Friday May 10th

The sun has been shining in Waunarlwydd and it’s been a great week. Technology has been a theme this week. A big thanks to our visitors from Swansea University for providing a Games workshop to years 5 and 6. Also, thanks to the Technocamps team for the workshops provided to years 1 to 6. The children thoroughly enjoyed. We say goodbye to our chicks this week as they return to the farm and the children have loved learning about them and watching them grow. Let’s hope we can look forward to some more sunshine in the coming weeks so we can get outside and make the most of our wonderful grounds. Don’t forget, if you can offer any help with planting, digging or painting, let us know. Diolch!

‘World of Work’ week

During the week beginning Tuesday 4th June, Ms Williams is organising a ‘World of Work’ week. We are asking for any willing parents to come into school to talk about their jobs to the pupils in year 6. If you are able to offer support for this, please get in touch. Diolch!

N week in Nursery has been all about numbers and Numicon. It was fun hunting for them in the woods on Welly Wednesday, writing them in chalk and using giant Numicon during outdoor learning. It has been great to start using the outdoor area properly again, with the lovely weather and lots of our areas back in use. The sand pit and water wall had definitely been missed. Reception have started their mini topic ‘creep, crawl and wriggle’ by finding different ways to sort minibeasts into 2 groups. In drawing club they read the story ‘The Very Busy Spider ‘ using fantastic vocabulary such as ‘focused’ and ‘magnificent’ then drew the Spider in his web. They used spiders to find number bonds to 8 and sorted facts about spiders. They also learnt a new Welsh Ffalala song called ‘Beth sy yn y bocs?’ using the welsh names for minibeasts. 

Year 1 have been busy acting out the story of The Very Hungry caterpillar Pie Corbett style to help them to re write the story independently. In maths this week they have been solving mini beast problems and entering data into a pictogram using the JIT program. They are very excited to use the stick puppets and puppet theatre that they made to retell the story. Year 2 have had another exciting week with the arrival of their tiny but very hungry caterpillars. They have been learning how to care for the caterpillars and about their lifecycle. They had a visit from Technocamps and learned about algorithms and how to debug them ensuring their instructions are clear and concise. Year 3 loved innovating and retelling the story of the Very Hungry Caterpillar using i movie and their puppet theatre. They also enjoyed some art by making a hatching chick paper model. Da iawn!

Year 4 loved having Technocamps in, to teach them how to code Microbits, to help save animals. They had so much fun. They also really enjoyed creating their food chain collages. They look so effective and they can’t wait to display them in class! Year 5 have had a great week, particularly enjoying the game design workshop and Technocamps visit. They’ve also loved researching a polar animal and learning about statistics in maths. This week, Year 6 enjoyed learning to code microbits with Technocamps. In PE they have started learning the skills needed for cricket. In Maths, they have been looking at different ways that data is represented e.g. pie charts. In Literacy, they have found the features of non-chronological reports to help them write their own on a polar animal next week.

We are enjoying playing Welsh games with the younger children at ‘amser cinio’. From this week we are choosing 2 children to give a certificate to, for siarad cymraeg at lunchtime. We have also got Welsh stickers to give out. Criw Cymraeg

We are working hard to develop our school grounds and would like to invite any willing parent/family volunteers to help. If you can give up an hour or so on any Friday to help with outdoor painting, planting and gardening, please get in touch. Tea, coffee, biscuits and huge thanks provided!

Online safety – Tips for parents

Dates for the diary

27th to 31st May – HALF-TERM

Monday 3rd June – INSET DAY

Week beginning 17th June – Sports Days

Friday 5th July – Whole School Beach trip

Week beginning 8th July – Year 6 transition week

Remember this is ‘OUR SCHOOL’ and, as always, if you have any queries or concerns, don’t hesitate in making contact!

Have a great bank holiday weekend! 

Mr Jamie Evans

Headteacher

Friday May 3rd

Another great week of learning and laughing together at Waunarlwydd! Thanks to those parents that were able to attend Miss Shaw’s workshop about our plans to introduce SEESAW as a home/school resource. The response was very positive and we’ll be holding a repeat workshop for other parents that may wish to learn more. The arrival of the chicks caused great excitement throughout the school and I’m sure there will be requests coming for new house pets.

