ISSUE: 09 MONTH: September YEAR: 2014 Heads Up In this issue:  Coming up in October  The new academic year  Congratulations to our students  Early News  Term Dates Coming up this month Wednesday 24 September Year 9 Parent Information Evening 6.00 p.m. Main Hall Coming up in October Wednesday 1 October Main Hall ~ 7.00 p.m. Come along to the Wellbeing Marketplace where you can access a wealth of information from agencies that provide advice and support such as diet and nutrition, exercise, safety as well as mentoring, befriending and much, much more – and it’s all free! Refreshments available (thanks to the PSFA) For further information please contact Mrs Powell on 02920 845120 or [email protected] ----- Wednesday 15 October Open Evening for Year 6 Sports Hall ~ 6.30 p.m. ----- Wednesday 15 October ~ INSET DAY ~ ----- Wednesday 22 October Year 7 Parent Consultation Evening ----- Wales’ first team medal in the Commonwealth games (more on the back page…) Welcome to the September edition of ‘Heads Up’ Attendance, Absence and Fines Up’Pupil All absences including illness, external exams, During the summer holidays, there was much reason to celebrate when students received their GCSE and A level results. There were many happy faces amongst students collecting A level results on 14th August. 52% of grades were A*A and 68% A*B, with the overwhelming majority of students attaining grades that gained them entry to their first choice university. The GCSE results followed on 21st August with 80% of students achieving at least five A*C grade passes and 68% five A*C grades including English and Maths. It was really encouraging to see that over 28% of all grades were at A*A. May I take this opportunity to thank students and staff for their dedication during 2013/14 academic year and to parents and Governors for their support. Car Park Safety Several safety issues with the car and bus park have been brought to our attention and we need to pass these on, so that nobody using the school site is at risk. There are clearly marked areas for dropping students off, pedestrian crossings, give-way, parking spaces etc. Please use these appropriately. At present pupils seem to be dropped off anywhere which simply increases the risk of an accident. It would help greatly if pupils could walk onto the school site reducing the number of moving vehicles and so hazards. There have been several ‘near misses’ where drivers having delivered their passenger(s) proceed to drive away before checking it is clear to do so. Please do not drive into the staff car park or to the entrance to the Admin block to drop off or wait for your child. These areas are reserved for people who have appointments at school and those with other valid reasons. If you are the parent of a ‘Sixth Form driver’ could you please remind them they should drive at a safe speed in the car park - racing in and sliding sideways into a parking space impresses no-one and will lead to a parking ban. Thank you for your help and co-operation in this matter ~ the safety of our pupils is paramount. sporting activities, medical appointments or any other reason for a pupil being late to school or having to leave during the school day should be notified to the Attendance clerk either by email to [email protected] or telephone 02920 845121 leaving a message. There is no minimum time off after being sick, a pupil can return to school as soon as they feel well enough. If however, they have the Norovirus, they should remain at home for 48 hours after they have stopped being sick. If a pupil is late to school, or has to leave school at any time during the day, they must sign in or out at General Office (located next to Reception). We must have received notification from a parent/guardian before the pupil will be permitted to leave. There are pages in pupil planners where notes can be written and subsequently handed in. I am sure you are aware of the recent press coverage in relation to families being fined for taking their children out of school during term time. As a school we are very aware that pupils cannot learn if they are not in school. We want to work with families to ensure that pupil attendance figures are high, along with their achievement. We are aiming for an attendance figure of 96% for all our pupils. As from September if a pupil misses school for a range of reasons a Fixed Penalty Notice (FPN) will be issued. Reasons include unauthorised holiday, truancy, lateness or unexplained absence. Although we will always try to discuss issues with families and work to resolve them, an automatic FPN will be issued (by the Education Welfare Service acting on behalf of the school) for holidays taken in term time. An FPN will mean a fine of £60.00 per pupil, per parent. A family of four (two parents and two children) could receive a maximum FPN of £240.00. Families are given 28 days to pay or court action will be taken. This could result in a maximum £1000.00 fine, plus costs, and no appeals process. Please do not get into the situation where this could happen to you. Ring and talk to the Attendance Clerk, Mrs R Latchford or the WellBeing Officer for your child’s Key Stage. Our Wellbeing Officers … KS3 ~ Mrs C Powell … KS4 ~ Mr M Collins … KS5 ~ Mr P Palmer Half-term holiday ~ Monday 