CCYD Tackle Project
![IMG_8750 IMG_8750](https://ccyd.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/IMG_8750-scaled.jpg)
Discretionary cost of living payment for pupils eligible for free school meals
Supported by Welsh Government funding, a £30 discretionary Cost of Living Scheme payment will be issued to all pupils eligible for free school meals (eFSM) on either Monday 27 March or Tuesday 28 March 2023. Only those pupils registered as eFSM on 22 March 2023 will be entitled to the payment.
Easter holiday free school meal payments
With the cost-of-living continuing to have an impact on families across Wales, Welsh Government has extended the free school meal holiday provision to all pupils eligible for a free school meal up until the end of May half term holiday, including all bank holidays during this period.
Vouchers to cover the two-week Easter holiday period will be issued to all eligible pupils as follows:
Week 1 – £19.50 voucher issued by Wednesday 5 April 2023
Week 2 – £19.50 voucher issued by Wednesday 12 April 2023
Any queries relating to non-receipt of the cost of living or Easter vouchers received before each of the final issue dates detailed above, will not be dealt with.
Congratulations to CCYD learners Lewis Thomas, Joshua Reekie and brothers Rogue & Harper Donagh who all collected their U16’s Rugby West Wales caps yesterday. Excellent news and well deserved. Well done boys.
Don’t miss out on Free School Meals for your child. Find out about the support you may be entitled to: www.gov.wales/get-help-school-costs
Lots of excited MLD learners today discussing Post 16 Provisions with outside agencies.
Congratulations to CCYD Under 14 Girls rugby team for winning the Ospreys Regional Rugby Festival finals. The girls will now go on to compete in the nationals! Excellent teamwork and resilience throughout the competition.
As a parent or carer you play a key role in supporting your child to make decisions during their education journey and beyond.
Careers Wales has new information and resources on their website to help you support your child.
Use their site to:
• Explore career ideas with your child;
• Help your child get the most from seeing an adviser;
• Find out about the curriculum and qualifications;
• Explore potential future jobs;
• Find out about different routes and pathways from school to work.
Emily Stevens and Toni-Mae Wells, our Young Carer Ambassadors for Bridgend. Are filming today Tuesday 31st January 2023 in Bridgend for a Young Carers Advocacy video, which will be used as a raising awareness tool for BCBC. We are very proud of these learners and the work they do for Young Carers.
CTM are going to be offering fluenz catch up sessions in all of our CVCs between Monday 23rd– Friday 27th January after school 3:30 – 5:30pm. This is to offer flu vaccinations to children who may have missed these in school or with their GP.
What a lovely morning at CCYD today, seeing our wonderful Year 11 learners receiving their Maths and Numeracy GCSE results. Da iawn!
This is an important time for pupils in years 8 and 9 as they begin to take more control and responsibility for planning their future careers.
Careers Wales are here to support pupils, parents and carers during this time.
We will work with pupils, parents and carers to provide information, advice and guidance that will help them to consider all of the options available. This will help pupils make informed choices about the career path that is right for them.
CCYD learner Lara Birtles recently became team captain of the Cheer Leading group “AZ Elite” based in Cardiff. Having only joined recently Lara has made exceptional progress and was rewarded with this amazing opportunity.
Lara and the team are now preparing for the Cheer Nationals in February based in Bath. Gook Luck Lara!.
Dear Parent /Carer,
You may be aware of an increase in notifications of scarlet fever and invasive streptococcal disease. This infection mostly affects children aged under 10 years, and so outbreaks can occur in schools and nurseries.
Older children are also susceptible to streptococcal sore throats but may not have the rash of scarlet fever.
You may find the information provided by the NHS and PHW useful in relation to any queries or concern you have about this current public health matter:
https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/scarlet-fever/
https://phw.nhs.wales/news/igas-infection-remains-rare-say-public-health-experts/
We are offering free access to the University Live Channel for all schools and colleges across the UK to help young individuals with their future. The University Live Channel is a perfect opportunity to ask questions to Universities regarding courses, facilities, grants/finance support, social life, grades and so much more…
Students, teachers and parents are encouraged to ask questions and leave messages via the channel’s moderated LIVE CHAT facility directly to the University Live Channel partners.
Join us LIVE on Wednesday 14th December @10am where you will be hearing from Universities across the country. This is a great opportunity for your students to find out more about University life and the courses that are available to them.
If you would like to connect with hundreds of Universities then visit: https://universityliveuk.com and #starttheconversation today by subscribing to the channel.
For more information about the University Live Channel take a look at our promo video here: https://vimeo.com/737570698
Parents/Carers
Qualifications Wales is creating a brand-new set of Made-for-Wales GCSEs that will realise the ambition of the new Curriculum for Wales and meet the needs of learners.
