land Rover visit :The fol-lowing pupils took part in this successful visit, with the company being very impressed and complimentary about the whole school group; Tristan Goodway-Sims, Alex Lean, Megan Lim and Benjamin Turpin. Alice Bright and Thomas Sharpe have car-ried out their duties as form representatives with diligence this year and have been excel-lent ambassadors for the form.

We are sure that the year group will go from strength to strength next year and congratu-late all the pupils who are taking advantage of the many opportunities offered to them both inside and outside of school.

Miss L Bekker & Mr G Penny

“the company being very impressed and complimentary about the whole school”

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

10 pupils, we can look back over a very varied

and successful year. Pupils have had to work

hard as they prepared for their external GCSE

exams and we are now looking forward to re-

sults day in August. Good luck to everyone

who has worked so diligently. Many subjects

have already completed coursework assign-

ments and pupils realise the importance of time

management and meeting deadlines.

A ‘Work Experience Preparation Day’ has

been completed and students found it both fun

and informative. All Year 10 pupils completed

their Work Experience and found it very useful

and inspiring.

We are very proud of Samuel Jennings who is

a member of ’Only Boys Aloud’. The group

sang for the Queen at her birthday gala in

Buckingham Palace.

As usual the take-up for Duke of Edinburgh

has been impressive, the highest number of

pupils ever! As part of the Duke of Edinburgh

scheme the pupils have undertaken fundamen-

tal first aid training. The end of year reward

trip was very popular and congratulations to all

pupils who went. Pupils and staff had a great

time.

10T

Shanice Donovan has been very busy playing

for the school’s basketball and football teams.

Louis De Claire has played football for the

school team and also helped Sully ‘C’ FC win

their first match in 2 years, well done! Peter

Tuthill has also played football for the school

team as well as Sully ‘A’ and Mike Fowler’s

academy. He has also found time to pass his

grade 6 euphonium exam with a merit.

10E

Matthew Bennett is a keen footballer and has

played for both the school team and Newport

County. Phoebe Christie, Milissa Sorenson

and Niamh Teague are part of the Teenage

Cancer Trust committee who have raised over

£12000. Teigan Couper helps out at the Rid-

ing for the Disabled Association. Isaac Dyer

plays football for the school and is the goal

keeper for Cardiff. Thomas Keenan plays for

Penarth rugby club who came first in the U15s

tournament. Joshua McConkey enjoys play-

ing striker and wing for Sully C. Curtis-Lee

McDonnell has gained grade 5 guitar. Cerys

Salter will be performing in ‘Giselle’ with the

“singing for the Queen’s birthday in Buckingham Palace”

Miss R Povey & Mr A Meddins

Year 10 English Youth Ballet. Ella Skinner is part of

a fashion group in Llanover Hall, they have

put on a fashion show along with photo

shoot.

Daniel Watts and Edward Drake have been

selected for the U16s Cardiff Blues squad

(see below)

10A

Alex Donovan plays football for the Sully

U15’s and the Mike Fowler academy. An-

draya Campbell has participated in Young

Enterprise and has made eco-friendly can-

dles. Georgia Atkinson and Kelsey Murray

have been representing the school in basket-

ball and netball, as well as playing football

for the Vale Ladies.

10M

Olivia Dwyer, Rhys Fford and Milly Wil-

liams were all part of the U15 tennis team

that won the Vale AEGON tennis tournament

and have progressed to the next round that

will be played in September. Lucy Bond has

achieved her Bronze Crest Engineering Award

and is part of the Penarth Yacht club team for

dinghy sailing. Sarah Brabham was the man-

aging director for the Young Enterprise team

Inspire that won an award for ‘Best Trade

Stand & Interview’ in the Cardiff and Vale

Business Studies awards ceremony. Oliver

Shore represented WAGS in an inter regional

regatta in Nottingham. Joshua Lewis took part

in the Carten 100 and cycled from Cardiff to

Tenby in one day. He also won the Dow Corn-

ing award at the award ceremony. Tizzie Birch

-Hurst has been selected for the Wales U16

basketball team and has represented the school

in a number of athletics competitions.

10X

Tasha Smith has kindly volunteered at Scope

in Sully to help with the fun day. Rhodri

Guerrier and Alex Warren received a prize at

the award ceremony for academic achieve-

ments. Alice Holder was part of the Young

Enterprise team Inspire that won a prize for

‘Best Trade Stand & Interview’ in the Cardiff

and Vale Business Studies awards ceremony.

