Latest News from Llysfaen Primary School
Some key dates for the upcoming term and the rest of the year!
The Great Exhibition: 10th January (Y5)
St Fagans: 16th January (Y2)
Bristol maritime museum: 4th Feb (Y4)
WW2 exhibition: 7th of February (Y6)
Cynefin Fortnight begins: 10th Feb
Eisteddfod: 5th-7th March
Llangrannog: 19th-21st March (Y5)
Stackpole: 28th April - 2nd May (Y6)
Inset days: 21st Feb & 23rd May
Sports day: 12th of June
All of our Year groups are moving onto new topics this half-term. We've gone and asked the teachers & children what they're up to so that you don't have to!
Year 6 - Dispute; World War 2
Year 5 - Our influenced world; how influential people influence the world
Year 4 -Tudors and Stewarts; chop and change!
Year 3 - Fearless and frozen.
Year 2 - Street detectives.
Year 1 - conflict - How we get along in and out of school.
Reception - What are the wonders of Winter?
Some excellent and exiting topics! Plenty of brilliant learning to come.
Llysfaen Light Switch On
Lots of children in our Llysfaen Choir went to sing at Llysfaen Old School, after school (29th of November). Unfortunately, it clashed with pyjama day, so our choir went to sing songs and bring joy, in pyjamas! The choir sang; Where's Rudolph, The Bells Ring Out and a Llysfaen classic; Boogie Woogie Santa. Our Choir wouldn’t be what it is without Mrs Jenkins (yr2 teacher), who sadly couldn’t make it to our Llysfaen light switch on, she teaches our children all the songs for our concerts. The teachers who supported our choir in Llysfaen were Mr Cannon (yr6 teacher), Mrs Jenkins (head teacher) and Mrs Hinton (yr2 helper) who helped us to be organised. “After hearing Llysfaen’s Choir sing, I want to participate in it.” Mentioned one of the children in the audience.
Thornhill cemetery
Most of Llysfaen’s Choir went to sing at Thornhill’s crematorium on Sunday 8th.They sang The Bells Ring Out, Where’s Rudolph, When Christmas Comes To Town and That First Christmas Day. They sang in the Church Service and put smiles on the faces of everyone listening. Llysfaen’s Choir went along with Mrs Jenkins (yr2 teacher) and Mrs Hinton, who helped organise the event. The people who came to the church service were highly satisfied with their singing. The performance was thoroughly enjoyed!
“We put a lot of effort into all our concerts to make sure everyone has a good time,” stated one of the students in the school's choir. Luckily the choir wasn’t in their pjs this time!
Upcoming
There are few more Choir concerts coming up for Choir before Christmas, one of which in St Johns. The concert in Llanishen mightn’t be going ahead, but is yet to be confirmed. The Choir, Mrs Hinton and Mrs Jenkins (Yr2) have put a lot of effort into all their concerts so far in this academic year. They have many other brilliant concerts to come. ‘I am excited for the upcoming concerts.’ one of the children in the choir said.
This week, year 1 and year 2 performed their Christmas Nativity. Years 3 to 6 were in the hall on Tuesday to enjoy this performance, but what did the children think about it?
We went and asked a couple of children what they thought.
One Year 2 child (who was an angel) said this: "my favourite part of the Christmas nativity was definitely saying my lines." We also asked another child (also in year 2) what she thought about it, here's what she said: “My favourite thing from the nativity was wearing the costume.” her role was a narrator (lucky!)
Thank you Year 1 and Year 2 for a brilliant performance, you are all superstars! We know that the parents are going to love it as well!
Recently, reception went to Cefn Mably for a school trip. During this trip they had the pleasure of paying Santa and his elves an early visit! What an awesome way to spend a Friday morning!
Everyone had a blast of a time and really enjoyed their first ever school trip. Wellies and Christmas jumpers, what's not to like?! Reception also had an enjoyable train ride around the area. Cefn Mably Farm Park.
Not only did they get to see Santa, but there was also a massive variety of animals from festive reindeers to adorable pigs.
Cefn Mably sounded so fun that we've asked our Year 6 teachers if we can take a trip there as well... fingers crossed!
During a recent Estyn inspection Llysfaen Primary School has been recognised as a ‘successful and happy school with high standards permeating all aspects of its life and work’.
Inspectors from Estyn, commended the school for the often ‘exceptional’ standards achieved by the pupils and exceptionally strong leadership provided by the headteacher, governors and other senior leaders.