I had the pleasure of joining the Nursery on their visit to the ‘Farmers Arms’ in Waunarlwydd and it was wonderful to see so many former pupils serving the children. Diolch!

Lots of highlights as always! Morning Nursery have been learning about using money this week. They have been ‘buying’ their morning snack and playing in the shop role play area. The best part of the week though, was going to The Farmers on Tuesday. The children ordered the toast topping and drink flavour they wanted, and paid for their order, learning how we use money in real life. They then had a great time playing in the playground. Thank you to the Farmers for a lovely morning. It was especially nice to have ex pupils serving. This week Reception have continued to learn about the Very Hungry Caterpillar. They looked at butterfly wings and created their own symmetrical butterfly pictures. The children have talked about the food that the hungry caterpillar ate and sorted into healthy and unhealthy food. In maths they have talked about what happens when you take away from a group of objects and played take away games using a dice.

It has been a very exciting week in Year 1 as the chicks have finally arrived! What an amazing experience it was for the children to actually watch some of the chicks hatching out of their eggs. The children have been practising how to hold them very gently and are realising how very noisy they are! Some of the tadpoles have grown back legs so the children have been looking closely at the daily changes. Year 2 have also been excited by the arrival of the chicks! They have really enjoyed watching them hatch, feed and interact with each other. The children have been working hard acting out ‘The Hungry Caterpillar’ story using puppets and a diorama that they made.  They learned the story Pie Corbett style and have used lots of expression in their story teller voices. Year 3 loved meeting and holding the chicks as they’ve hatched this week and talking about the lifecycle of a chick. They’ve also been working hard on improving their confidence when adding larger amounts of money.

Year 4 have enjoyed learning an information text all about Polar bears, using Talk for Writing – they’re experts at thinking of actions to go with their words now! They have also been fantastic at learning about penguin huddling, the reasons why they do it and also completing a science experiment finding out where the warmest place of the huddle would be. Year 5 have enjoyed writing a glossary, playing welsh games on Blocket and interpreting graphs in maths. The highlight was their duathlon day at Gowerton Comprehensive School. A big thanks to all at Gowerton for arranging! This week, Year 6 have started preparing for their non-chronological reports on polar animals. They worked hard on their glossaries and learnt a complex paragraph of information using Talk for Writing. In PE, as it was raining, they went to boot camp – 10 different activities in a circuit. Ms Williams is still aching after joining in too! In ‘Discovery Time’, the class are looking forward to designing and making a new game based in a polar environment. Year 6 also participated in their first Philosophy for Children discussion about loneliness and how it can impact someone’s life. Ms Williams was impressed with the children’s very thoughtful and mature responses. 

We are working hard to develop our school grounds and would like to invite any willing parent/family volunteers to help. If you can give up an hour or so on any Friday to help with outdoor painting, planting and gardening, please get in touch. Tea, coffee, biscuits and huge thanks provided!

Online safety – Tips for parents

Dates for the diary

Thursday 9th May – Technocamps workshops (whole school)

Friday 10th May – Worthwhile Walk and fun day in Dunvant Park **POSTPONED**

27th to 31st May – HALF-TERM

Monday 3rd June – INSET DAY

Week beginning 17th June – Sports Days

Friday 5th July – Whole School Beach trip

Week beginning 8th July – Year 6 transition week

Remember this is ‘OUR SCHOOL’ and, as always, if you have any queries or concerns, don’t hesitate in making contact!

Have a great bank holiday weekend! See you on Tuesday!

Mr Jamie Evans

Headteacher

Friday April 26th

It’s been great to have some sunshine this week and there’s been lots of learning and laughter outside. It’s been a little bit quieter this week with our amazing Year 6 pupils staying at Morfa Bay Adventure in Pendine. It was great to visit them and see how much they were enjoying. A big thanks to Ms Williams, Miss Shaw and Mrs Price for giving up their time to provide such a wonderful experience.

