22 Dec 2006 - Bryngwyn Matters 39 (Dec 2006)
Benvenuta!
A warm welcome is extended to Mrs Angela Richardson who joined our Modern Foreign Languages Department in September. Mrs Richardson originates from Pompeii in Italy and is currently teaching both French and Spanish. We hope you have both a happy and rewarding stay with us.
Cutting the mustard
Four teams of Year 11 pupils took part in a National Enterprise Competition in November where they had to come up with a fun activity which made money. The best of the four business plans - 'Mysteryart.com' was submitted on-line to the next level of the competition. We were delighted to hear that our school winners, Rachel Beynon, Mirella Burgess, Sara Hill, Erin Lloyd, Stephanie Saddington and Lauren Sourbutts, had made it through to the Welsh final where they had to make a presentation via video link live to the Senedd in Cardiff. Facing five other finalists they gave a superb performance, not only with their presentation, but also with their responses to some searching questions from the panel of judges. Their overall third place was a great credit to them. Well done!
CEWC Conference
The annual Model United Nations conference was held in County Hall, Carmarthen in early November. The two motions for the day were 'Education for All' and 'Combating Disease'. Head boy James Morgan and deputy Ben Pomeroy represented Botswana whilst head girl Ruth Williams and deputy Stephanie Saddington represented South Africa in the debate. A busy day ensued with countries involved in delivering their own prepared speeches as well as negotiating resolutions with other countries. Agreed resolutions included calls on developed countries to fund Oxfam to help countries provide clean water and sanitation. Also there were calls for the prevention of the spread of AIDS and other diseases by combating the international sex trade and human trafficking.
Think Pink
Staff and pupils raised nearly £750 in a recent 'wear something pink' day in aid of Breast Cancer Care Cymru. In addition to individual contributions, ten Year 11 pupils and Mrs Dawn Evans, Community Development Officer, accompanied staff from the Principality Bank in their 'Big Pink Bra Challenge' when they walked from school to the Principality branch in Llanelli, raising more money on route. The 'Big Pink Bra' was making its way around Wales and Bryngwyn was only too pleased to be able to help this worthwhile cause
Prize Evening
Sporting legend Phil Bennett was our principal guest speaker for this year's prize evening. During his speech Phil pointed out his close connection with the school, as both his sons attended Bryngwyn and his wife Pat was a loyal member of the Parents' Association for a number of years. With fond memories, he related the occasion when his younger son James played cricket against Eton when Bryngwyn reached the semi-final of the Lord Taverners' Trophy in the summer of 1994. A fine evening was had by all with a record number of prizes being presented for a wide range of achievements, the pinnacle of which was Astrid Etherington with her 13 A* grades at GCSE.
(go to 'Achievements' for more on the Prize evening)
European Day of Languages
To celebrate the different languages spoken throughout Europe, all pupils in Years 7, 8 and 9 had a taster lesson of Italian, Spanish and French instead of their normal timetabled language lesson. Having learnt some new phrases the pupils had the opportunity to sample croissants and pain au chocolat at breaktime.
Bryngwyn Youth Zone
Good news travels fast. When Carmarthenshire Education Authority was inspected earlier this term they were more than happy to send two Estyn Inspectors to Bryngwyn as an example of outstanding practice. On the evening of their visit, 150 pupils were engaged in a whole variety of out of school activities. Feedback was extremely complimentary and it was felt that this was some of the best provision ever seen by the inspectorate.
Sporting Digest
Rugby
Luke Lewis, Year 11, is playing regularly for the Llanelli Scarlets region at U' 16 level and has been invited to take part in the Welsh squad training sessions for this age group. We wish him well in the trials in the new year. At county level, Steffan Youngman, Jamie Herbert, Jordan Simmonite and James Morgan, have all played regularly this term against Pembrokeshire, Caerphilly and the Scarlets region.
At U' 15 level, despite breaking his ankle, Rhys Webb has been representing Llanelli Schoolboys again this season.
Hockey Netball Double
Jessica Jones, Year 9, has represented Llanelli Schools at both Hockey and Netball this term.
Snooker
The school just failed at the final hurdle to retain the Llanelli and District Schools Championship in the last week of term. At the end of normal rounds there was nothing to separate ourselves and joint leaders Coedcae on 26 points apiece. A play off between the two captains was now necessary and Christopher Davies, Year 11, couldn't quite manage to pull it off.
