Latest information and news!

• Holocaust Memorial Day in KS4

  Thu 27 Jan 2022

  Holocaust Memorial Day Trust (HMDT) encourages remembrance in a world scarred by genocide. We promote and support Holocaust Memorial Day (HMD) – the international day on 27 January to remember the six million Jews murdered during the Holocaust, alongside the millions of other people killed under Nazi persecution of other groups and in genocides that followed in Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia and Darfur.

  #OneDay #Bethelight #HMD2022

   

  We shared the story of Dr Martin Stern and held a minute's reflective silence in our assembly.

   

  This is Martin's story...

  Martin Stern was born in 1938 in the Netherlands. His parents were German, but fled to the Netherlands in part because Nazi laws in Germany forbade his non-Jewish mother from marrying his Jewish father.

  When Martin was two years old, the Nazis invaded the Netherlands. His father could not continue his work as an architect and had to go into hiding. Martin’s mother died after giving birth to his sister and the non-Jewish couple who looked after him whilst his sister was born continued to do so for two years, pretending he was their son. One day, two men came into his school and asked if Martin Stern was there. His teacher understood that he was in danger and lied, saying that he was not in school that day. Unfortunately, Martin was too young to understand, so he identified himself and went with them. Martin later discovered that the man who had been looking after him for two years was sent to a concentration camp as punishment, where he was murdered.

  Two young men in civilian clothes unexpectedly walked in and one of them asked ‘Is Martin Stern here?’ And the teacher immediately shot back ‘No, he hasn’t come in today.’ And there I was. I didn’t understand what was going on. I put my hand up, and I said, ‘But I am here.’ And as these two young men were leading me out of the room, I looked back, and I’ll never forget the ashen face of the young teacher.

  Martin and his sister Erica were both sent to Westerbork transit camp. Martin was five and Erica was one. There, Martin watched people being forced into cattle trucks and sent away, until it was his turn. He remembers a train so crowded they had to stand for their journey, which lasted about two days and nights. They arrived in Theresienstadt, a concentration camp north of Prague. The conditions were appalling, with very little food and terrible hygiene; there was an outbreak of typhus spread by the lice. A Dutch woman, Mrs Cathariena De Jong, looked after Martin and his sister, even stealing food for them. She stood ready to board the train which would have taken them with the other children to their deaths, but their names were not called. On 8 May 1945, the Soviet army entered and liberated the camp, although it was some time before the prisoners could leave.

  After returning home to the Netherlands, Martin was sent from family to family, before moving to stay with relatives in the UK. He learnt English and did well at school, going on to become a British citizen aged 16 before studying Medicine at Oxford University. Martin worked as a hospital doctor living with his family in Leicester for many years. Today, he dedicates his time to sharing his story with groups across the UK, also teaching about other genocides and what it is about the human mind which makes such horrors possible. He often thinks about the other young children who were his friends in the camps, who did not survive.

  From hmd.org.uk please follow the link to find out more.

   

• Clark's ShoeShare

  Wed 26 Jan 2022

  Rights Respecting Schools ShoeShare 

  From 31st January we are asking for donations to the ShoeShare collection in school. We are asking everyone to donate one pair of clean and useable shoes or boots or trainers and we will then take them to Clark's who ensure the shoes go to places in and outside of the UK to help children who are not able to access their right to a good education, health care and development opportunities.

  A letter with more details will be sent home shortly and we look forward to your support!

  Please check this link for more information: 

  https://www.clarks.co.uk/sustainability/unicef 

  

• 💯 attendance week update

  Fri 14 Jan 2022

  This was a great success and we held a whole school (socially distant and well ventilated) assembly to celebrate everyone who had achieved 100% attendance this week.

  Everyone had a raffle ticket and the lucky winners of the prizes were:

  1st prize Tylor-Li

  2nd prize Mason 

  3rd prize Lewis

  Goody bags for everyone else and all tickets go into the half term draw 🎟 

  Lets keep up this great effort and make every week a full week ✅ 

  

• 100% attendance week 10th January 2022!

  Fri 07 Jan 2022

  10th January 2022

  100% attendance week

   

  Switch of the tv, shut down the the x-box and get off the social media! Early nights and alarms set!

  Its 💯 attendance week and everyone has a new year’s resolution to attend school every day! 
  Everyone is in and all 💯 attenders get a ticket for the 💯 Club and are in the half term draw to win the £10 gift voucher. There are also prizes for this special week!

  The winners of the autumn term prize draw are:

  KS3 Alfie S

  KS4 Michael H

  Well done both, keep it up 👍🏼 

   

  See you EVERY DAY! 

• Return to school Thursday 6th January 2022

  Tue 04 Jan 2022

  Hoping everyone has had a good break and Happy New Year to all!

  Ty Gwyn is open Wednesday 5th January 2022 to some categories of learner only, we will contact you if this is the case.