There have been lots of highlights this week. L week in Nursery has continued into a second week with a new story, “The Lighthouse Keeper’s Lunch” and the children have been designing a healthy lunchbox for Mr Grinling. They have been making beautiful line pictures on the painting easel, on the i pads and outside with chalk. They made cracker ladybirds and became a human Beebot during gym. Reception have had fun finding out about the life cycle of a butterfly this week, drawing their own pictures to illustrate. During ‘Drawing Club’ they drew the main characters from the ‘Very Hungry Caterpillar’ and learned some new and interesting vocabulary. They have had fun creating animations, using the JiT app to design a background and move a minibeast from across the screen. We have also used the story of the ‘Hungry Caterpillar’ to create our own number stories, adding and taking away up to 10.

After celebrating World Earth Day on Monday, and having a renewable energy session, Year 1 have been making promises about how they can look after the planet. We’re sure they will be asking you to turn the lights and taps off at home when they are not in use! The weather has been kind to us this week so the children have enjoyed planting sunflower seeds and helping the grown ups to tidy up the outdoor garden. Lastly they had a chick talk where they were able to have all their interesting questions answered, so they are now super excited for the long awaited arrival of the chicks, only 4-6 more days to go! Year 2 have had a special visitor in from Earth Energy where they learned all about clean energy sources such as wind and solar power. They made circuits using solar power cell as an alternative to batteries. They used solar energy to power up LED lights, buzzers and motors. The children have also been busy making material flowers and learning how to use a glue gun. They are working on a flower project to enter into Plantasia in Bloom. Wow! Another busy week in Year 3 with the children learning a topic story through Talk 4 Writing, ready to innovate and retell next week in a puppet show style theatre. They have also enjoyed using the work of Monet to recreate a scene of a beautiful garden as part of a class ‘jigsaw’.

Year 4 have had a really creative week. They have especially enjoyed creating their penguin collages and writing a wonderful polar themed poem. Year 5 have loved creating penguin collage art, playing dodgeball in PE, learning a text map all about polar bears using talk for writing and planning a science investigation around penguin huddling. Gwaith wych! No prizes for guessing the highlight in Year 6 this week. The children have had a wonderful time and been a credit to Waunarlwydd during their residential at Morfa Bay. The children that stayed at school have been outstanding mentors for the younger children.

We are working hard to develop our school grounds and would like to invite any willing parent/family volunteers to help. If you can give up an hour or so on any Friday to help with outdoor painting, planting and gardening, please get in touch. Tea, coffee, biscuits and huge thanks provided!

Criw Cymraeg update

‘Every lunchtime we are playing Welsh games with Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 in the yard. The favourite games at the moment are ‘Faint o’r Gloch Mr Blaidd’ and a ball game where they name animals in Welsh. The children are all really enjoying playing the games and using lots of Welsh.’ Criw Cymraeg

Online safety – Tips for parents

School Senedd – Waunarlwydd Core Values

Our Senedd have been working on our school core values of kindness, honesty, collaboration, positivity, respect and diversity. They have written a letter to parents (see below) asking for help with ideas or examples of these values.

Letter from Sennedd.pdf

We would be grateful if you could complete the form on the following link, diolch!

https://forms.office.com/e/ZQaqQ0LvZrhttps://forms.office.com/e/ZQaqQ0LvZr

Dates for the diary

Monday 29th April  – Cricket Engagement Wales (Years 1 to 6)

Monday 29th April – Year 5 triathlon Day at Gowerton Comp.

Thursday 9th May – Technocamps workshops (whole school)

Friday 10th May – Worthwhile Walk and fun day in Dunvant Park

27th to 31st May – HALF-TERM

Monday 3rd June – INSET DAY

Remember this is ‘OUR SCHOOL’ and, as always, if you have any queries or concerns, don’t hesitate in making contact!

Have a great weekend!

Mr Jamie Evans

Headteacher

Our Sennedd have been working on our school core values of kindness, honesty, collaboration, positivity, respect and diversity. They have written a letter to parents (see below) asking for help with ideas or examples of these values.

