Autumn Term 2024

Year 5 STEM day at Maesydderwen

Year 5 visited Maesydderwen for their first transition day. They took part in Science, Maths and Technology lessons. They took part in all the lessons with such enthusiasm and they were exceptionally well behaved.

Snow is falling!

The children were very excited to see the snow this morning. Unfortunately it didn’t last long enough!!!

Plant Mewn Angen 2024

Wearing pyjamas and eating cakes all to raise money for Children In Need. The children showed a really good understanding of where the money goes and why this day is so important. Thank you so much so much for all the kind donations. Da iawn pawb!

World Diabetes Day – 14/11/24

A lovely sea of blue in our class today as we wear blue in support of World Diabetes Day. We learned a lot about diabetes today as we  took part in a q & a session with 1 pupil in our class. We also learned of famous people who have diabetes.

Diwali

The children have been learning about Diwali and they’ve been busy making Coconut Barfi – Indian sweets for the festival of Diwali.

Odd Sock Day – 13/11/24

In support of anti-bullying week, the children wore their odd socks loud and proud!

Dydd y Cofio – 11/11/24

The Year 6 children attended the community Remembrance service in Ystradgynlais. It took place on the cross and was well attended. Following the service we visited Gorsedd Park to look at the war memorials and see where the wreaths were laid on Remembrance Sunday. The knitting Nanas of Ystradgynlais have been very busy and created beautiful displays of poppies around the town.

Wicked @ Wales Millennium Centre

The Year 6 children had a fantastic time watching Wicked at Wales Millennium Centre. It was a really good show with some brilliant special effects.

Remembrance Day Pixilart

Scan the QR Codes to see some of our pixilart work for Remembrance Day.

Remembrance Day Artwork

The children have enjoyed using a range of mediums to create some silhouette art and some online art – all inspired by Remembrance Day.

Ospreys – Girls In Rugby Week

The girls took part in a touch rugby festival at Llandarcy Academy of Sport along with 240 other primary school pupils. A great event! 

Poetry – Happiness is…

Have a listen to some of the children’s poems which they wrote as part of our work on positive thinking for World Mental Health Day.

Diwrnod Shwmae – 15/10/24

Today the children practised speaking Welsh and tried to encourage others to speak Welsh by greeting them with Shwmae. The children also designed their own Shwmae logos.

Amser Lles

The children enjoyed playing the emotions game today during Amser Lles. They had the opportunity to discuss lots of different feelings and they also understood that all these different feelings are ok.

World Mental Health Day 2024

A lovely display of the children’s work.

Work inspired by Leah Cummins – ‘Stronger connection creates stronger health.’

Active Lives Day @ Ysgol Maesydderwen

Year 6 visited Maesydderwen on Wednesday for their first of many transition days this year. In the morning they took part in sporting activities – hockey, rugby and football. In the afternoon they took part on some D&T activities – they made a zine, a keyring and a pitta pizza. They had a fantastic day and they’re looking forward to their next visit already!

Litter Pick

The children did a fantastic job last week and cleared a load of litter from our school grounds and the surrounding area. When we got back to school they sorted it into categories and put it in the correct bins. They were very disappointed but not surprised to see that the majority of the litter was plastic.

Class Trip – Craig y Nos

On Monday 30th September, Dosbarth Aur visited Craig y Nos. In the morning we took part in activities that helped us develop our navigational skills and our map skills. We learned how to use a compass to navigate around the park and then when we got to the meadow we learned how to read a map using a key. We had to use the map to find things in the meadow.

In the afternoon, we became pollution detectives and did some pond dipping. We had to identify the creatures we found and then dependant on what we found, we could make a judgement on how polluted the pond is. We learned a lot about pollution and that it’s not only rubbish that pollutes the rivers and ponds.

Social Media

The children worked really well in their groups discussing social media – the advantages and the disadvantages. They correctly identified what they should share and what they shouldn’t share on social media.

Football

Well done to the children who took part in the local cluster football tournament at Maesydderwen. The children played really well as a team and more importantly, they really enjoyed!

Music

As part of their transition programme to Maesydderwen, Year 6 are having weekly Music  sessions with Mrs Clear.

Congratulations!

Congratulations to these Year 6 children who have been chosen by their peers to be this year’s Head Boy, Head Girl, Deputy Head Boys and Deputy Head Girls.

DOSBARTH AUR INFORMATION

*BIRTHDAYS*

YOU ARE WELCOME TO SEND IN BIRTHDAY TREATS WITH YOUR CHILD TO SHARE WITH THE CLASS.

