Our winners for the fair trade banana competition are:

Ava in Year 2 (with a banana measuring 27cm)

Arthur in Year 3  (with a banana measuring 26cm)

Chloe in Year 5  (with a banana measuring 25cm)

 

Our Eco Committee are holding a book swap next Wednesday. If you've got any books that you've finished you can bring them in and swap them with someone else for something you haven't read yet.

We held a Ukraine Day today when we all wore some blue and yellow. Our School Council and Eco Committee wanted to do something to help the people of Ukraine as we have all seen the pictures on TV. We held a collection with our buckets and the children counted up the money.

We have raised £308.31 - thank you very much!

 

It is with a heavy heart that I write to inform you that I will be retiring at the end of this summer term. Since my appointment as headteacher in September 2008 it has been a pleasure and an honour to work with all the children here at Croesty Primary School. This summer will bring an end to a thirty-five-year career in education and twenty-five years as a headteacher.

Whilst at Croesty I have been very fortunate to lead a dedicated staff team all of whom will go that extra mile for our learners. I would also like to express my immense gratitude to those who have served as volunteer governors and who have been a real force for good these last fourteen years. That gratitude also extends to our loyal hard-working army of PTA parents and helpers. It has not always been easy, and we have faced many challenges together, but that sense of community, determination and hard work have always prevailed to ensure success. Thank you all.

This has not been an easy decision for me to make and I will certainly miss the children and all the busyness that is primary education today. Steps will now be taken to appoint my successor, but I finish in the sure knowledge that our school will be left in safe hands. My very best wishes to Croesty for the future.

Please be aware that the school will be closed on the following dates for staff training:

Monday 25th April (Previously Advertised)

Friday 17th June (New Date)

Friday 22nd July (New Date)

Welsh Government and Bridgend County Borough Council are keen to collect your views on the universal provision of free school meals to primary school children which will begin with Foundation Phase in September 2022. You are invited to complete a survey by following the link below:

 

https://wh1.snapsurveys.com/s.asp?k=164794723262

 

 

 

Our Parent/Teacher Consultations for the spring term are advertised in the following timetable. These ten-minute consultations will be via telephone and you will be invited to book an appointment by email through our online booking system. We will notify you prior to opening up the booking system which will then remain open for five days.

 

St David’s Day

 

We’ve had a very busy first week back from half term and would like to thank you all for the support you’ve given to the many activities that we have run.

 

St David’s Day was a great success. The children had produced some fabulous paintings and writing for the competitions in our Eisteddfod and the overall results are as follows:

 

4^th Draig (Red Dragon House Team)                           36 points

3^rd Cennin (Green Leeks House Team)                       48 points

2^nd Castell (Yellow Castles House Team)                    64 points

1^st Afon (Blue Rivers House Team)                             76 points

 

There were points for 1^st, 2^nd, 3^rd and Highly Commended entries and it was great to see everyone having a go.

We also ran a special Eisteddfod Mega Quiz. The younger classes had a go together with their teachers. In Year 4 the children had a go in pairs and in Years 5 and 6 the children had a go as individuals. The quiz questions were all about our wonderful country of Wales.

 

Top Quizzers

Top Class: Reception and Mrs Jones with 21 Points

Top Pairs:

Sienna & Miller Y4 16 points

Mia & Lewis, Amber & Dominic, Jonah & Finley 15 points

Tyler & Lillie 14 points

Top Individuals

Caitlyn Y5 12 points

Emma & Michalina Y6 16 points

 

World Book Day

 

Many children came in dressed as their favourite character from a book and we had a little competition with prizes donated by the PTA. We were mainly looking for children who had helped to create their own costumes or had used their imagination to make a costume from things that they could find from within the house. Many of these children enjoyed telling us about their character and the book that they had read. There were a great many wonderful ideas for costumes and we’re only sorry that we couldn’t recognise them all.

 

 

Digital Mascot

 

The children have been judging the designs for a school digital mascot. Each class has looked at and voted for the design options from all the other classes. The designs from the following children have gone forwards for the selection of one overall winner who’s design will become the school’s digital mascot.

Isla, Marlee, Szymon, Layla and George

 

We have also now received all the designs for our Criw Cymraeg logo and some of these look fantastic. Well done to everyone who has had a go!

If your design doesn’t get selected this time don’t be disheartened – it might be your turn next time.

The Met Office has today issued a severe red weather warning for this part of South Wales. On advice from Welsh Government Bridgend  County Borough Council has closed all its schools for Friday 18th February.  Children and staff should not attend school. Severe winds are expected between 06:00 and 10:00 tomorrow morning which are expected to cause wide spread disruption.

Celebrating St David’s Day

We’re celebrating St David’s Day with a special assembly on 1^st March and a week of activities giving a special focus to our Welsh identity and practicing our Welsh language skills. There will be a special St David’s Day menu (Published on our Website) on offer for lunch for all those who have school meals and we’ll ask everyone to wear something Welsh on St David’s Day.

During the week each class will learn a Welsh song to perform and everyone will have a go at learning the Welsh National Anthem. Over the half term break we’re asking the children from Y2 to Y6 to have a go at designing a new logo for the Criw Cymraeg (entries in for Friday 4^th March please) and the winning design will be judged and used by our Criw Cymraeg team. As ever there will be lots of competitions for the week so everyone can take part and pick up points for their House teams. In addition, Year 5 and 6 will do some persuasive writing arguing that there is a value in learning the Welsh language and Year 3 and 4 children will design some posters to remind us to have a go and speak Welsh whenever we can.

 

World Book Day – Thursday 3^rd March

The children can dress up as a character from their favourite book and in class there will be a special focus on finding out about Welsh authors.

 

Did you know

All foundation phase (infant) children will be entitled to free school meals from September 2022 and preparations are in place to ensure that this can happen for all primary schools in Wales. The offer will probably be made to all KS2 (junior) children from September 2023.

Welsh Government plans to restructure the school year for Wales are well advanced. They are exploring changes to the number of school terms and balancing out the number of weeks holiday between them. We’ll send you a link to the Welsh Government Questionnaire shortly so you can have your say.

 

IMPORTANT – The school will be closed on Monday 25^th April for staff training

In AD 60, wronged and mistreated by Roman soldiers Boudica, Queen of the Iceni, leads her people in  open rebellion against the might of Rome. 

Children in Year 3 and 4 get a chance to play out the drama on a visit to the Iron Age village at St Fagans.