Ysgol John Bright - Bright Spark Spring 2011

Spring Term 2011 edition 2

Message from the Head Nine Ysgol John Bright students took part in the recent United Nations Conference at Bangor University. The students from Years 10 and 13 had to represent nations and charities of the UN and come to agreements about how to provide access to clean water for every nation of the world. Joel O’Neill, Steven Heath and Nia Roberts of Year 13 represented North Korea and were successful in persuading the other members to clean up rivers and promote hydro‐electric power.

Emily Johnson, Sarah Thomas and Rachael Roberts also of Year 13 represented Spain and demonstrated that although Spain is a more economically developed country they still suffer from water shortage issues. Solin Hanna, Megan Williams and Caitlin Farr of Year 10 represented the non‐governmental organisation Wateraid and were keen to promote negotiations between other countries.

The event proved to be a very enjoyable, interesting and thought provoking experience. Well done to all involved!

SCHOOL GETS GOLD STAR FOR PE YJB have finished top of the class after their work in PE received a glowing report. Sport Wales and the Association for Physical Education (afPE) are championing schools which recognise the importance of PE. ActiveMarc Cymru endorses schools that are committed to developing high quality physical education and school sport and for promoting the benefits of physical activity. Chair of Sport Wales, Professor Laura McAllister, said: "We believe that schools play an essential role in building a Wales in which children are hooked on sport for life.

“It is important that young people have positive early experiences of sport and physical activity that build a foundation for lifelong involvement in sport. This award recognises those schools that are giving our children an excellent start.”

This term has been another very busy one for everyone here at Ysgol John Bright, it has also been a very successful one. Staff and students continue to work extremely hard and once again our students have been a credit to the school. Their attitude and behaviour has been superb and we are making real progress in developing the culture of high expectations and high standards.

As you can see from the content of this newsletter the school is a vibrant and exciting learning community where the range of opportunities for students is varied and diverse. The students at Ysgol John Bright have many achievements to celebrate and as parents you have a great deal to be proud of. I hope that you enjoy reading the newsletter as we make every effort to keep you up to date with the life and work of the school.

Best wishes for the Easter Break.

W G Davies (Headteacher)

Easter Revision School Monday 18th April Tuesday 19th April Wednesday 20th April See webpage for details

On the first weekend of the February half term the History Department took a group of Year 9 students to Ypres in Belgium. We left at midnight on Thursday and arrived in Ypres at lunchtime Friday. It was a busy schedule. On Friday afternoon we had a guided tour of the Ypres Salient, an area of great importance during the war. The tour included a visit to Hedd Wyn’s grave where we were able to leave a simple wooden cross to mark our visit. From there we headed for Tyne Cot Cemetery which is the largest Commonwealth cemetery in the world.

We were able to lay wreaths at the Menin Gate in Ypres during the Last Post Ceremony. The wreaths had kindly been donated by the Royal British Legion, the Town Council and the Mayor. A number of students were able to place small crosses at the Menin Gate and other cemeteries for ancestors of theirs who were lost during the conflict.

Kate Maguire 9R reports We left school at 1.15am, excited for the journey ahead. We arrived in Ypres, Belgium, where we visited the “Flanders Fields” Museum. It was an interesting museum where you could see different artifacts from the war.

After that we went to a chocolate shop where we were given lots of great deals. Then we visited the Menin Gate, a big memorial with thousands and thousands of names written on the walls. We then had a guided tour of different cemeteries and Hedd Wyn’s grave where we each got a chance to place a wooden cross on a grave of our choice.

After the tour and dinner in a restaurant near the hotel we returned to Menin Gate for the last post ceremony.

We laid a wreath on behalf of the school, the Royal British Legion and the Llandudno Town Council. We left the hotel the next morning to visit the Somme where we saw the Welsh memorial in Mametz Wood, Beamont Hamel and Thiepval Memorial.