Harry Jowett gained an impressive Silver

Award for the UKMT maths challenge as well

as being part of the young enterprise team Eco-

Logik who won the awards for ‘Environmental

Awareness’ and ‘Best Presentation’ at the

Cardiff and Vale Business Studies awards

ceremony.

“Duke of Edinburgh has been impressive”

Miss R Povey & Mr A Meddins

Year 10 10W

It has been another successful year for

Emma Davies who has continued to excel in

cricket—she has represented Sully, Newport,

Cardiff and the Vale and the Welsh team.

She has also found time to pass on her

knowledge to the U11 Newport Squad.

Caleb Docking is involved with U16’s Car-

diff Blues squad (see picture on previous

page) and Katie Moger ran in the ‘Race for

Life’. Sian Smith will be performing in a

dance production for the National Dance

Company Wales.

10O

Tom Mullett won the English karate Open

competition (see above). Madeleine Roberts

and Alicia Chapple are in the process of ar-

ranging an 8 mile walk/jog to fund raise for

the “Make a Wish” foundation.

10R

Abigail Hodges won a UK dance competition

in London where she was lucky enough to

meet Diversity! Liam Quinn continues to play

football for Sully and Tom Moreton has

played tennis for Penarth.

10K

Scott Dutfield was a member of the team that

reached the regional finals in Tennis. He also

plays for Penarth Windsor Tennis Club.

10L

Lois Crandon is a member of a horse riding

team who qualified for the National Champi-

onships for showjumping and cross country

called “The Festival of the Horse”. Hazel

Doran has passed her grade 8 in Cello.

Alex Collins had an audition for a Nintendo

advert in London. Owain Osborne-Walsh is

clearly an entrepreneur in the making as he

won 3 awards in a recent Young Enterprise

event involving many schools—watch out

Lord Sugar!! Seren James passed her bronze

exam in figure skating and her grading in ka-

rate.

We wish our Year 10 cohort every success

with their GCSE module results this summer.

We are sure that all their hard work and revi-

sion will pay off! Good luck everyone!

“The end of year reward trip was very popular”

Miss R Povey & Mr A Meddins

Year 11 Since Christmas, Year 11 students have under-taken GCSE modular examinations, been prepar-ing themselves for the summer GCSE assess-ments and deciding on their options for Septem-ber. In order to help them decide whether to stay in Stanwell, to study at college or to seek em-ployment, there have been the 6th Form Options Evening, intention interviews, assemblies and Induction Day to introduce the new subjects available in the 6th form and the conduct re-quired to excel at AS/A Level. The summer GCSE examinations started on Monday 13th May and ended on Monday 24th June, during which time formal revision sessions were held in Maths, English and Science and other sessions were arranged by other depart-ments in order to consolidate learning and ensure key skills were refreshed immediately prior to the important external exams. Attendance at the formal revision sessions averaged 86%, which shows the enthusiasm and commitment of Year 11 pupils. This has been a very exciting year for Year 11 with regards to their sporting achievements. Sev-eral individuals have had great success in their particular fields. Congratulations to Timothy Harry (11M) who won the Wales Inter County Team Champion-ship and the Duncan Putter Golf Trophy and also

‘This has been a very exciting year for Year 11’

Miss L Jenkins & Mr B Crompton

to Joel Ringer(11X) who has been selected for the U16 Welsh rugby squad.

Well done to Calum McWilliam(11T) who cycled from Cardiff to Tenby (100 miles) raising money for charity along the way. Congratulations to Cengizhan Ziyaeddin(11T) on being selected to play for the Cardiff Blues U16 and the Welsh U16s initial squad. Well done to Alice Nottingham(11T) for achieving 3rd place in the Hurdles U20s Welsh Indoor Athletic Competition. Congratu-lations to George Kynaston (11M) on reaching the South Wales basketball finals. Well done to William Creaven(11K) on becoming a member of the Welsh sailing squad and Welsh Youths Regatta and also to Isaac Ridgley(11K) who represented Wales in the inter-regional regatta in Nottingham. Congratulations to Matthew Holder(11O), Rhys Savory (11W) and Spencer Ward-Henry (11W) on being selected to play for Cardiff Blues U16. Pob lwc to Jack Davies(11E) who will be competing in the rowing event dur-ing ‘Gemau Cymru’. Callum Page-Beighton (11L) competes in fencing and is through to the second round in his competition. Da iawn to Alex Riley (11L), captain of Wenvoe football team, on leading his team to victory and winning the Vale League Classic Cup Trophy (U16s). Congratulations to the school’s netball team who came 4th

Year 11

‘We wish Year 11 every success’