Letter from Sennedd.pdf

We would be grateful if you could complete the form on the following link, diolch!

https://forms.office.com/e/ZQaqQ0LvZr

Friday April 19th

Another week of learning and laughter at Waunarlwydd. We’ve even had some sunshine, long may it continue! Staff and children have been very busy this week with lots of highlights. ‘L’ week in Nursery started with retelling the story “What the Ladybird Heard”, painting ladybirds and counting the spots on ladybirds. On Welly Wednesday they collected sticks to make long lines and cover the letters in their name. Gym was fun, balancing on ropes to make sure their friends ‘crossed the river’. The biggest hit though was using Beebot the robot, programming him to find his way on the farmyard map. Reception started the week by creating a recount of our trip to Singleton park on SeeSaw, sequencing photographs and using the vocabulary ‘first’, ‘next’, ‘then’ and ‘finally’. They thought about spring using their 5 senses, thinking about their trip to Singleton Park and Spring welly walk around the school. They have found out about living and non-living things and what makes living things different and had fun planting sunflower seeds. The children have also been playing number games, rolling a dice to jump on a number of steps until we reach 13.

Its been all about Spring in Year 1 this week.  The children have been fascinated watching our tadpoles and learning about the life cycle of a frog. We are also keeping an eye on our eggs that will soon be hatching into real chicks! Super wow words were used when the children wrote their Spring senses poems and they are experts now at counting in 2s, 5s and 10s. Year 2 loved making a diorama set as part of their design and technology project, ready to record our performances of ‘The Hungry Caterpillar.’ A huge thankyou for all the soil, seeds, plants and garden ornaments that have been donated to the class. The children have loved planting and decorating in our outdoor area. It’s been a busy week in Year 3 with some lovely work on fractions, team games in PE and research into places of worship. The highlight was their wonderful Spring poem. Da iawn!

Highlight in Year 4 this week has been making the ‘Endurance’ ship using a paper plate. They also enjoyed working on improving their fitness in PE by tracking how many of each activity could be completed in 1 minute. Year 5 have enjoyed perimeter in maths, football skills in PE, writing a letter of application to Ernest Shackleton and making paper plate artwork in the form of the Endurance ship.  Year 6 have thoroughly enjoyed this week. They enjoyed their art tutorial based on ‘Endurance’ and in ‘Discovery time’ each child created and presented their own mottos. PE was also a hit, working on their ball skills ready for the introduction of cricket.

Online safety advice for parents

Dates for the diary

24th – 26th April  – Year 6 Residential

Thursday 25th April – Earth Energy workshop (Y1, 2, 3)

Monday 29th April  – Cricket Engagement Wales (Years 1 to 6)

Monday 29th April – Year 5 triathlon Day at Gowerton Comp.

Thursday 9th May – Technocamps workshops (whole school)

Friday 10th May – Worthwhile Walk and fun day in Dunvant Park

27th to 31st May – HALF-TERM

Monday 3rd June – INSET DAY

Remember this is ‘OUR SCHOOL’ and, as always, if you have any queries or concerns, don’t hesitate in making contact!

Have a great weekend!

Mr Jamie Evans

Headteacher

Friday April 12th

Croeso Nol! A big welcome back to everyone after the Easter break! It has been amazing to see all the smiling faces as the children settle back into school life with their friends and teachers. New topics have begun with enthusiasm and the children fully involved in planning their learning for the summer term. Our mission to improve our outdoor areas has begun and, with the help of our awesome PTA, you will see changes within our grounds as the term progresses. If you feel you can offer any support with this, please get in touch.

Our Reception, Year 1, 2 and 3 classes thoroughly enjoyed their trip to Singleton Park today and they did us all proud with their behaviour, manners and attitude towards each other.

We’ve welcomed our newest pupils to afternoon Nursery this week and it has been great to see them begin their time at Waunarlwydd so successfully. We look forward to welcoming more children to Nursery as the term continues!

Attendance

Our Education welfare officer (EWO), Lyndsay Jones, will be in school next week to conduct her latest review of individual pupil attendance. Our whole school attendance currently stands at 93%. Please remember that if you have any concerns, or require support, with regards to your child’s attendance you should get in touch so that we can work together. Diolch!

Dates for the diary

24th – 26th April  – Year 6 Residential

Monday 29th April  – Cricket Engagement Wales (Years 1 to 6)

Thursday 9th May – Technocamps workshops (whole school)

Friday 10th May – Worthwhile Walk and fun day in Dunvant Park

27th to 31st May – HALF-TERM

Monday 3rd June – INSET DAY

Remember this is ‘OUR SCHOOL’ and, as always, if you have any queries or concerns, don’t hesitate in making contact!