*COMMUNICATION*

I WILL SEND OUT CLASS AND SCHOOL INFORMATION, IMPORTANT REMINDERS AND CLASS PHOTOS VIA SEESAW. IT IS VITAL THAT YOU ARE SIGNED UP SO YOU DON’T MISS ANYTHING.

*HOMEWORK*

HOMEWORK TASKS WILL INCLUDE READING, SPELLING, MULTIPLICATION TABLES AND OCCASIONALLY A TOPIC TASK. TASKS WILL BE SET WEEKLY FRIDAY – FRIDAY.

*SNACKS*

THE CHILDREN ARE WELCOME TO BRING IN A SNACK FOR THEIR MORNING BREAK. SNACKS MUST BE FRUIT, CHEESE OR YOGHURT.

*BOTTLES*

PLEASE SEND A DRINK TO SCHOOL WITH YOUR CHILD EVERYDAY. THEY CAN REFILL THEIR BOTTLES THROUGHOUT THE DAY WITH WATER.

*UNIFORM & BELONGINGS*

IN ORDER TO ENSURE THAT LOST ITEMS CAN BE RETURNED TO THE RIGHT OWNER PLEASE LABEL CHILDREN’S COATS, JUMPERS, CARDIGANS, BAGS, LUNCH BAGS, BOTTLES AND ANYTHING ELSE THEY BRING IN.

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Summer Term 2024

Llangrannog 2024

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Crefftau Dydd Gwyl Dewi- Spring 2024

Josef Herman inspired art- Spring 2024

Friendship Day-Spring 2024

We made friendship bracelets for ourselves and our friends; created friendship images using Wordart.com and coded ‘Buddy’ games.

Ystradgynlais and it’s Multi-cultural History-Spring 2024

We have been studying all the cultures in our  own community. Through  research and enquiry based studies we have been able to use our digital skills to re-tell and create digital stories. We used innovative skills that were engaging and interesting.

Enjoying our squash and biscuits morning sharing and presenting our ‘Genius Hour ‘ projects to the class- Spring 2024

Our well-being sessions with Mr Gwilym-Spring 2024

We do circuit exercises and try to beat our own personal target every week!

Willy Wonka Chocolate Bars- Spring 2024

Transition Expressive Arts Day at Maesydderwen! We had so much fun dancing, keeping fit, creating masks, participating in drama, learning how to play the ukulele and singing!- Spring 2024

Congratulations to all the children and their acheivements-

We really enjoyed learning about fractions through art!- Spring 2024

Describing the buildings in Ystradgynlais using digital technology!-Spring 2024

School nurse came to our school- Spring 2024

Christmas Cards and Dough Craft – Dec 23

Christmas Concert Dress Rehearsal Performance-Dec 23

WINNERS of the DVLA Coding STEM Competition 2023

So proud of Alfie, Arthur, George, Max, Kian and Tristan who won 3rd prize for their  Scratch coding game, based on the MOD sending medical and essential supplies to countries that had been hit by a tsunami. They presented  to the judges, Sian Lloyd ( News presenter) and to the audience which was also streamed across all school in Wales. They received a prize of a £1000 of computer equipment and 10 laptops for the school and each received a prize of a mini computer.
It was a wonderful day and were able to visit the different stands so that they could see the opportunities for future careers in ICT based jobs which included: Cyber Security, Surveillance, Emergency Services and the Army.

A Chocolate for Christmas-Dec 23

We sent letters out to the parents in the school asking for donations of chocolates. Thank you to all the families for all your generosity and we were able to donate to CATCH ( our local food bank) and to Community Dreams to help local families at receive Christmas Hampers. Diolch.

Cycling Proficiency-Nov 23

Shrek the Musical-Nov 23

Year 6 had a fantastic trip to Cardiff Millennium Centre to see the West End Musical ‘Shrek’. It was amazing!

PRIMARY SCHOOL ENGINEERING PROJECT- building our locomotive.

Nov 23

We are learning to be engineers by building our locomotives using different tools and materials!

THE WORK OF JOSEF HERMAN- using pencil and oil pastels to create art inspired by his work.

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY DAY- Maesydderwen

November 2023

CHILDREN IN NEED-Nov 23

We came to school in our pyjamas and sold cakes to raise money for Pudsy Bear.

TECHNOCAMPS -Nov 23

TECHNOCAMPS came to our school to teach Python Maths and Microbits – we had so much fun!

EGYPTOLOGY CENTRE- SWANSEA UNIVERSITY

OCTOBER 23

Using ICT in our lessons

October 23

Girls Rugby Tournament

Oct 2023

Active Lives Day- Maesydderwen

We had a very busy and enjoyable day at Ysgol Maesydderwen! We took part in sporting activities, ate our healthy pizzas which we prepared and then cooked. Finally we used different tools to design and make a key ring!