Miss L Jenkins & Mr B Crompton

in the Cardiff and Vale County Netball tourna-ment and also to the Senior rugby team who won the Blues South/Central League. Congratulations to Emily Thomas(11W) on passing her intermediate modern dance with distinctions and her grade 6 violin exam with merit. Well done to Robyn Keane (11A) on achieving her bronze medallion Lifeguard Award. Rhys William Evans (11E) has se-cured the lead role in a short film. Good luck to Luke Morley (11E) who will be completing his grade 5 music theory exam. Congratula-tions to Thomas Dwyer (11E) on completing grade 8 on the drums and to Megan Woolmer (11E) on passing grade 6 on the piano with merit. Well done to Rebecca te Water Naude (11O) on completing the Blades 1 ‘Learn to Row’ course at channel view. Congratulations to Elisabeth Britten (11O) on coming second in show jumping in her very first show, dal ati! Good luck to Hannah White (11K) who will be sitting her grade 4 piano exam soon. Con-gratulations to Elinor Brunker(11K) on com-pleting her young lifesaver award and working towards her young life saver plus with St. John’s Ambulance. Well done to Rhodri Jones (11X) on passing grade 8 guitar with distinction and Lukas Moser (11X) on passing grade 4 on the drums. Good luck to Harrison Stock (11X) with his lifeguard training. Con-gratulations to Edward Betts(11R) on achiev-ing grade 7 on the guitar. Well done to Katie Black (11R) on passing both her recent dance examinations in ballet and disco. Congratula-tions to Keira Ryan (11R) on achieving a merit grade 3 violin. Well done to Megan Morgan (11R) who has completed her master Lifeguard Award. Congratulations to Peter McDonough(11R) on sitting his grade 5 piano and for taking part in the National Youth brass band championship with the County music ser-

vice. Llongyfarchiadau i bawb on complet-ing Cardiff & Vale College courses and Military Preparation School course in Car-diff. The top 100 housepoint scorers of Year 11 were taken on a reward trip to the Harry Potter Studios near London. Despite a longer than expected bus journey, the stu-dents and staff were amazed by the sets and models on display. They were taken on a guided tour of all the iconic sets and would thoroughly recommend the experience to anyone!

The Year 11 Moodle pages have been suc-cessfully developed and enhanced through-out the year. They have proved to be an in-valuable source of information to pupils and parents with details of exam timetables, GCSE re-sits and homework clubs being published there. In particular, key informa-tion was communicated to pupils once the GCSEs had commenced and pupils were on study leave. Details of arrangements for re-sults day will be published via Moodle and the school website, so please keep checking for updates. Indeed, we look forward to re-sults day on Thursday 22nd August where we hope that the pupils’ hard work will be suitably rewarded with excellent GCSE grades. We wish Year 11 every success and look forward to seeing many of the pupils return to Year 12. We wish those not return-ing to Stanwell all the best in their chosen career paths.

Year 12 It’s been a busy couple of terms for the Year 12 students. The new prefect team has been appointed with twelve of the year group being chosen to fill these positions of responsibility. This year, the standard of application was very high. Congratulations must go to Luke Wad-don, Zach Ghazi Torbati, Tomos Davies, Kieran Britten, Robert Jones, Joe Dyer, Ellen Rowlands, Sian Evans, Emma Hughes, Holly Flynn, Chelsea Mace and Lauren Beeslee.

Since their return from study leave for their external AS examinations, the students have been focusing on completing several elements of the Welsh Baccalaureate qualification. The vast majority of students have completed at least one week’s work experience and all have been working on the Individual Investigation in a subject area of their choice. Work has also been completed on several of the Essential Skills, namely ‘Improving Own Learning and Performance’ and ‘Problem Solving’. The year group has also enjoyed sessions with some guest speakers; the company Damaris spent time with the students working on a ‘President for a Day’ workshop and also Chris Matthew-man came in to talk to the year group about forming positive relationships. The whole of Year 12 visited the Museum of Wales, St Fa-gans as part of the Heritage and Culture ele-ment of the Welsh Baccalaureate.

Students have also started to consider their post A Level options. The majority of Year 12 at-tended the Higher Education Open Day at Car-diff Metropolitan University and the University of Wales College Cardiff Open Day in April. These were opportunities for students to speak with admissions tutors and visit academic de-partments of interest in order to help them in their decision. Individual students have also been attending various university open days up and down the country.