We want to reach as many people in Wales as possible so that they can have their say on the future of qualifications in Wales. Please help to spread the word with parents and carers of learners at your school / college and ask them to forward the short message below to parents/carers using their usual method of communication. Thank you for your continued support.
Message to parents/carers:
Message from Qualifications Wales: From 2025, GCSEs will change. Click here to Have Your Say!
A huge congratulations to CCYD learner Nia Lewis who has been selected to represent the Boys and Girls club of Wales under 15s football squad in their upcoming fixture against America. The squad will travel to America on the 17th November.
Unfortunately, the RVE trip for year 8, originally planned for this week, will not take place until December.
Cath Pope
Assistant Head Teacher
The Tackle project is now fully populated and into the fourth week. Learners have been working on their basic teamwork skills and are starting to put these together both in the classroom and practical sessions, as well as getting used to working together for the first time.
There are learners from two year groups, 9 and 10 developing a working relationship and starting to “grasp the nettle” in working out the challenges presented.
Today’s teamwork and skills session based in the classroom during lesson 3 was played out in the school gym, lesson 4, a very lively session.
We are looking forward to more of the same enthusiasm as we move forward. Well done all and thank you to Alyn Lake from the Ospreys Community Officers team for covering this session.
Today, we are celebrating our superstar, Esther Thomas-Bizjak who achieved a Merit in her Grade 8 Musical Theatre exam. Esther, we are so incredibly proud of you, da iawn a llongyfarchiadau. We cannot wait to see what you do next!
An excellent information sharing session for year 7 families at CCYD tonight. Thanks to everyone for attending and our staff team for delivering key information. Best of luck to all year 7 on their educational journey at CCYD.
The school will be closed on Monday 19th September in line with the UK bank holiday for the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II.
Inset day on Monday. Term starts for all learners on Tuesday 6th September at 8:30am.
What a week! After some of our best A level results last week, Year 11 have also done an amazing job. It is time to celebrate. They have also shown resilience, strength and true courage.
The results achieved by this cohort are some of the best achieved in our school. This is despite everything that they have endured over the past few years. They have been inspirational. Also, a massive thank you to all the staff who have supported them throughout this time. They have given so much. Along with all of the sessions after school and during the holidays, they have given emotional support when it was most needed.
Some of our best performers include:
Ceri Hills 11 A* 1A 1B
Lowri Nicholls 8A* 4A 3B
Sophie-Jo Callicott 7A* 5A 3B
Olivia Herbert 7A* 4A 1B
Isobel Lloyd 6A* 3A 3B
Dylan Skinner 4A* 6A 2B 1C
Alexis Abraham 3A* 6A 5B
Brooke Palmer 3A* 7A 2B
Rhys Preston 3A* 7A 3B
Abi Davies-Jones 2A* 7A 4B
Lloyd Grabham 3A* 4A 6B
Oliva Worrall 3A* 4A 5B
Alfie Coleman 4A* 1A 7B
Tamzin Williams 1A* 7A 4B
However, we would like to congratulate all of our learners. 89% of them achieved or exceeded their targets in five or more qualifications. We would also like to give a massive thank you to our parents and carers who have worked alongside us throughout this challenging time. This partnership and trust have paid off and you also need to be proud of these results. Again, a massive thank you to the Governing Body for their faultless commitment, energy and belief throughout this time.
These results have been well earned by our learners, they are well above those achieved in 2018/19 and in some cases exceed those given via CAGs/CDGS in 2021 and 2022. Our vision is about empowering our learners to be resilient, and these results are testament to this.
In line with Post 16 we have used any additional funding from the Welsh Government to support our learners mental and emotional wellbeing along with extra academic support including exam/revision techniques and we are proud of the fact that these strategies worked!
We cannot wait to continue this journey with those who are returning to our sixth form. For those going to college or employment we would like to take this opportunity to wish good luck and remember ‘don’t stop believing’.
Tracey Wellington – Headteacher
Well done to all our learners in Years 13/12. We are proud of what you have achieved during the most difficult and challenging time in your education. You have shown resilience, strength and true courage.
Our overall A level results are some of the highest achieved in our school’s history. In fact, our A*- A outcome is the best we have ever achieved. This is testament to the professionalism and hardwork of our staff who have given up extra hours after school including hours during the Easter and Whitsun holidays. 100% of learners have gained a place in university. 92% achieved their first-choice place.