Scientific Investigation- changing materials

Mummification

We mummified a tomato ( links with our language work) to use in our science investigation. Pupils had to follow the instructions – Oct 2023

Learning songs for the Eisteddfod

Bread of Heaven and Ble mae Daniel?

October 2023

Ystradgynlais Heritage Society

October 2023

Mr Best came into class to talk to us all about the Ystradgynlais Heritage Society that links with our topic this term ‘Our Community’ He explained that they have 75 members that research and maintain all our historical sites in Ystradgynlais. He showed us all the boards that are placed in different areas in Ystradgynlais and the surrounding communities that show the historical sites and famous descendants of Ystradgynlais.

Percussion Lesson

In the hall, we were introduced to a range of percussion instruments! Some of the instruments were really loud and some of us were able to play them! It was really interesting and such good fun!
September 2023

Digital Champions

We went into the other classes to teach coding to the other children.They really enjoyed building and making the robots move!

September 2023

Flying Drones

September 2023

We had a great time flying the drones in the hall!

Music Lesson

September 2023

Mrs Clear ( Music teacher from Maesydderwen Secondary School) came into to to teacher all about different musical notes, tempo and rhythm. It was a lot of fun!

EGYPTOLOGY- Land of the Pharaohs

As part of our language lessons we have been reading all about the ‘Electrifying Egyptians’. The children are really looking forward to learning all about them. Seren brought some Egyptian gifts she received including a template to write in hieroglyphics! Very interesting!

Achievements- September 2023

It was wonderful to see the achievements of some of our pupils- Mya took part and completed the mini Ironman race in Tenby and Mason received his medal for winning a rugby tournament. Well done to you both!

Exploring Our Community

September 2023

We had a very enjoyable walk exploring Ystradgynlais. It was very interesting to read all about the famous people that were descendants of Ystradgynlais and to be able to visit their memorial.

AWARDS -2023

WELSH HERITAGE COMPETITION

SLAVERY AND THE YNYSCEDWYN IRONWORKS

The pupils worked extremely hard to present their work about ‘Slavery and the Ynyscedwyn Ironworks’ to the judges when they came to visit us at school. We are thrilled to announce that they successfully won an award and it was presented to them at the Swansea Waterfront Museum in Swansea.

MINECRAFT COMPETITION – Designing a new stadium for their own community.

We are very proud to announce that 2 groups of children that entered the Minecraft Competition both became Regional Winners. They also became finalists ( only 14 groups throughout Wales were selected).

They had a wonderful day after being invited to the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff. They presented their work to the judges, had lunch and a tour and were presented with their certificates and medals! Congratulations!

Slavery and the Ynyscedwyn Ironworks

Spring Project

This term we have been studying the Ynyscedwyn Ironworks and the connection between Joseph Marryat Jnr. and slavery. It has been so interesting researching using official government documents, census, maps, databases, creating artwork and learning the history of Ystradgynlais from Mr Malcolm Best of the Ystradgynlais Heritage Society.

His father ( Joseph Marryat Snr.) was a slave-owner and when he died his sons inherited the slaves, plantations and the compensation given to slave-owners when slavery was abolished.

Joseph Marryat and Sons 1849 was active  in Welsh iron industry and as banker with Price, Marryat. The 1861 census shows him at Ystradglynais and having lived in Caedegar Road and formerly of  Maesydderwen Mansion which is now Maesydderwen Secondary School.   Joseph Marryat and Sir Charles Price had developed the pre-existing Ynys-Cedwyn Ironworks under the name of the Ynyscedwyn Iron Company.

World Book Day

Friday 3rd March

We enjoyed celebrating ‘World Book Day’ by reading English and Welsh books and using the library to explore and read new books.

Llangrannog Residential Trip

27th February- March 1st

It was a fantastic trip to Llangrannog where we were about to do so many activities we had never done before and practise our Welsh!

Internet Safer Day

We were able to learn about keeping safer on line with PC Skyrme and created posters.

8th February 2023

Building Robots – Lego Spike and coding with the Mini-Sphero!

We were very busy building our robots and coding the mini-spheres! It kept us very active moving them around the classroom and corridors. We enjoyed teaching the younger children how to control the mini-

3rd February 2023

NatWest MoneySense Lessons

26th January 2023

These lessons showed us how we paid for items in different ways; how to budget;  how jobs are linked to money and how we earn it!

Technocamps- Swansea University

We had a great day learning about Cryptography ( code-breaking);Robotics and Machines, using coding.