Barrie Clark of Swansea University spoke to the students about the advantages of attending uni-versity and Caroline Coleman-Davies, also of Swansea University, led our Higher Education evening providing parents with vital informa-tion about the UCAS process and financing the university years. The Problem Solving Essential Skill task was incorporated into our Higher Education week. Students were introduced to the UCAS process, given a presentation on gap year choices by ‘Project Trust’ and were provided with an op-portunity to attend a ‘CV Writing and Advice on Seeking Employment’ workshop. May we take this opportunity to wish all our students the very best of luck for their AS ex-amination results and hope that they all fulfil the requirements for continuing their studies at Stanwell in Year 13. AS results will be avail-able for collection from 10am on Thursday, August 15th from the sixth form area.

“Students have also started to consider their post A level options.”

Mrs R Connor & Mr K Watkins

Year 13 The Spring term began in earnest with may of the Year 13 students sitting A2 or resitting AS modular examinations during the January ses-sion. The results of these, published in March, showed a high percentage of the year group reaching or achieving above their A Level Target grades which, of course set them in good stead for the final June examinations. Virtually all UCAS applications were com-pleted and submitted on time and students have now made their final decisions. Con-gratulations to all members of the year group who have been offered conditional places.

Researching universities in the Year 13 Study Area

The summer term is always a hectic one for Year 13 and this year has been no exception. All students have been very busy ensuring that final pieces of coursework are submitted and that all aspects of the Welsh Baccalaureate have been completed before timetabled les-sons ceased and their study leave began. They have worked hard to cover all elements of this qualification, and it has been encourag-ing to see the vast majority of Year 13 re-warded for their efforts with the ‘Welsh Bacc’

featuring in many of the offers they have re-ceived.

Visiting speakers have, once again, contributed to the pastoral programme. Julian Gould-Williams of Cardiff University Business School gave the students an insight into Learning at University providing them with a mock lecture based on an excerpt from the film ‘Antz’ , in order to prepare them for the style of learning and teaching they will experience at under-graduate level; even setting students a task to complete and submit for assessment.

Maddy Lynch

Morgan Harries

Congratulations to Maddy Lynch and Morgan Harries for submitting the best ideas for this work and were the worthy winners of a box of chocolates. Further preparation was given by Barrie Clark of Swansea University who gave a humorous insight into university life in general.

“a high percentage of students reaching or achieving above their Target grades”

Mrs A Mansfield, Mr M Gershenson

and Mr R Relph

Year 13 In keeping with tradition, last year’s Year 13 students were invited to the school to attend a ceremony during which they were presented with their A Level certificates followed by a reception in the Sixth Form Cafe where re-freshments were provided by the catering staff. It was a most enjoyable afternoon giving both staff and former pupils the opportunity to catch up with their achievements and experi-ences. We hope to organise a similar event for the current Year 13 students.

A reception was held for last year’s Year 13 students following the presentation of their A Level certificates.

A special thanks must go to our Head Girl and Boy, Catherine Porteus and Lloyd Allen and to their deputies, Beth Hopkins and Harry McDonough, along with the senior team of prefects. All have worked tirelessly, contribut-ing to whole school events, year group issues and have generally provided an excellent, ef-fective and supportive link between staff, sen-ior management and students.

The Senior Team

This academic year drew to a close with the year group photograph and final assembly. This was a fitting way for students to reflect upon their school life in a light-hearted and nostalgic manner, before embarking on the intensity of the examination period, which we hope went well. We now look forward to the Valedictory Dinner at the Mercure Holland House Hotel in Cardiff on the 122h July and wish all members of Year 13 the very best of luck, not only for Results Day on August 15th, but in everything they do in the future. We have very much en-joyed working with them.

“We wish all students the very best of luck for Results Day on August 15th.”

Mrs A Mansfield, Mr M Gershenson and

Mr R Relph

100% ATTENDANCE SEPTEMBER – JUNE (HALF TERM) 2012-2013

Please see below for a list of pupils who achieved 100% attendance this year – our biggest number

ever! Attendance plays an integral role in success at school and all our ‘100%ers’ are to be commended on their fantastic achievement.

