Chwefror 4ydd / February 4th 2022
Dear Parents and Carers / Annwyl Rieni a Gwarchodwyr,

It seems like a long time since I penned my first newsletter as interim headteacher. A brush with Covid-19 has put many of the pupils and staff out of action for a short while, myself included, but I am so proud of the resilience of the school community who have worked so positively together in these challenging times. It has been so heartening to see the fantastic teaching and learning going on in every classroom, and, along with the early snowdrops in our hedgerows, if you look carefully you can see the tiny, green shoots of normality hopefully returning to school life.

Garden Area
Our major project for the rest of this year is to develop the garden area, adjacent to the bat loft. We have been putting plans in place to enable us to take small groups out into the garden area to begin the transformation. As the year rolls on children will, be landscaping, planting, harvesting, pruning and a myriad of other outdoor skills. They will be learning about living things, the environment, recycling, bushcraft, gardening, financial education, and lots more, all while getting their hands dirty with real-life practical activities. As part of the launch we have sent home a sketch map of the area for children to use their imagination and create their perfect garden. We will then be using the children’s ideas to make our ‘master-plan’ moving forward. We are hoping that this will be a real opportunity to invite visitors and volunteers to work alongside the children as they get to grips with this whole-school project.

Tools, Wellies and Waterproofs
With the garden-area project in mind, we are making a request to the school community for any gardening hand tools, spare child-sized wellies and waterproof jackets and trousers. If you have any of these items that you are willing to donate to the school please drop them off with either the office, KS2 or Foundation-Phase staff at drop off or pick up. All will be gratefully received.

Kindness Week
Our previous assembly was all about kindness. We will be continuing to focus on this throughout the year, as well as our other two school rules: be respectful and do your best. I asked the children to undertake some random acts of kindness, and the staff to keep a sharp eye out for such things. We will be sharing our kindness certificates for those children caught in the act of being kind after Random Acts of Kindness Day. It was so lovely to hear about how thoughtful and considerate our pupils can be.

Music Tuition
Payment for this term’s music tuition is now due and can be made via parent Parent Pay. There are still some outstanding fees due from previous terms and we would appreciates payment for these as soon as possible. Many thanks.

PTA
The PTA are currently looking for new volunteers to join their fantastic team. We are very lucky at Rhos St to have, and to have had, such a wonderful and supportive PTA. Fundraising by the PTA has paid for many exciting things in school including trips to the pantomime, Chromebooks for the classroom and very recently a large donation towards the outdoor play equipment. The financial and operational support that we receive from the PTA is invaluable to us in offering the rich experiences that children in Rhos St enjoy, and have enjoyed over the years. If you are able to offer your time, experience and expertise to the PTA in any way it would be very greatly appreciated. Please get in touch, however great or little the amount of time you are able to offer, if you would like to join this great group of people, working together for the children of Rhos St.

Olivia Alkir
We were delighted to pass on the money that the school community raised towards the stained-glass window to be created in memory of Olivia Alkir, Jo’s daughter and ex-Rhos St pupil, who was so tragically killed. We will be keeping in close contact with Jo and will keep you abreast of developments with the stained-glass window and also the road-safety campaign, which Jo is very involved in; due to premiere soon. The campaign will deliver a vital message to young people and their parents about the dangers posed by inexperienced drivers.

Achievers
Our fantastic achievers this week are:
Ethan, Toby, Sophie, Ayla, Thea, Sophie, Piper, Joshua, Louie, Sebastian, Daisy, Alex, Romeo, Mia, Mia-Rose, Kaden Anna, Alexander, Maisie, Isabella, Elsie,

Yours sincerely / Yn gywir,

Andrew Davis, Headteacher / Pennaeth