Swimming
Following the Urdd county gala in November, Leon Lau (freestyle), Rebecca Knight (breaststroke) both Year 8 and Rhys Jones (freestyle and I.M.) Year 11, are all through to the National Finals in January. Whilst Rhys has a good chance of representing Welsh Schools in the Home Internationals at Easter after doing particularly well in the Welsh Schools Finals and Winter Welsh Finals.
Antiques Fair
Bryngwyn hosted a prestigious Antiques Fair on Saturday 7 October. The event, promoted by James Vaughan Fairs, welcomed 60 dealers from across the country who exhibited a wide range of quality goods.
Musical Play Day
In October, the Music Department was pleased to welcome over 100 pupils from the majority of our feeder primary schools for a day of music making with our school orchestra. All pupils worked together on a number of musical pieces during the day and performed a short concert in the early evening in front of an appreciative audience of family and friends.
Druidstone Project
Two groups of Year 10 pupils attended a four-day residential event at the Druidstone Hotel in Pembrokeshire. The event was organised by the Prince's Trust with the aim of developing teamwork and key skills as well as raising pupils' self esteem. Each pupil was individually supported by a mentor from the business world and by the end of the four days all the external providers were very pleased with the progress made by our pupils.
Salvation Army Appeal
For the 14th year in a row, Bryngwyn has been involved in raising money for the Salvation Army Christmas Appeal. At breaktimes, the school has been buzzing with the many fund-raising events. These have included sponsored silences, cake stalls, sweet stalls, sponsored walks, auctions, a computer football tournament and the annual woodlice race!
Year 7 raised a whopping £1328 as part of the £2800 grand total. Special mention to 7.1 who raised over £600 and 7.3 with £440. Presents worth over £2000 were bought for local children and the remainder of the total has been donated to Ty Hâfan, the childrens' hospice.
Christmas Party
In the last week of term, the Year 10 Life Skills group organised and hosted a Christmas Party for some pupils from Felinfoel C.P. School. Everyone enjoyed the food and party games and welcomed our surprise visitor - Santa!
A warm welcome is extended to Mrs Angela Richardson who joined our Modern Foreign Languages Department in September. Mrs Richardson originates from Pompeii in Italy and is currently teaching both French and Spanish. We hope you have both a happy and rewarding stay with us.
Cutting the mustard
Four teams of Year 11 pupils took part in a National Enterprise Competition in November where they had to come up with a fun activity which made money. The best of the four business plans - 'Mysteryart.com' was submitted on-line to the next level of the competition. We were delighted to hear that our school winners, Rachel Beynon, Mirella Burgess, Sara Hill, Erin Lloyd, Stephanie Saddington and Lauren Sourbutts, had made it through to the Welsh final where they had to make a presentation via video link live to the Senedd in Cardiff. Facing five other finalists they gave a superb performance, not only with their presentation, but also with their responses to some searching questions from the panel of judges. Their overall third place was a great credit to them. Well done!
CEWC Conference
The annual Model United Nations conference was held in County Hall, Carmarthen in early November. The two motions for the day were 'Education for All' and 'Combating Disease'. Head boy James Morgan and deputy Ben Pomeroy represented Botswana whilst head girl Ruth Williams and deputy Stephanie Saddington represented South Africa in the debate. A busy day ensued with countries involved in delivering their own prepared speeches as well as negotiating resolutions with other countries. Agreed resolutions included calls on developed countries to fund Oxfam to help countries provide clean water and sanitation. Also there were calls for the prevention of the spread of AIDS and other diseases by combating the international sex trade and human trafficking.
Think Pink
Staff and pupils raised nearly £750 in a recent 'wear something pink' day in aid of Breast Cancer Care Cymru. In addition to individual contributions, ten Year 11 pupils and Mrs Dawn Evans, Community Development Officer, accompanied staff from the Principality Bank in their 'Big Pink Bra Challenge' when they walked from school to the Principality branch in Llanelli, raising more money on route. The 'Big Pink Bra' was making its way around Wales and Bryngwyn was only too pleased to be able to help this worthwhile cause
Prize Evening
Sporting legend Phil Bennett was our principal guest speaker for this year's prize evening. During his speech Phil pointed out his close connection with the school, as both his sons attended Bryngwyn and his wife Pat was a loyal member of the Parents' Association for a number of years. With fond memories, he related the occasion when his younger son James played cricket against Eton when Bryngwyn reached the semi-final of the Lord Taverners' Trophy in the summer of 1994. A fine evening was had by all with a record number of prizes being presented for a wide range of achievements, the pinnacle of which was Astrid Etherington with her 13 A* grades at GCSE.