We then took the coach to Vimy Ridge where we were given a tour of the trenches and tunnels. We learnt a lot about how the soldiers used to live and the terrible conditions they had to face. There were craters all around us and it wasn’t hard to imagine all the terrible things which had gone on. That evening we had a quiz back at the hotel and a good nights sleep ready for an early start to Sanctuary Wood.

Our last stop was the Memorial Museum Passchendale. It was a good museum and we saw the uniforms and guns the soldiers used. It was a brilliant trip with lots of moving experiences and everyone will remember it for a long time.

Olympic Launch at YJB iNet Wales: 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games Student Leadership Event. iNet is strongly committed to supporting the Olympic and Paralympic Games to be held in London in 2012.

We believe that the Games provide a once in a lifetime opportunity to engage and challenge young people and through this to raise achievement. As part of our work to engage schools in the 2012 Games we are running '2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games Student Leadership' events across Wales.

These events have been awarded the 'Inspire Mark' by the London Organising Committee for the Olympic Games (LOCOG) and at the heart of the event is an aspiration to develop the leadership skills of young people by encouraging them to lead on 2012 Games activities in their schools

I enjoyed the connecting classrooms trip – it was full of fun activities and it is nice to know that someone in Africa will be wearing a T‐shirt the same as mine which I have made. I think it was a very good way to get different schools to know each other and connect. I made new friends and met a teacher from my old primary school San Sior. James Graham‐Smith 7H

The event at Ysgol John Bright involved students from 8 schools across North Wales who worked together during the day to produce some excellent plans for further activities. We are also pleased to be working with some of our schools’ Young Ambassadors at the events, who will be key to inspiring others to get involved back in school.

Olympic gold medallist, Jamie Baulch also attended the event and shared his inspiring journey to Olympic and World Championship success.

Ysgol John Bright and partner schools, Ysgol San Sior and Ysgol Craig y Don, took part in a Football focused T‐shirt design activity at Blackburn Rovers Community Trust. The activity was arranged as part of YJB’s affiliation with the trust, and partnership with the British Council “Connecting Classrooms” Project.

Our partnership with Blackburn Community Trust has enabled students from the three North Wales schools to utilise the Trust’s state of the art ICT facilities, to produce high quality t‐ shirts to send to our African partner schools in Malawi and South Africa. The students also had an opportunity to take part in football coaching activities at the club.

The trip was a great success, enriching our Connecting Classrooms Project and an opportunity for our local officers to collaborate with the trust on their diversity awareness campaign and collaboration within our Connecting Classrooms project. All students thoroughly enjoyed the experience with one student, Grace Simpson commenting on how “constructive the day was in raising awareness of our Connecting Classrooms project, and a chance to make and share gifts for our African schools”.

Congratulations to the 120 students who took part in the recent production of Disney’s “High School Musical – On Stage!” The two performances, which were staged at north Wales’ premier theatre, “Venue Cymru,” were a phenomenal success and drew in audiences totalling almost 1700 in number. This was YJB’s second performance on a professional stage after last year’s performance of the musical “Fame!” Students wowed audiences once again this year with their high energy dance routines and with their rendition of unforgettable songs such as “Start of Something New,” “Status Quo,” “We’re All In This Together” to name but a few...

Prior to the performances at Venue Cymru, a small group of performers had visited seven of our feeder primary schools; Glanwydden, Bodafon, Tudno, Ffordd Dyffryn, Craig y Don, Blessed William Davies and Ysgol Deganwy. This gave students the opportunity to perform excerpts from the show and to publicise the performances to a wider audience. It also further strengthened our special relationship with the local primary schools and our thanks go out to all the primary school staff for welcoming us so warmly to their schools.

In the week leading up to the performances, Rhys Thomas and Abby Restall from Year 13 (Ryan and Sharpay) were interviewed by Tudno FM and also had an opportunity to sing one of the key numbers from the show – “What I’ve been looking for.” Well done Rhys and Abby on what was a very professional appearance on live radio!

The commitment, energy and dedication required to put on a production of this quality and calibre has to be outstanding. Huge congratulations to both staff and students for producing another excellent production.

