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WelcomeWelcome to our new magazine that spans Autumn 2011 &Spring 2012, and is intended to give you a rich flavour ofall that goes on in our school. Just looking through themany pictures brought so many smiles to my face as Ithought back on the many wonderful occasions. I am sureit will do the same for you.

At Rydal Penrhos it is important that pupils are activemembers of our community, that they are willing to havea go, that they persist until they achieve the standard theydesire (or higher) and that they enjoy both the process andthe success. The following pages are testament to the factthat it matters to them as well.

None of this happens just by accident and I would like tothank our dedicated staff for all that they do to make ourschool vibrant, successful and happy. I would also like tothank Mrs Lee-Browne, Mrs Griffiths, Mrs Ritchie and Mrand Mrs McCluskey for helping to get this edition off theground.

I hope you enjoy it.

Roger McDuff

Opening of Forest SchoolOn Friday 4th November 2011 Mrs Pat Jones, formerPenrhos pupil and teacher and both Penrhos and RydalPenrhos governor, kindly opened our Forest School, Coedy Plant. Pupils, parents, staff and governors gathered in thewoods for an unveiling of the entrance plaque and for theplanting of an oak tree.

Thanks to Mrs Jones’ generosity we were able to accelerateour Forest School development and thanks to Mrs Elson’shard work and commitment to the project we had been upand running since the start of the Autumn term.

2012 Open Events

Wednesday 16 May, 9.30am-12pmPreparatory, Pre-prep and Early Years OpenMorning

Friday 18 May, 2-4pmSenior School Open Afternoon

Friday 22 June, 6.30pmInformation evening for new Year 7 parents atNew Field.

Wednesday 4 JulyInto Year 7 Induction Day for Year 6 pupils

Early YearsNo two days are ever the same in our Early Years department. Whether children are dressing up as astronauts, paintingplanets, exploring the woods in Forest School or learning about their favourite toys, life is exciting and full of variety. Onehas only to enter our newly decorated rooms to pick up the buzz that is Early Years at Rydal Penrhos Prep. Over the pastfew months the children have met Father Christmas, been out on a teddy bear’s picnic, made space helmets for space day and,of course, joined with the rest of Foundation Phase in our Christmas play, dressed as monkeys. Their action song wasperformed wonderfully in both shows and underlined the confidence that our children develop at school.

Mrs Roberts, who leads our Early Years team, is ably assisted by Miss Roberts, Mrs Saunders , Mrs Shilton and Mrs Williams.The latter has been poorly recently and we wish her a speedy recovery and look forward to seeing her back in September. Wethank Miss Fox who is helping out wonderfully in the meantime. We also wish the very best of health and good fortune toMrs Shilton who is beginning Maternity Leave at Easter.

Our brilliant Early Years team not only provide an environment that is stimulating and challenging but they also have takenon this year the roles of individual Nursery Teachers for each child. This means that every child is cared for individually toa deeper level, programmes are put together that specifically meet each individual’s needs and parents have direct access toone particular teacher who is responsible for their child.

Speaking as an Early Years parent I cannot thank the staff enough for all that they do to make each day so special for thechildren (and for ensuring that they come home ready for a good night’s sleep!)

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Forest School

Forest School is an inspirational process. Children achieve,and develop confidence through hands-on learning in anoutdoor environment. It is based upon early childhoodprinciples of freedom in play, creativity, socialisation skills andemotional stability. Its benefits are increased self-esteem andself-confidence, improved social, communication and physicalskills and the development of an increased understanding ofthe environment.

Already we have seen our children take to this new adventurewith excitement and enthusiasm. For instance, Year 2 havedressed as Celts and discovered what it would be like to livein the woods whilst other children have used the outdoor areafor making music or creating art work. We have not yet meta child who does not enjoy going into the woods and who isnot benefitting from the experience. Our environment lendsitself perfectly to Forest School and we have been thrilled tobe able to take full advantage of this opportunity.

Insi

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In the Classroom

The Big BookAn exciting new initiative – the ‘Big Book’ – was launchedin Autumn 2011 in the Pre-Prep department. As part ofthe Foundation Stage, children in the Pre-Prep departmentare encouraged to initiate the learning process throughdiscussion and debate. The purpose of the Big Book is torecord this process. Year 2, led by Mrs Elson, started theirfirst Big Book on the subject of Buildings. The advantageof the book is twofold: “First and foremost it is somethingfor the children to get physically involved with,” said MrsElson. “...Secondly, it is possible for us to show parentswhat the children have achieved.”