(go to 'Achievements' for more on the Prize evening)
European Day of Languages
To celebrate the different languages spoken throughout Europe, all pupils in Years 7, 8 and 9 had a taster lesson of Italian, Spanish and French instead of their normal timetabled language lesson. Having learnt some new phrases the pupils had the opportunity to sample croissants and pain au chocolat at breaktime.
Bryngwyn Youth Zone
Good news travels fast. When Carmarthenshire Education Authority was inspected earlier this term they were more than happy to send two Estyn Inspectors to Bryngwyn as an example of outstanding practice. On the evening of their visit, 150 pupils were engaged in a whole variety of out of school activities. Feedback was extremely complimentary and it was felt that this was some of the best provision ever seen by the inspectorate.
Sporting Digest
Rugby
Luke Lewis, Year 11, is playing regularly for the Llanelli Scarlets region at U' 16 level and has been invited to take part in the Welsh squad training sessions for this age group. We wish him well in the trials in the new year. At county level, Steffan Youngman, Jamie Herbert, Jordan Simmonite and James Morgan, have all played regularly this term against Pembrokeshire, Caerphilly and the Scarlets region.
At U' 15 level, despite breaking his ankle, Rhys Webb has been representing Llanelli Schoolboys again this season.
Hockey Netball Double
Jessica Jones, Year 9, has represented Llanelli Schools at both Hockey and Netball this term.
Snooker
The school just failed at the final hurdle to retain the Llanelli and District Schools Championship in the last week of term. At the end of normal rounds there was nothing to separate ourselves and joint leaders Coedcae on 26 points apiece. A play off between the two captains was now necessary and Christopher Davies, Year 11, couldn't quite manage to pull it off.
Swimming
Following the Urdd county gala in November, Leon Lau (freestyle), Rebecca Knight (breaststroke) both Year 8 and Rhys Jones (freestyle and I.M.) Year 11, are all through to the National Finals in January. Whilst Rhys has a good chance of representing Welsh Schools in the Home Internationals at Easter after doing particularly well in the Welsh Schools Finals and Winter Welsh Finals.
Antiques Fair
Bryngwyn hosted a prestigious Antiques Fair on Saturday 7 October. The event, promoted by James Vaughan Fairs, welcomed 60 dealers from across the country who exhibited a wide range of quality goods.
Musical Play Day
In October, the Music Department was pleased to welcome over 100 pupils from the majority of our feeder primary schools for a day of music making with our school orchestra. All pupils worked together on a number of musical pieces during the day and performed a short concert in the early evening in front of an appreciative audience of family and friends.
Druidstone Project
Two groups of Year 10 pupils attended a four-day residential event at the Druidstone Hotel in Pembrokeshire. The event was organised by the Prince's Trust with the aim of developing teamwork and key skills as well as raising pupils' self esteem. Each pupil was individually supported by a mentor from the business world and by the end of the four days all the external providers were very pleased with the progress made by our pupils.
Salvation Army Appeal
For the 14th year in a row, Bryngwyn has been involved in raising money for the Salvation Army Christmas Appeal. At breaktimes, the school has been buzzing with the many fund-raising events. These have included sponsored silences, cake stalls, sweet stalls, sponsored walks, auctions, a computer football tournament and the annual woodlice race!
Year 7 raised a whopping £1328 as part of the £2800 grand total. Special mention to 7.1 who raised over £600 and 7.3 with £440. Presents worth over £2000 were bought for local children and the remainder of the total has been donated to Ty Hâfan, the childrens' hospice.
Christmas Party
In the last week of term, the Year 10 Life Skills group organised and hosted a Christmas Party for some pupils from Felinfoel C.P. School. Everyone enjoyed the food and party games and welcomed our surprise visitor - Santa!