Some of our best performers include:
Kieran Pritchard 4A*
Jake Real 4A*
Joshua Ryan 3A* 1A
Eeva Salo 1A* 3A
Ava Hicks 3A 1B
Millie Howells 2A 1B 1C
Ella Bridgeman 2A 1B 1C
Leon Wheller 2A 1B 1D
Catrin Nicholas 1A 3B
Ellie-Mai Davies 1A 2B 1C
Lucy Smith 1A 2B Dist*
Grace Hill 1A 1Dist 2B
Sam Gould Dist* Dist 1B 1C
Lois Dunn 1A 2B 1C
Lily Yates 2A 1C 1D
However, most of the year group achieved or exceeded their target grades and we had some encouraging BTEC results, and some learners had a wonderful mix of A level and BTEC grades. This again is testament to our curriculum offer at post 16 which allows learners flexibility when making their choices. These results have been well earned by our learners, they are above those achieved in 2018/19 and compare well with those given via CAGs/CDGS in 2021 and 2022. Again, in some areas the key headline figures exceed those awarded in 2020 and 2021.
We also had some amazing results from our learners in Year 12 and we look forward to working with them in Year 13. Again, these results are very optimistic and exciting.
We have used any additional funding from the Welsh Government to support our learners mental and emotional wellbeing along with extra academic supportincluding exam/revision techniques and we are proud of the fact that these strategies worked!
Our vision is about empowering our community to be collaborative and resilient along with empowering them to be self-confident and embrace challenge and this is exactly what has happened over the past two years.
We would like to take this opportunity to wish all our learners’ good luck and success in their next adventure. Remember to take pride in everything that you do because you deserve it!
Tracey Wellington – Headteacher
In June and July the D&T department hosted engineering workshops with Year 8 and 9 run by Energy Quest. Learners had a great time using their problem solving skills to work out how to power a mobile phone using an apple, and some different metal objects! We also looked at renewable energy sources and found out what it’s like to go into careers in different sectors of engineering. CCYD offers Engineering courses from year 10 – 13.
We’re sure you are ready for a long summer of fun and relaxation after another challenging year at school. We would like to take this opportunity to tell/remind you of the helpline service for the children and young people of Wales – Meic.
Many children receive much support from teachers and support staff in schools. The summer is a long time when that usual support may not be as easily accessible. So we ask you kindly if you could please share details of the Meic helpline with your pupils for the summer.
Meic is a support, information and advocacy helpline for children and young people up to 25 in Wales. It is funded by Welsh Government and run by ProMo-Cymru. Our friendly advisers offer a confidential, bilingual service via phone, text message or online chat on our website www.meic.cymru.
The website has lots of useful blogs that deal with all kinds of topics that may interest young people, and you can discover all of our contact details there too. You can also follow Meic on Instagram, Facebook or Twitter and be the first to hear about new content when it is posted.
There is also a specific area of the website for professional workers. There are also lesson plans available on Hwb that may interest you in the new academic year.
Meic sends updates through a newsletter sent via email occasionally. If you would like to receive these emails, sign-up here.
ENJOY THE HOLIDAYS!
Wednesday – Sports day tuck shop will be open with drinks and ice-creams. Please bring money if you would like to buy anything. Also, please remember suntan lotion. Thank you.
URGENT: Due to predicted hot weather, learners can either wear normal uniform or CCYD PE kit tomorrow. NO denim and no hot pants. Please bring water.
Year 6 undertook a project to build a balloon powered car in under an hour in their D&T transition lessons. They really rose to the challenge! They made over 200 balloon cars in one day and got to try out sawing, sanding, drilling, plastic bending and more in our D&T workshops. Well done year 6 and a big thank you to Mr Davies and our year 10 Product Design and Engineering mentors.
It was lovely to welcome Rhian Watts from the Bridgend Carers Centre in school today. Rhian presented us with the Young Carer Friendly Award because of the work we have been doing to support our Young Carers at CCYD. Aaron Cosker, Emily Stevens and Mrs Pope were delighted to receive the award.
CCYD would like to introduce its newest member of the team “Daisy”. She is currently living her best life as the school’s wellbeing dog. A number of learners are developing a great bond with Daisy who plays a huge role in making everybody smile and having a positive impact with their wellbeing. One picture shows Daisy resting after a long day in “work”.
Cost of Living event being held on Tuesday May 17th 2022 at the Richard Price Centre, Llangeinor. The event is being attended by organisations including Citizens Advice Bridgend, Baobab-bach Community Food Pantries, Power Up, BCBC Local Community Coordinator, the Bridgend Repair Café, Valleys to Coast Money Matters team, the Childcare Offer team, the Wales Illegal Money Lending Unit and more.
The aim of the event is to help people look at ways it might be possible to reduce bills, find new ways to make savings and find out if they are entitled to any additional financial support.
We would like as many people to attend the event as possible as we believe it will be extremely useful. The event runs between 3pm and 6pm and parents are welcome to bring their children along. Some refreshments will be available.
A BIG thank you to the Eco Committee for their commitment and courage for delivering assemblies all week to each year group on recycling and litter. They work hard each day and show great passion for our school environment. Well done everyone involved and keep up the great work.