Have a great weekend!

Mr Jamie Evans

Headteacher

Friday March 22nd

It’s hard to believe we’ve come to the end of another term at Waunarlwydd! We hope you’ll agree it’s been a successful one as we strive to work together in making ‘Our School’ the best it can possibly be for our superstar pupils. A big thanks to the children, staff and families for their efforts this term. We have thoroughly enjoyed welcoming families into school for various events during the term and look forward to building further on this in future. Let’s hope we have some sunshine during the Summer term so we can work on some exciting projects, notably the development of our wonderful school grounds. Our PTA continues to go from strength to strength and a big thanks to all involved. Our new school website will be launched in the first 2 weeks of Summer.

A massive well done to our ‘Eco Team’ on the successful achievement of ‘Platinum’ Eco School status (the highest possible accolade). During the assessment and presentations, the children were outstanding and a credit to the school. Diolch!

We say goodbye to Miss Emma Williams this term as she heads off to start her new job. Miss Williams is a former Waunarlwydd Pupil and has been an incredibly valued member of the team over the last 3 years or so, supporting many children. We wish her every success in her new role. Diolch yn fawr!

Remember this is ‘OUR SCHOOL’ and, as always, if you have any queries or concerns, don’t hesitate in making contact!

Have a wonderful Easter Break! Pasg Hapus! See you all on Tuesday April 9th!

Mr Jamie Evans

Headteacher

Friday March 15th

It’s been a busy but wonderful week at Waunarlwydd. It’s been great to see so many parents and carers at the school this week as our Year 1, 2 and 3 classes opened our first ever ‘Cafe Cynefin’ and shared their learning. We really hope you enjoyed the experience as much as the children and staff enjoyed hosting you! We’d love to receive your feedback! We had a treat on Thursday when ‘Sammy the seagull’ visited school for an assembly to remind us about the importance of recycling. We’ve ended the week in style with Comic Relief (a big thanks for the donations) and a wonderful assembly performed by Mr Reid’s class. I’m sure everyone that came to watch would agree they were brilliant!

The Nursery have been finishing off their ‘J week’ work by drawing pictures of their favourite jungle animal, moving like jungle animals in Gym and having great fun playing in their new jungle role play area. Easter has also come to Nursery this week and on Welly Wednesday the children hunted for patterned Easter eggs and found partners with the same pattern. They went to the recycling assembly on Thursday and sat and listened so well. Reception we have started some Easter fun. They have learned about the life cycle of a hen and watched a very cute video of some eggs hatching into little chicks! They have been using their phonic knowledge to write some simple words on eggs, matching the Easter Bunny’s pictures and using Numicon to help with addition to 10. In Drawing Club this week we listened to the story of Rosie’s Walk, learned some new vocabulary linked the story and drew the main character, Rosie, with some wonderful secret codes! Children also drew a map of Rosie’s walk around the farm and continued to practice the question ‘Pwy wyt ti?’ in Welsh. 

It’s been easy to pick the highlight in Years 1, 2 and 3 this week. The children absolutely loved hosting family members at ‘Cafe Cynefin’. Visitors were treated to first class service from the children with an array of drinks and sweet treats on offer. There was some great use of Welsh and it was also a great opportunity to share learning and complete activities across a range of areas. Well done all and thanks to families for supporting!

This week year 4 have loved making their cam toys and showing the finished product to the year 1 class. They have also been busy filming their playscripts using a green screen app. We can’t wait to see the finished film. It’s been a great week in Year 5 with the children enjoying their decimal and percentage work in maths, writing a playscript, swimming, creating Cam toys, basketball skills in PE and their wordle challenge. The Year 6 children have been very busy this week building their cam toys for their Year 3 friends. They have been sawing, sticking, cutting, constructing and collaborating. During their PE lessons, they explored balance on the apparatus. Ms Williams has been most impressed with their vaulting skills.