The report highlights the ambitious, relevant curriculum based on the principles of the Curriculum for Wales and the leading role pupils play in influencing the planning of their learning. Staff were found to provide well-thought out and stimulating learning experiences for pupils to thrive and enjoy their learning including an extensive range of trips and visits.
The governing body were also found to be ‘exceptionally effective’ and through their involvement in regular self-evaluation activities, governors have a secure understanding of the quality of provision and standards at the school and use this knowledge well to both support and to offer a high level of challenge to the school leaders.
The positive report, also identified a number of ‘Cameos’, or examples of ‘Best Practice’. The first being the school’s provision for developing pupils’ Welsh skills and their knowledge of the history, culture and people of Wales (‘cynefin’) which was found to be ‘highly effective’. The inspectors recognised that the school environment and curriculum provide meaningful opportunities for pupils to learn about the culture and heritage of Wales.
The second cameo was the school’s provision for pupils with ALN which was also found to be ‘exceptional’.
Headteacher Melanie Jenkins expressed her delight with the report, highlighting the tireless efforts by staff to guarantee the best for every student. She praised their dedication and hard work in cultivating a nurturing, inclusive, and lively school environment, as well as crafting an engaging and pertinent curriculum that helps pupils excel.
Mrs Jenkins highlighted Estyn's recognition of Llysfaen being a ‘highly inclusive school’ with beneficial provision to support pupils’ personal development and well-being. She supported their observations that staff wok hard to create a caring and friendly ethos that ensures all pupils have the opportunity to thrive.
Cardiff Council Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Education, Cllr Sarah Merry, commented, “I was delighted to read the recent Estyn report for Llysfaen Primary School." "It was lovely to see that the report specifically recognises that nearly all pupils, including those with additional learning needs (ALN), make very strong progress, and that the well-planned curriculum and wider curricular opportunities provide pupils with authentic and exciting learning experiences..”
She also commended Mrs Jenkins for her personal leadership of the school, as well as the hard work of staff, governors and pupils and congratulated all involved.
At the time of the inspection, Llysfaen Primary School had 458 students enrolled. Of these, 4.4% are eligible for free school meals, 3.9% have additional learning needs, and 3.4% have English as an additional language.
To view the report in full please visit: https://www.llysfaenprimaryschool.co.uk/estyn/
On Friday the year ones performed a show to their parents but before that, they performed to year 6 as practice. Their topic was technology and it was very interesting to watch! We learnt so many things about technology and loved watching their incredible imovies, and so did the parents!
A child in year one said “it was alot of practice and work to practice the show and making the imovies ”
The year 2 topic was “The really wild show” and they also performed to the parents. Did you know year 2 raised a whopping £175 for WWF for charity
To perform the show it took a lot of research and hard work.
Well done year 1 and year 2!
On Thursday the 16th of May the netball team went to coed glas for a netball match. There were four quarters and Llysfaen won each quarter. The score was 17-3 to Llysfaen and the player of the match was the GK.
Then on Friday, Llysfaen played against Lakeside primary at home.Both sides worked incredibly hard and showed great defensive/attacking skills. For the first game, the score was 7-5 to Llysfaen and the second game was 4-0 also to Llysfaen. Then the player of the match was the GD.
Thank you to Lakeside Primary and Coed Glas for playing some brilliant matches of netball.
Although grow a pound is on June 14th, the form has to be handed in on Friday the 17th May, this Friday, but before handing it in make sure to check with friends and parents! Also don't forget this year football goals are limited to one per year group!
Genius stall ideas: Busking, walking on lego, Lemonade stand, Selling plants, Guess the teacher.
Common stall ideas: Football games, Selling cakes, Guess the name of the teddy bear.
Have fun at grow a pound! Don’t forget that all money raised goes to improving the school.
There were many years that took part in the disco and also compete in challenges, from reception to yr6 everyone had a blast listening to music and dancing. This all wouldn't have been possible if it weren't for the PTFA setting it all up for us in the hall.
Some of the challenges that took place were boys vs girl year groups and I personally think we could not have won it without Mr Jones and Mr Tynan! The best dancers were asked questions about their friends and if you got picked you would win a prize.
Thankfully, Mr Cannon was not dancing for the boys, we've seen his dad dancing and the boys might have lost! A huge thanks again to the PTFA, we loved it!