Hello, my name is Rebecca and I am writing to you today from Bridgend Community Outreach Centre. (CIC 11367568) I would like to make you aware of our services that may benefit some of your families. Along with several other projects, including our food security projects, where we offer £5 food bags for collection.
We are now running our connect project, this offers free support and help to families with children. We offer support and advice, Help families to look for playgroups or parent and child groups, support for single parents or families with children up to age 16, and help them access any services or benefits they are entitled to. The connect worker will build a relationship with the family and be there to support them, even if it’s just a chat with another adult. ( all support staff hold a safeguarding qualification and DBS checked)
We are also running our young mentors scheme, this involves a group of volunteers that are aged 18-25 who support teenage family members, their befriending and support can range from encouraging young people to make friends and join groups to encouragement to attend school. The young mentor project also provides confidence building and can be accessed from home or local cafes, schools or youth clubs ( all our young mentors have a child safeguarding qualification)
We run an adult training centre for over 16’s where we offer a variety of courses from food handling, customer service qualifications, drug and alcohol courses, parenting courses and many more, these courses are done on line at home with an interactive tutor or in the centre with our own teaching assistant.
If you may have any families that may benefit from these, or any other of our services please feel free to refer them or pass on our details for a self referral, I have attached a referral form.
Many thanks,
Rebecca, outreach manager @Bridgend community outreach centre 11367568
01656 451446
On Monday 14th March Head Girl Millie Howell and Ellie-Mae Davies attended the Berwyn Park and Minors memorial Opening Ceremony. The Berwyn Centre was opened in 1902 and demolished in 2013. Many ex-pupils will have visited the Berwyn Centre to watch and take part in school shows.
CCYD is proud to present its new outdoor wellbeing gym. Whether during Health & Wellbeing lessons, PE lessons or break/lunch times our learners have the opportunity to burn excess energy and keep fit with a range of fun and engaging sports equipment. Pictured below is our Headteacher Tracey Wellington leading by example and our learners enjoying the new equipment.
Lots of positive postcards going home to our wonderful learners!
Year 13 learner Eeva Salo has applied to attend a University in Finland and has been selected to tell her story to @Seren_Network. Keep an eye on the SEREN blog to read her story…https://serennetwork.
CCYD learner Loveday Lock in year 8 entered an essay writing competition organised by The University of Oxford named “OXPLORE” and won her category!!!
This is a huge achievement based on the vast amount of competition from across Wales, Cornwall and the South East of England. We are so proud of Loveday and her achievement and attach her winning entry below.
Well done to the year 10 and 11 learners that stayed for after school English and Science sessions!
Choose your Future 2022 – All Wales digital event. Join us online as we team up with employers and industry experts from across Wales to showcase careers and jobs from a variety of priority sectors.
https://careerswales.gov.wales/events/choose-your-future-2022
Well done to the year 11 learners that stayed after school tonight for extra Welsh revision!
Wear a RED TOP (normal bottoms) on Friday 4th February to raise money for charity.
Optional donation on the main entrance doors.
Headteacher Mrs Wellington presents CCYD’s EESW 2021 team with a certificate for their project, a gold crest award and their award for the best use of engineering and technology, awarded from IET and their prize money.
The team was commended by The Engineering Scheme for their excellent teamwork, report, project outcome and design work. The team fulfilled a brief set by Sony to design and develop a contactless workplace tracking system using industry 4.0.
Team: Dafydd Roberts, Hollie Keeping, Kieran Pritchard, Samuel Gould
They designed the hardware and software for a smart watch that can be used on the factory floor. Mrs Deeming and Miss Pritchard were proud to support such a wonderful team.
A lovely morning at CCYD today as Year 11 collected their Numeracy GCSE results. We are so proud of them. Doing exams after so much disruption was not easy. But they had brilliant results!
www.velindrefundraising.com
Velindre’s annual WEAR RED campaign is BACK in time for the Six Nations return in February and we want YOU to join us. #WearRed2022.
Supporting Velindre Cancer Centre has never been easier! Simply Wear Red and donate £1 to Velindre on Friday 4th February to show your support for Wales’ Premier Rugby Teams and Wales’ Premier Cancer Centre.
This ALL INCLUSIVE event is open to everyone! Join in as an individual, family, school, business or community group by simply signing up today.
Every penny raised from our Wear Red Campaign is invested back into Velindre Cancer Centre to fund a range of services, roles and resources that has a significant impact on the experience and treatment journey of our patients and their families.
Click the link below and complete the short online form to register yourself, your business, your school or organisation for the event. Once this is done, you can relax knowing that you are on your way to making a difference. Velindre Cancer Charity will be in touch in January with your fundraising pack and will provide all the information you need in preparation for collecting and paying in your funds on 4th February.
https://register.enthuse.com/ps/event/WearRed2022