Teacher / Parent meetings

You should have had the opportunity to book an appointment to see their class teacher. Online booking is now closed so if you haven’t made an appointment, and wish to do so, please contact the school.

Nursery Admissions

Keeping safe online

Dates for the diary

 (**Events involving specific classes will be sent out separately**)

Week beginning 18th March – Teacher / Parent meetings

Friday 22nd March – Community Friday – If you can spare any time to work on projects to develop our school grounds, please get in touch. Diolch!

Friday 22nd March – Non-School Uniform – Easter bonnets optional / Discos in school)

INSET DAYS – We can now confirm that the remaining 2 INSET Days of the year will be on: Monday 8th April and Monday 3rd June

Remember this is ‘OUR SCHOOL’ and, as always, if you have any queries or concerns, don’t hesitate in making contact!

Have a great weekend!

Mr Jamie Evans

Headteacher

Friday March 8th

An awesome week at Waunarlwydd with a high point being ‘World Book Day’ on Thursday when the school was filled with an array of characters from all sorts of stories. The sun joined us to add to a wonderful day full of book related activities. The ‘Book swap’ was a great success and our ‘Senedd’ are keen to make it a monthly event. The week has ended superbly today with a very impressive assembly based on ‘Hugo’ presented by Mrs Wallace and Mrs Horseman’s class. I’m sure everyone in attendance enjoyed! There have been lots of other highlights this week.

The Nursery have been reading the story “Jack and the Beanstalk” this week. They jumped on giant numbered leaves to reach the giant’s castle, sorted magic beans to find the right number, made a colour graph of the different colour jelly beans in a packet and played cooking in the jelly. They jumped in hoops and jiggled through the tunnels on Welly Wednesday and finished the week by eating the jelly and ice cream they made themselves. This week in Reception children have been having fun thinking about stories for World Book Day. They have acted out different stories in Forest School, matched characters and their phrases to well known traditional tales and watched a performance of Little Red Riding Hood put on by the Nursery and Reception staff. They have also been thinking about what makes mothers special and have been finding different ways to make 10 using Numicon. 

Year 1 have been busy preparing for their Cafe Cynefin. They have made menus, a banner, bunting and have been working really hard with a partner to practise greeting their grown ups in Welsh. They are so excited and we know that you are in for a real treat. World Book Day costumes were amazing and the children loved having 4 stories in one day!  Highlights in Year 2 have also been preparing for Cafe cynefin making menus, preparing order forms and practicing our serving skills. They’ve even used a music package to create jingles and adverts for their cafe. While preparing Cafe Cynefin was also a big hit in Year 3, they particularly enjoyed using the green screen to record an advert using different persuasive techniques.

Year 4 have really enjoyed making toys with cam mechanisms in. They’ve sawn the wood, created the art work for the front of the toys and attached the cam mechanisms. They’re very excited to finish them off next week and show them to Year 1. In Literacy, they have been busy writing a playscript, ready to act out next week and begin the filming process. There are lots of talented actors in the class! Year 5 have continued to enjoy their swimming sessions with other highlights being decimals in maths, writing a playscript, planning their cam toys and World Book Day. Year 6 have been busy making the frames for the Year 3 cam toys. They have worked together, showing great teamwork and co-operation skills. In maths they have started looking at area and perimeter. They have been developing their digital competence skills while researching the 22 counties of Wales. Gwaith wych!

Teacher / Parent meetings

During the weeks beginning 11th March and 18th March you will have the opportunity to meet with your child’s teacher to discuss progress. You should receive information on how to book an appointment today.

Nursery Admissions and Toddler sessions

Keeping safe online

Follow the link for clear advice and ‘App guides for families‘

Dates for the diary

 (**Events involving specific classes will be sent out separately**)

Friday 15th March – Comic Relief (Non-School uniform – donation buckets)

Friday 22nd March – Community Friday – If you can spare any time to work on projects to develop our school grounds, please get in touch. Diolch!

INSET DAYS – We can now confirm that the remaining 2 INSET Days of the year will be on: Monday 8th April and Monday 3rd June

Remember this is ‘OUR SCHOOL’ and, as always, if you have any queries or concerns, don’t hesitate in making contact!

Have a great weekend!

Mr Jamie Evans

Headteacher