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Investigating-Are all metals magnetic?

As part of our  topic, we are investigating metals and what is the importance of recycling and sorting magnetic and non- magnetic metals. We used a range of magnets and investigated all the metal objects we have been collecting and brought from home. We recorded our results into a table.

Happy Chinese New Year-the year of the rabbit!

22nd January 2023

We celebrated The year of the rabbit by learning all about Chines New Year. We designed a dragon and made lanterns! It was interesting!

Gravity Art

16th January 2023

We studies all about moon and represented gravity using this art technique. We had amazing effects using paint.

The Bronze Ambassadors teaching the children warm up games.

12th January 2023

Making the panels for the ‘Crisp Blankets’ for the homeless charity.

11th January 2023

We began to iron the crisp packets together into panels. We laid the crisp packets out and fused them together by placing greaseproof paper on top, then carefully ironing so that they would fuse together. When we have enough panels we will send them to the following charity:

https://crisppacketproject.com

Please look at the website as they help so many homeless people.

Wow! We made a marble rollercoaster!

21st December

We all had so much fun building the rollercoaster out of plastic tubing and making the marbles run along the tubes! We had to change it so many times to make it work but it finally worked as you can see from the photographs!

On our way to Brynamman Cinema for our Christmas Trip!

20th December

The film and ice-cream was great!

Father Christmas and our Christmas Party! So much fun!

Cooking Christmas Shortbread!

We made Christmas shortbread to have at break time! They were so tasty we went home and made some with our parents!

Christmas Concert

Wednesday 14th December

We performed our concert in front of all our families and friends! It was amazing and we thoroughly enjoyed performing ‘Bah Humbug’ based on the story of the Christmas Carol.

Nadolig Llawen!

Christmas Jumper Day- Thursday 8th December

We enjoyed wearing our Christmas jumpers to school and we had a day full of Christmas fun and songs!

Ho Ho Ho! It’s Christmas Time!

Christmas Craft Day

Friday 3rd December

We used all our creative skills to design, paint, measure cut, join and decorate our Christmas crafts! We made Christmas cards, used lollipop sticks to make our Father Christmas, stars and Christmas trees! I think you can tell we really enjoyed making these for our families!

Coding with Lego Kits

Tuesday 29th November

We had so much fun using coding so that we could build our lego robots and make them move in different ways!

Creating QR Codes

We were able to create QR Codes for our ‘Genius Hour’ work so others could scan the codes to see our work!

Cycling Proficiency

We took part this week in lessons to achieve our Level 1 and Level 2 cycling proficiency certificates.

Monday 28th November

Proud to be Welsh- supporting our football team!

Friday 25th November

Children came to school for the ‘wear red for Wales’ day to support our players in the Football World Cup in Qatar!

Sewing with Adele!

In this session children learn how to measure cut, sew and stuff toy animals. These sessions are giving the children life skills as well as the enjoyment of being creative!

Christmas- children love to decorate the classroom!

Thursday 24th November

Children were so excited to decorate the Christmas tree and make decorations for the classroom!

Playing games to calculate numbers

Wednesday 23rd November

Children learning to play chequers!

May taught a group of children how to play chequers and as you can see they thoroughly enjoyed learning the new game!

Children in Need and our Sewing Skills

Friday 18th November

Children dressed up in ‘Spots and Pyjamas’ and fundraised by selling cakes. The year 5/6 children also had sewing lessons with  Adele and were thrilled with their cushions!

Remembrance Day

‘Lest We Forget’

Friday 11th November

On the 11th day, of the 11th month at the 11th hour 2022, we came  together with our community, on the square in Ystradgynlais to pay our respects to the fallen. We wrote poems about Flanders fields and poppies.

Kerbcraft

Thursday 10th November

Children attended a really important event to learn all about road safety. They looked at videos and listened to the presenter explaining about all the different rules they need to do in order to be safe when crossing the road.

Remembrance Day

Monday 8th November

The children learned all about the importance of all the different poppies.

Red Poppy – Royal British Legion- to those who sacrificed their lives in World War 1 and further wars.

Purple Poppy-  Remembering the animal victims of war.

Black Poppy Rose – Black, African and Caribbean communities that contributed to the war effort.

White Poppy – The white poppy is handed out by a charity called Peace Pledge Union, which promotes peace.

Making Poppies

Digital Champions

Friday 27th October

Children in Mrs Griffiths class worked with the Digital Champions to teach the other children how to use coding. They were able to build build  a Lego fairground ride  and make it move in different ways. Well done boys!

Sewing cushions!