  All learners should return Thursday 6th January 2022.

   

  Thankyou for your understanding.

   

  Learners should also ensure:

  • masks are worn on transport
  • they wash hands regularly
  • they follow staff instructions re social distancing
  • they test themselves at home using Lateral Flow Tests prior to coming to school, twice a week

   

• Bon Voyage Mr Jarman!

  Fri 17 Dec 2021

  We share with you all, our very much respected and liked Maths teacher Mr Dafydd Jarman has today retired! 
  After teaching for over 20 years and 10 of those in Tai Centre and Ty Gwyn in it’s old location and now on the Aberdare site, Mr Jarman has handed in his protractor, compass and ruler and decided to travel. 
  He will be teaching supply for a few months while the current virus issues continue and will then complete his tour of every state in America, he has 15 left to visit! He has promised us a video diary and we will share that on the website. 
  We wish him every happiness and safe travels and thank him for his years of devoted teaching, inspiring and leading children and young people to finally “getting” Maths! 
  In typical Mr Jarman style, he also insisted that some of his collection be donated as food hampers to the local church. 
  Our very best wishes,

  Mrs Cox-Wall, Mr Silezin (Chair of the Management Committee), all staff and learners at Ty Gwyn. Bon Voyage and Teithiau Diogel! 

  

• Return to school in January 2022

  Fri 17 Dec 2021

  You have all likely heard of the increasing public health concern around the rise of the Omicron variant of Covid-19.

  This means schools are being advised to bring in some of the guidance used previously to ensure staff and learners are as safe as can be. This includes wearing masks on transport and in communal areas, lateral flow testing regularly and keeping social distance where possible. 

  School will re-open on 4th January 2022 to staff only. Many of you have used the link sent to book appointments to speak to your child’s teacher(s), please do so if you haven’t yet. 

  If you have lost the link, please email: admin@tygwyn.rctcbc.cymru and it can be re-sent.

  On 4th January we will be able to give you more information about the return to school that week. 
   

  Have a safe and happy holiday time this Christmas, Mrs Cox-Wall and all the staff at Ty Gwyn.  

   

• Autumn term reports and Progress Day

  Mon 13 Dec 2021

  Merry Christmas to all our parents and carers and a brief message 🎄 

   

  Ty Gwyn learners will be receiving end of term interim reports this week. These will be posted home to ensure safe delivery! 
  This is important to understand your child’s progress, whether in Y7 or Y11 as every day counts and every lesson counts towards their future success.  
  On 4th January, you will have the opportunity to make a video appointment with your child’s main teacher in Y7-9 and all subject teachers in Y10-11.

  We encourage you to follow the link and make the appointment, a phone is all that’s needed, no need for a laptop or iPad. This is a valuable opportunity to be part of your child’s educational journey and perhaps see where you could support further. If you haven’t received a link or need it re-sent please contact school. 
  The appointments are time limited, they will cut off after 8 minutes, please don’t be offended, this is part of the system. We will collect feedback after the event as this is a new system and we can review if this was a suitable length. Please remember it’s about progress in lesson terms, if you have pastoral or social concerns, please contact school separately, as and when they arise.

  We look forward to “seeing” you in this very safe and convenient way!

  All Ty Gwyn staff and learners wish you all a pleasant holiday during the Christmas celebrations and share our hopes for a safe and healthy new year. 
  Mrs Cox-Wall

• Estyn monitoring report November 2021

  Mon 06 Dec 2021

  Please go to our "Key Information" page and click on the link to Estyn to read the report of the monitoring visit of November 2021.

   

  The hard work of all staff and our relentless commitment to improving ourselves for the children and young people of Ty Gwyn has resulted in the removal of special measures.

   

  We would also like to thank the Chair of the Management Committee (our governors), Martyn Silezin and our Improvement Partner (CSC) Gethin Howells for their unwavering support. 

   

  Our hard work and improvement journey continues!

• Autumn term Newsletter is on its way!

  Sat 04 Dec 2021 Mr Petts

  Autumn Term Newsletter

  
  It’s been a busy term, lots of learning and some challenges too with the virus causing lots of absence and worry for both staff and families. We have carried on working towards our qualifications in KS4, some of the non-exam assessments are due already, thankyou to the subject specialist staff guiding and supporting the learners through these!
  KS3 have settled in well and are used to Ty Gwyn, for our Y7s it’s their first experience of secondary school and well done to all our staff for making them feel part of school so quickly. 
  We have continued with our sports events, charity fundraising and held a series of thoughtful events to make Remembrance Day that we were pleased to share with Councillor Webber of RCT council.

  We were also visited by Estyn for three days and will be able to release the information from their visit very soon! 
  Last day of term is 17th December and don’t forget Ty Gwyn is closed for INSET on the 10th.