Letter from the Head – September 2020
Category : Events
Dear Parents/Guardians,
Students have made an excellent start to our new school term demonstrating an enthusiastic, positive and cooperative attitude to their learning all within the context of new arrangements across the school due to the pandemic. I am delighted at how we have been able to settle swiftly into our routines and would like to thank parents, staff and students for your support in making this happen.
At the start of the year, I would like to share with parents and guardians the school vision statement. This sets out the preferred future for Ysgol Clywedog and what we want the school to be. Our vision guides our thinking and gives us a sense of common purpose and direction and as key stakeholders parents and guardians play a crucial role in supporting the school in achieving this vision.
Vision
- To stimulate, support and nurture academic excellence through a caring and challenging environment.
- At Ysgol Clywedog we aim to provide our young people with the spiritual, moral and social development needed to educate the whole person. Our focus is on the intellectual, emotional and physical needs of every student.
- We strive to give all individuals every opportunity to gain success, experience achievement, understand responsibility and develop a sense of self-worth, confidence and discipline.
I know that many of you will have seen this before but I think that it is always worth restating and sharing our vision so that everyone understands why we do what we do.
To support this, one phrase I saw at the end of August set a direction for September, and I hope you will support this:
We will be kind and nurturing, and get back to learning routines as soon as possible
Summer 2020
Students at Ysgol Clywedog are certainly celebrating after publication of their GCSE results, with an improvement in the number of students gaining 5 or more A* – C grades including English and maths. I am thrilled and delighted with the performance of all year 11 students. The results confirm the continuing improvements across the school, where academic standards have jumped significantly. Despite the strange circumstances for the class of 2020, these results are testimony to the incredible hard work and dedication of the staff and students at the school. Everyone has worked tirelessly to achieve such outstanding success and it is to be congratulated. I am very proud of what has been achieved and know that the students thoroughly deserve these excellent results.
You will be pleased to hear that we are as committed as ever to raising standards further and unlocking the potential of all our students. Everyone at the school will continue to work hard to secure even greater improvements in the future.
School Uniform
I would like to offer my sincere thanks to all parents for their commitment in supporting the school uniform. Wearing the correct uniform to school has a dramatic positive effect on the students who look incredibly smart and are wearing their uniforms with real pride. They really are standing ten-foot-tall and are a credit to everyone associated with the school.
I would like to thank all parents/guardians for their commitment in helping the school raise standards in terms of school uniform. We have taken standards of uniform to a completely new level and appreciate your backing in this endeavour. I am sure that this will have a huge impact on confidence and self-esteem.
School Website (clywedog.org)
The school website is a source of a wealth of information about the school and includes sections dedicated to the subjects and the curriculum. It also provides parents with up to date information on the school calendar major school events and, the many new initiatives being introduced at the school. Please use the web site as the first port of call should you require any additional information regarding the school.
We also have dedicated Twitter, Instagram and Facebook accounts where you can access further up to date information about the school as well as keeping up to date with the calendar of events and what is currently happening at the school.
Student Behaviour
You will be pleased to hear that standards of student behaviour at the start of the new term has been very impressive and this is something that we want to maintain throughout the year. Ysgol Clywedog is a school that aspires to the highest standards in all that we do. It is also a school where disruptive students will not be allowed to adversely affect the education of the well-behaved majority. It is therefore absolutely essential that all parents emphasise with their children the importance of exemplary behaviour whilst at school.
To promote and reward the positive behaviour at school we are continuing with Epraise for the students. Epraise also gives you the opportunity to see how well your child/children are getting on and helps to keep you up-to-date with what’s happening at the school. An online guide is available on the school website that will show you how to register an account online and what information you can see. Don’t worry if you can’t see everything that is in the guide as we will roll out some functions throughout the year.
Attendance
There is a direct correlation between attendance at school and successful examination performance. Although the signs are very encouraging some of our students will be disadvantaged so long as some parents continue to take their children out of school for holidays. I would therefore like to reaffirm my position and urge all parents not to take their children out of school for holidays in term time.
The start of the academic year has run very smoothly in challenging circumstances and I look forward to working with you to secure even further improvements at the school. I am very excited about the future and would like to thank all parents and guardians for their invaluable support and encouragement to date.
Yours sincerely,
M Vickery
Headteacher