Friday October 27th 2022

The children have been having a wonderful time learning new sewing skills with Adele. She has taught them measuring, cutting and sewing skills. They were thrilled to come back to class to show their cushions which has a pocket to keep their reading book, so they can read before going to sleep. What a lovely surprise – the children made a cushion just for me! How beautiful they are!

Swansea University Science Fair- Fantastic Fire!

Thursday 26th October

We travelled to the Taliesin Centre to see the ‘Fantastic Fire’ show. The demonstrations and experiments were amazing! One of the children was chosen to be the scientists assistant and was rewarded with a gift. It was a wonderful day with children learning all about fire and it’s chemical reactions.

Black History Month

October 1st 2022

Investigating Materials

The children wanted to find out which material was more effective when making the ‘crisp blankets’ for the homeless. They were able to take temperature readings at different intervals and record their results.

J2Blast Champion of the World

Thursday 20th October

Congratulation to Alfie who is currently No.1 in the world on the TTRockstars leader board! Look at that smile!

Dark Skies Event

Thursday 20th October

The children were involved in a ‘Dark Skies Event’ via zoom. They had opportunities to ask an astronomer questions about space:

How many stars are there? How big is the moon?Where does space end?Do stars have names? Why is the moon called the moon? What is the moon made out of? Are there any new planets that have been found? Can we live on any of the planets? Do planets grow? How long does it take into space?

History of Mining

Wednesday 19th October

The children are studying the topic- Our Environment. The children brought items into school from their homes; knee pads which were worn underground, a rescue pack which enabled the miner to survive for an hour whilst waiting to be rescued, a miner’s lamp and lumps of coal.

Using Excel to plan a party!

Wednesday October 19th

The children used Excel to plan a party. They had to use formulae to multiple the number of items they needed by the cost! They were thrilled as they were able to spend all the money they were given with no change by buying certain items. Well done girls!

Football First Event

Monday 17th October- such a great day,  learning new football skills and having fun!

Diwrnod Shwmae

Friday 14th October

The children encouraged each other to speak Welsh throughout the day. They also wrote poems, created ‘Shwmae’ posters and logos! The children used their digital skills to take photos of all the children in the different classes using the selfie ‘Shwmae’ board. We all ended the day by looking at the film of all the well-known Welsh people who sent their Shwmae wishes to all the children! A great day had by all!

Active Lives Day

Ysgol Maesydderwen – Thursday 13th October

We all had a fantastic day at Maesydderwen learning new skills: netball, football, rugby and hockey. The children also had the opportunity to make a healthy pitta pizza, play dough and key rings which they all bought back to school!

Queen Elizabeth II

We celebrated the life of Queen Elizabeth II by researching all about her life and her ancestors. We wrote poems, created Buckingham Palace using Minecraft and used collage to create a beautiful piece of artwork.

Homelessness- Crisp Blankets

12th October 2022

Homelessness – Crisp blankets- Pupils are working on a project with the Humanities Department in Maesydderwen to create crisp blankets for the homeless to keep warm. Throughout the year the children will collect crisp packets, clean them and fuse them together. At the end of the year they will be donated to organisations that will support the homeless.

Charity Work

Every year Blwyddyn 5/6 help different charities/organisations.

Food bank – 2020- Blwyddyn 5/6 sent letters out to parents for donations of food. They were sorted into hampers and given to CATCH, the local food bank to help families in need.

Books2Africa – 2021- Blwyddyn 5/6 sorted out the library and resource rooms in the school. They went on the website and found information about donating any books that we did not use within the school. The children had to box the books by weighing them (30kg) and labelling them for the courier to collect. They were proud when they received their certificate and regularly have updates about their donations. They are used in schools in Africa.

Homelessness – 2022- Crisp blankets- Pupils are working on a project with the Humanities Department in Maesydderwen to create crisp blankets for the homeless to keep warm. Throughout the year the children will collect crisp packets, clean them and fuse them together. At the end of the year they will be donated to organisations that will support the homeless.

Digital Champions- Lego Kits

10th October 2022

We can use coding to get the Lego objects, move and light up. We really enjoyed ourselves and we will be going into the other classes to teach other children how to do it!

Digital photographs

Having fun taking photos with the iPad- love the faces!

27th September 2022

Fantastic ‘Borb’ the digital Orb-27th September 2022

We had so much fun using coding to give instructions to move and to get it to talk to us and each other. We worked together to create different pathways to move it.

Circus Skills!

We had great fun doing the circus skills this week -21st September

2021/2022

Queen’s Platinum Jubilee– 27th May 2022

Year 5 & 6 love to party!

We had a wonderful time celebrating the Queen’s platinum Jubilee with a whole school outdoor party and a disco!