27 to Friday 31 October NATO Conference Commonwealth Games Success Congratulations to Raer Theaker and former Radyr pupil Lizzie Beddoe, who secured Wales’ first team medal with a fabulous score of 160.095 to claim bronze in the Commonwealth games in the summer. An amazing achievement ~ all the hard work has paid off for these girls. As mentioned in the last edition, space did not allow for reporting on our students’ sporting successes but we are pleased to do so now. Congratulations to... A very proud moment for Alex Prance (13 Bevan) pictured here taking part in a once in a lifetime opportunity as part of the Guard of Honour for Nato in Cardiff Castle. An amazing experience for Alex and all the Air Cadets who took part. Mock Council of the European Union On Thursday 11 September our Head Boy Ryan Bailey and Head Girl Emily Burnett along with their deputies Zach Annette and Molly Lancaster took part in the seventh Mock Council of the European Union which was hosted by the First Minister of Wales, the Rt Hon Carwyn Jones. Each of the schools and colleges that participated represented one of the twentyeight Member States of the European Union with one school representing the European Commission. Our students had the opportunity to debate with students from these schools and vote on key issues affecting the European Union. They were also able to practice their debating and diplomacy skills in the prestigious setting of the National Assembly for Wales’ educational debating chamber ‘Siambr Hywel’ in Cardiff Bay and to conduct research on topical issues. All four students really enjoyed the event and showed themselves to be excellent ambassadors for Radyr Comprehensive with a special mention at the end for their efforts. The Wellbeing Team are working alongside the Sixth Form to offer a Learning Mentor Scheme for Year 7 pupils who may need extra support with homework, organisation etc. If your child is in Year 7 and you feel they would benefit from having a mentor to check in with on a weekly basis then please contact Mrs Powell on [email protected] …the following girls who are County Champions for U13 athletics in the following disciplines: Issie Tustin 8N (110 & 200m), Nia Riley 8E (1500m), Molly Greenman 8W (Shot Putt) and Grace Morgan 8NE (Hurdle and Long Jump). They were all outstanding in their performances and we have high hope for them in their sporting careers. Grace Morgan is also a member of the Cardiff Archers Competitive Athletics Squad, swims in a performance squad for City of Cardiff Swimming Club and is a competitive cheerleader for Central Explosion, winning at National level. At the end of last term Grace held the School’s Year 7 long jump record and the Cardiff & Vale County record for 70m hurdles. Ranked number one in Wales for U13 70m hurdles and number 7 in the UK: her current personal best is 0.01s off All time ranking. Grace has UK rankings in 11 different athletic disciplines and was gold, silver and bronze medallist at the Welsh Regional Championships in May … watch this space! …Claire Taylor (13 Orwell) who represented Wales U20 in the Home Countries International Heptathlon in Manchester over the weekend of th 30 August. A great achievement and we look forward to hearing about her sporting success throughout the year. Well done Claire. …Annaliese Beynon 10NE who represented Cardiff Swimming Club at the British National Swimming Championships in Sheffield over the summer. Annaliese also won the 50m freestyle at the Welsh Championships with a time that would have also won the U17 age group! A great achievement ~ Well done Annaliese. Dates for your diary ------------------------------ Early news Thursday 11 December Year 11 Options Evening Looking further ahead ----German Trip 4 – 7 December 2014 For students taking German at GCSE there is a trip to Cologne visiting the Christmas Markets and Phantasialand theme park. ----Wednesday 10 December Christmas Celebration ----Friday 12 December Christmas Jumper Day in aid of Save the Children ----- INSET DAYS 2014/2015 Wednesday 15 October 2014 -----------------------------Friday 12 June 2015 -----------------------------Monday 15 June 2015 -----------------------------Monday 20 July 2015 ----------------------------- Term Dates 2014 -2015 Autumn Term Half-term Monday 27 to Friday 31 October Last day of term Friday 19 December -----------------------------Spring Term Monday 5 January 2015 …Jolie Ruckley (7S) who competed at the UK School Games, representing Wales in Gymnastics. Her team were placed second in the team competition and Jolie came 4th in the individual beam competition. A fantastic achievement ~ Well done Jolie! Half-term Monday 16 to Friday 20 February …Ryan James (12 Curie) who over the summer whilst representing Welsh Schools’ Athletics Ryan won the British and Irish Schools International in the 400m hurdles and a silver in the 4x400m. He also won the Celtic Games International and recently came second in the national AAA Championships. Well done Ryan! Summer Term Monday 13 April 2015 Last day of term Friday 27 March ------------------------------ Half-term Monday 25 to Friday 29 May Last day of term ~ (INSET DAY) Monday 20 July The next edition of ‘Heads Up’ will be available to view on the website week beginning 20 October