It was my first time doing a show and I would recommend it to anyone. I had a great time and made lots of new friends. Performing in Venue Cymru to around 1700 people was nerve racking but very exciting.

Everyone was very supportive in the run‐up to the show, especially Mr Parry who gave up a lot of his time in order to prepare me for the show. Being in High School Musical was one of the best things I’ve done in YJB and the memory will live with me forever.

Mickey Armstrong Yr 13 (Troy)

Being on a big stage is definitely the best. The rush when the curtain goes up and hearing the audience cheer is just the greatest feeling. You may get tired during the long evenings but once they’re over you really miss them – you go home singing the songs! I made some great friends. It’s the best thing to do so do it!!

Jack Lee Year 13 (Chad)

High School Musical After many weeks of long, hard rehearsals the day arrived to perform in Venue Cymru on the big stage!

Everyone was buzzing with excitement, going over dance moves, scripts and song lyrics. By 7 o’clock we were all in costume, make‐up on (yes including the boys) and ready to give it our all. The show began and by the second half we could tell from the audience’s reaction that we had put on a great show! When the show finished on the last night we were sad it was over. The show had been a great opportunity for all of the cast and crew and we had all made good friends ranging from Year 7 to Year 13. It is important people realise all the hard work that goes on behind the scenes of a show. We would like to thank everyone involved with the show and we’re sure like us, they can’t wait for next year. In the words of a fellow student Jack Scott “over and out peeps!”

Charlotte Forfar and Hannah Neary Year 9

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Lessons from Auschwitz As part of an initiative with the Holocaust Educational Trust, we were very fortunate to have two of our Y12 students accepted on their project to visit Auschwitz, here they describe their experiences: On the 15th February we went to Auschwitz Birkennau. It was a very touching experience and one we shall remember for the rest of our lives. When we arrived at Krakow we travelled to the town of Oswiecim that the Nazis renamed Auschwitz. This was a Jewish town before the war but now no Jews remain and only one synagogue was left ‐ only one Jew returned after the war. We then travelled to Auschwitz One. The experience was out of this world and unreal to think we were where it happened.

The gate to Auschwitz reads "Arbeit macht frei", which translates as "work will make you free" Walking through Auschwitz was very emotional and hard to put into words how we felt. The worst part was seeing the huge rooms full of hair, shoes, suitcases and their personal belongings they thought would be valuable like house keys and photographs. Seeing all of this made us realise it happened to real individuals.

Birkennau was very different to Auschwitz, there were no museums, it was just the real thing. We never realised how big it actually was until when we arrived we went in a tower and looked over and it was unbelievable how big it actually was. When walking down the railway the atmosphere was eerie and throughout our whole visit it was so quiet and we never saw one bird fly over the camps. After the one day visit to Poland we now appreciate everything we have and have the upmost respect for those who perished during this terrible time.

We feel everyone should have knowledge of the holocaust and we will try and educate as many people as possible to keep the victims memories alive.

Hannah Evans and Amy Cossey (Year 12)

In February Eleven of our Year 12 students successfully passed their Emergency First Aid at Work Course meaning they are now competent at administering basic first aid.

Well done!

3rd May

Dates for your diary 14th April 15th April

15th April 18th April 19th April 20th April 22nd April

12th May 16th May

Year 10 Parents’ Evening Enrichment Day Ski Trip departs to Switzerland Easter holidays begin Easter Revision School Easter Revision School Easter Revision School Ski Trip returns

27th May

Summer term begins A Level Art Exam A Level Textiles Exam Year 11 ROA External GCSE and A Level exams start Year 8 reports Year 13 May Ball Duke of Edinburgh Expedition Half term break

After winning the North West Wales title, Year 7 are now through to the semi‐finals of the Welsh Schools Cup

Students at Ysgol John Bright raised over £1700 for Comic Relief last month with various fund raising activities. This included £500 raised when Sixth Formers made a huge face out of coins in the front of the school, a sponsored silence by students and tea and cake sold to the staff by students.

Congratulations!!!