Year 7

Name Reg 1. Arshad, Hinah 7O 2. Barber, Matthew 7X 3. Barden, Samuel 7M 4. Brindle, Silva 7T 5. Davies, Elliot 7R 6. Davies, Natasha 7A 7. Dawson, James 7M 8. Driveman, Ellen 7T 9. Dyer, Toby 7R 10. Evans, Ben 7W 11. Frankling, Grace 7E 12. Frost, Matthew 7R 13. Griffiths, Eleanor-Rose 7R 14. Hayes, Ben 7R 15. Hocking, Matthew 7R 16. Jomon, Antony 7O 17. Jones, Ellena 7X 18. Jones, George 7R 19. Jordan, Amy 7E 20. Krishna, Karishma 7A 21. Lee, Dillon 7W 22. Lloyd, Cai 7L 23. Matthews, Jack 7A 24. Meddins, Rhys 7X 25. Nadeem, Ali 7L 26. Pires-Jenkins, Rebeca 7L 27. Price, George 7K 28. Streets, Katie 7R 29. Taylor-Hoare, Niamh 7E 30. Te Water Naude,

Andrew 7E

31. Thomas, Madeleine 7W 32. Turner, Bridget 7A 33. White, Callum 7E 34. Woodley, Bethan 7K 35. Wright, Samuel 7O

100% ATTENDANCE SEPTEMBER – JUNE (HALF TERM) 2012-2013

Year 8

Name Reg

1. Alford, Darwin 8X 2. Bagshaw, Scott 8T 3. Baker, Thaine 8R 4. Bratby, Bethany 8W 5. Bratby, Rebecca 8T 6. Bull, Emily 8M 7. Bushby, Noah 8A 8. Cavaye, Juliette 8R 9. Chamberlain, Olivia 8R 10. Dhar, Saumik 8M 11. Donlan, Gwynfor 8K 12. Dutfield, Lucy 8E 13. Ellis, Lauren 8W 14. Gallone, Anna 8R 15. Griffiths, Thomas 8R 16. Haq, Iman 8R 17. Hickery, Elysia 8L 18. Higgins, Anna 8M 19. Hobbs, Joseph 8A 20. Howe, Georgia 8O 21. James, Samuel 8O 22. John, Scott 8O 23. Jones, Ben Richard 8T 24. Khan, Aymen 8K 25. Lawley, Moses 8R 26. Lewis, Rachael-Leah 8L 27. Mirza-Davies, Seren 8X 28. Osborne-Walsh, Daisy-

Anne 8X

29. Owens, Alexander 8E 30. Paley, Maximilian 8X 31. Peach, Katherine 8X 32. Rotherham, Katherine 8E 33. Skinner, Emily 8L 34. Smith, Alec 8L 35. Smith, Harry 8E 36. Spinola, David 8R 37. Stapleton, Samuel 8K 38. Thomas, Owain 8O 39. Williams, Geraint 8E 40. Wirth, Kota 8E

100% ATTENDANCE SEPTEMBER – JUNE (HALF TERM) 2012-2013

Year 9

Name Reg 1. Adams, Ffion 9O 2. Andrew, Rory 9A 3. Birch-Hurst, Annabelle 9R 4. Collins, Thomas 9L 5. Couzens, Francine 9W 6. Dodd, Hugo 9X 7. Frost, Nathan 9W 8. Gale, William 9L 9. Grafton, Isabel 9R 10. Hanson, Lloyd 9O 11. Hermogeno, Lex 9L 12. Humphreys, Morgan 9M 13. Iredale, Robyn 9W 14. Johns, William 9W 15. Jones, Anna 9T 16. Jones, Kyrsty 9L 17. Jones, Megan 9O 18. Lawrence, Samuel 9W 19. Lee, Izaak 9R 20. Loweth, Grace 9A 21. Marsh, William 9X 22. Matthews, Cerys 9O 23. Morley, Thomas 9A 24. Pearce, Rhiannon 9X 25. Price, James 9M 26. Rees, Morgan 9O 27. Saji, Linda 9A 28. Shamte, Maya 9O 29. Sharpe, Thomas 9L 30. Sibert, Lucy 9O 31. Thomas, Benjamin 9W 32. Troth, Jacob 9O 33. Turpin, Benjamin 9L 34. Williams, Harry 9A 35. Wincott, Calum 9W 36. Wooster, Emily 9O 37. Wright, Jonathan 9E 38. Yusuf, Adam 9W

100% ATTENDANCE SEPTEMBER – JUNE (HALF TERM) 2012-2013

Year 10

Name Reg

1. Bird, Morgan 10M 2. Bosley, Jack 10E 3. Brabham, Sarah 10M 4. Chatham, Evie 10W 5. Doyle, Martin 10T 6. Guerrier, Rhodri 10X 7. Hallett, Maisie 10L 8. Jones, Lauren 10O 9. McConkey, Joshua 10E 10. McGavin, Kieran 10A 11. Prosser, Adam 10K 12. Seeley, Niall 10K 13. Tanner, Benjamin 10T 14. Tuthill, Peter 10T 15. Warren, Alexandra 10X 16. Wiltshire, Georgia 10W

Learning to Excel

Ysgol Stanwell School