Dear Parents and Carers / Annwyl Rieni a Gwarchodwyr,

It’s been another wonderfully busy week in school, filled with hard work, curiosity, and lots of smiles. Across the classes, children have been making fantastic progress—whether tackling new learning challenges, developing their confidence, or showing great teamwork. It’s been lovely to see everyone putting in such effort and taking pride in their achievements.
As always, thank you for your continued support. We’re excited to share some of the highlights from the week and key messages below.

Lockdown Drill
As a vital part of our safeguarding at school we will be holding a Lockdown Drill on the afternoon of Monday 26th of January in conjunction with Ysgol Pen Barras. The drill will involve the children moving into their classrooms, and staff ensuring that the school is locked and secured. Staff will be speaking to the children, prior to the drill, to explain what they need to do and reassure them that it is simply a practise, just like a Fire Drill, to keep them safe. Staff will be using the scenario of needing to lock the school doors if there was ‘A dog on the yard that we did not know.’, rather than relate it to some more serious threats, which may cause children distress or upset. This Lockdown Drill is extremely important in ensuring our ability to keep our leaners and staff safe and will be handled with great sensitivity with children being supported and reassured at every stage.

Festive Reading Challenge – January Reminder!
A quick reminder that we are still collecting entries for our **Festive Reading Challenge: Reading in Unusual Places! **
We’re certain there are plenty more great photos sitting on phones and tablets just waiting to be uploaded!
Here’s how to take part:
• Choose a favourite book
• Find an unusual or interesting place to read it – indoors, outdoors, cosy corners or creative spots (as long as it’s safe!)
• Take a photo of your child reading in their unusual place
• Email it to: ReadingChallengeR5@hwbcymru.net
• Don’t forget to include your child’s full name and class.
We’ll be putting together a display of all entries soon, and prizes will be awarded for the most imaginative photos in each class!
Thank you to those who have already sent in their pictures — they’re fantastic. We’d love to see more. Happy reading!

Request for Junior Book Donations – Forthcoming Book Café
As part of our ongoing work this year to promote reading for pleasure, we are preparing for our upcoming Book Café and would be grateful for donations of Junior-age books (ages 7–11).
If you have any good-quality books at home that your children have finished with, we would really appreciate them being passed on. Donations can be given directly to your child’s class teacher or left at the main office.
Thank you, as always, for your generous support. It makes a real difference to our reading community.

Contacting School with Queries or Concerns
At Rhos Street, we are always here to support our pupils and families, and we know that questions or concerns can arise from time to time. If you do need to get in touch with a member of staff, please remember that teachers are the right people to contact directly, as they know your child best and are best placed to help.
To ensure we can respond in the most effective and timely way, we ask that parents and carers complete a Meeting Request Form from the school office. This helps us arrange the right member of staff to meet with you and ensures that we can give
your concern the attention it deserves.

We politely remind families of the following:
• Inform staff of any concerns in a proportionate and courteous manner. We will always do our best to address issues, but please allow us reasonable time to respond.
• Respond to staff courteously when we contact you about any matters involving your child.
• Approach the school directly if you have a concern. Please allow us the opportunity to resolve the issue with you.
• Avoid discussing school matters on unaffiliated social media platforms. Social media is not an appropriate forum for raising concerns and can cause unnecessary upset or misunderstanding.

We must also remind parents that defamatory, offensive, or derogatory comments about the school, its pupils, parents, or staff on Facebook or other social networking sites are not acceptable. If you have a worry or would like to raise an issue, please speak directly to a member of staff, or the Headteacher. This ensures that matters are handled fairly, appropriately, and effectively for all involved.
Thank you for your cooperation and for helping us maintain a positive, respectful school community.

Help Available – Gas & Electric
Unity in Community will be providing vouchers to help towards paying for gas and electricity. To qualify you must pay for your energy through a prepayment meter and have not received energy vouchers from Unity in Community within the past 12 months. This is in response to the ongoing cost of living crisis and beneficiaries can be working, unemployed, self-employed, or retired. For more information and to register, call 01482 420836, Monday to Friday, 9am – 3pm – if busy, please keep trying.
We look forward to working with you to support families through a challenging time.

Upcoming Online Sleep Hygiene Session for Parents & Carers
We are pleased to share details of an upcoming Sleep Hygiene Session designed to support parents and carers. This helpful online workshop, delivered by The Sleep Charity, will explore practical strategies to promote healthy sleep routines for children.
Session Details:

Date: Monday, 27th January
Time: 6:00pm – 7:00pm
Location: Online

Parents can register by clicking the link provided to complete the short registration form.
Sleep Hygiene Session for Parents/Carers 27th January 6 pm – 7 pm – Online – Fill in form

We hope many of you will find this session useful and are able to join.

Exploring ‘Changes’ in Blwyddyn 1
Blwyddyn 1 have been busy carrying out a fun and colourful science investigation as part of our topic, ‘Changes.’ The children have been exploring whether we can change the colour of cabbage water by adding different substances — and the results have been fascinating!
Using bicarbonate of soda and lemon juice, the pupils carefully observed how the cabbage water reacted. They were amazed to see the liquid change colour right before their eyes! This simple experiment helped the children learn about how materials can change when they are mixed together, introducing them to early concepts of acids and alkalis in an engaging, age‑appropriate way.
The class thoroughly enjoyed predicting what might happen, watching the reactions unfold, and talking about the changes they saw. A brilliant hands-on learning experience — da iawn, Blwyddyn 1!

Blwyddyn 2 Join the Big School Birdwatch!
Blwyddyn 2 had a wonderful time taking part in the Big School Birdwatch on Wednesday. Armed with curiosity and a great deal of enthusiasm, the children headed outdoors to see which birds they could spot around our school grounds.
They observed carefully, listened attentively, and showed impressive patience and stealth as they tried to creep quietly towards any unsuspecting birds nearby. Some pupils even brought in their own binoculars from home, which added an extra layer of excitement to the experience.
The children enjoyed identifying different species, discussing what they noticed, and contributing to this important nationwide survey that helps track and protect the UK’s bird populations. It was a fantastic opportunity to connect with nature and develop observation skills.

Recycle 4 School – Bags Going Home Today!
Rhos Street is taking part in the Recycle 4 School scheme, helping us raise funds while supporting textile recycling. Collection bags will be sent home with pupils today. Please send any donations back to school on Friday, 30th January, to allow us to manage any donations effectively. We welcome good‑quality unwanted items such as:
• Clothes
• Shoes (including trainers)
• Handbags, belts, accessories
• Underwear and socks
All donated items are collected and reused around the world, helping reduce textile waste and raising money for our school. Thank you for your support!

Weekly Wellbeing
This morning’s service focused on healthy screen time and the importance of finding a good balance in our daily routines. This quote reminds us of the importance of getting outside.
“Balance your screen time with green time — your mind will thank you.”

Achievers

This week’s brilliant achievers are: Eva, Chloe, Isaac, Tommy, Nancy, Nils, Orson, Hattie, Kit, Florence, and Junior. Cymraeg awards went to: Maddie, Ayla, Poppy, Alfie, Ronnie, Alice, Rose, and Keiran. Isla shared a plethora of swimming medals!
Well done to our amazing achievers this week!