Mehefin 30ain / June 30th

Dear Parents and Carers / Annwyl Rieni a Gwarchodwyr,

Without wishing to sound like a stuck record, another busy week reaches its finale. The ‘Force’ was well and truly used with Sports Day on Tuesday and, contrary to normal-operating procedure, I got what I wished for, a grey, not-too rainy day. Trips galore this week as well as personalised assessments for many of the children, no sign of slowing down yet as we hurtle towards the summer holidays.

School Trips
We have had trips for the Nursery Class to Manorafon Park Farm (including additional adventures), Yr. 5 had a fantastic day in Liverpool on Wednesday and Yr. 6 headed off to Dangerpoint on Thursday learning all about how to keep themselves safe in lots of different ways. The Yrs. R, 1 and 2 classes had a brilliant time at Wizz Kidz, also on Thursday, I’m sure they all slept very well on Thursday evening. We also had a lovely compliment from the staff of Wizz Kidz, who said that our children were so polite and beautifully behaved, one even coming in to work specially after remembering Rhos St from last year… I know we’re not surprised, but it is still great to hear. Just the Yr. 6 visit to Laser Combat to go!

Thank You
Thank you so much for the wonderful messages of support and gifts for the Nursery team following the incident with the bus during the Nursery trip on Wednesday. I know I speak for the Nursery staff when I say that it means a great deal to receive those messages of support and gratitude from parents and carers.

Ruthin Festival
Just a quick reminder that on Saturday Rhos St pupils will be performing at the Ruthin Festival – ‘Top of Town’ event. Children from the Junior classes will be performing musical pieces that they have been practising in their music lessons at school. We have pianists, guitarists and a cellist performing from 1.00pm. They had an opportunity to perform their pieces in service this morning and I can report that they sounded wonderful.

Seaside Themed Lunch
On Wednesday the 5th of July the canteen is having a seaside-themed day. Flipper-dippers and chips are on the menu, as well as pancake and ice cream. Just like a sunny day out in Rhyl, hopefully without the seagulls!

Cost of Living Support
As you may be aware, holiday provision for learners that are eligible for a free school meal was introduced in response to the COVID pandemic as a form of time-limited support to help families. While Welsh Government have been able to support several temporary continuations of the scheme, they confirmed in March 2023 that the most recent extension would be up to the end of the May half term only. I can now confirm that this remains the case and that there will be no further extension to cover the summer holiday period or beyond.
The links below are to a variety of organisations offering advice and support for those particularly affected by the current cost of living crisis:
• Get help with the cost of living | GOV.WALES This page offers support and advice to help you with the increased cost of living.

• Here to help with the cost of living | GOV.WALES This page is regularly updated and provides information on possible sources of financial support, including our Discretionary Assistance Fund for people experiencing extreme financial pressures.

• This campaign seeks to encourage people to contact Advicelink Cymru for free impartial advice on maximising their incomes, including accessing any financial support.

Sports Day
We were particularly lucky with the weather on Tuesday, not too hot and not too wet, Goldilocks would have been proud! A huge thank you to the staff for organising the event so brilliantly, to parents, carers, family and friends for coming along to support us and particularly to the pupils whose effort and attitude demonstrated perfectly why we are so proud of Rhos St children! This year the Blue team were victorious in the Foundation Learners’ event and the Red team won the Junior event.

Resurfacing Works
Williams Homes will be undertaking resurfacing works on the site entrance and junction on the 6th and 7th July – 8am until 4:30pm. They are very mindful of busy drop-off and pick-up times and will be avoiding causing disruption at these times. The majority of the work is within the Williams Homes site itself, with some tying-in of the finished road surface to the access road to school. Williams Homes have recently sponsored new goalposts for both schools at a cost of £2000, for which we are extremely grateful. We are also grateful for the positive communication with both schools, regarding the proposed works, and their efforts to keep disruption to a minimum.

Achievers
This week’s amazing achievers are: The whole Nursery class, all of the Reception class, Bradley, Ella, Samuel, Verity, Isabella, Thea, Joshua, Eira, Leyla, Issy and Emily. Stanley shared his mountain-biking trophy, Jude and Daniel shared their Ruthin-Football trophies and Alys shared her gymnastics rosette. Very well done to all of our brilliant achievers.

Yours sincerely /Yn gywir

Andrew Davis, Headteacher / Pennaeth