NumeracyMaths Makes Sense is a new powerful maths programmethat is really helping our pupils succeed with their learning,not just for school, but for life. Significant emphasis isplaced upon the three stages of maths learning. Firstly,enactive, where children are involved physically for instancein counting cups, removing cups, sharing cups etc.Secondly, symbolic, where children use pictures to helpunderstand concepts and finally, iconic, where children uselanguage and symbols to solve problems. Classes areexciting and move with pace. Children are engaged and pickup a real understanding of mathematical concepts. This hasbeen our first year of using the new scheme and we canreally see the sense in using Maths Makes Sense.

LiteracyRead Write Inc. is an inclusive literacyscheme used in ourPre-Prep Departmentand it replaces theLiteracy Hour. It is ahighly structuredprogramme: in theEarly Years, thechildren look at theletters of the alphabet, both the sound they make and themnemonic used to remember how to write that sound. Thisthen progresses in Reception to the children learning toblend and segment those sounds ready for reading. DuringReception and following through to Years 1 and 2, thechildren apply their phonic knowledge to the pertinentreading and writing books, each book emphasising aparticular sound and letter blend. By the time the childrenhave completed the scheme at the end of Year 2, they willbe focusing upon writing coherent sentences with appositepunctuation and a familiarity with the link between soundsand their corresponding letter combinations.

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Being Creative Once upon a Rhyme‘Once upon a Rhyme’ is Rydal Penrhos Prep School’svery own book, written and produced by pupils fromYears 3 to 6. In this book of poems, pupils captured allaspects of nature, from snow and rain to dolphins anddaffodils. Proud pupils were each given a copy of thebook to take home and cherish. With beautiful imagesto complement the poems, the book will be a valuablekeepsake for many years to come.

Firework Fun

Zooming, blasting and twirling fireworks were the themeof the day, as Rydal Penrhos Prep School welcomed poetKate Williams. Kate transformed Mrs Bowman’sclassroom into an imaginary bonfire night celebrationfor workshops with Years 3, 4, 5 and 6. Pupils were askedto think of different words they could use to describethe movement of the fireworks, as well as the loudexplosions and the sparkly results.

Bein

g C

reat

ive

Morgan Kendall, Year 4 Louis Gilmartin, Year 3

Fireworks zoom like flying shooting starsThrough the dusty pitch black sky

Like a wonderful waterfall showering a rock faceWhistlers dodge and dart each otherThrough the magical pitch black sky

Like a swarm of buzzing beesRockets whizz and fly

Through the beautiful colourful skyLike a Formula One car on a straight track

They are as bright as the fire red sunAnd as noisy as thunder crashing in the sky

But the sky is as dark as a journey on a ghost train

Alex Davies, Year 4

Fireworks twirl, zip, zap and zoomThrough the pitch black gloomy sky

Like a broken telephone wire with sparksRoman candles bash, boom and burst

Through the ghostly, ghastly, witching skyLike an out of control bombThey whirl, whizz and fizz

Through the cloudy, misty dark skyLike angry wasps when disturbed

They are as bright as the fresh sun in the morningAnd as noisy as a fire alarm that’s ran out of batteries

But the sky is as dark as black as can be, like amidnight sky

Kevin Farrell, Year 4

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Author or Comedian?The Senior School Library was filled with the sound of laughter asYear 6 pupils were treated to a visit by the bestselling author of Buddyand Collision Course, Nigel Hinton. During his lively and energetic talk,Nigel explained how he began his writing career as a result of a dare,and how ideas for books can pop into his head when he’s leastexpecting them – even at a set of traffic lights (hopefully on red!). Hewent on to talk about how he uses his real-life experiences to help himwrite, and how childhood memories feature in his books. The sessionfinished with pupils quizzing Nigel about his impressive career as anauthor, TV and film scriptwriter and songwriter.

Adam Lee-Browne, Year 5

Aimee Adey, Year 4

Amy Bale, Year 5 Luke Hopper, Year 4

Night of SilenceEmily Brown, Year 6, Winner of the Inter-house Creative

Writing Competition

A night of silenceBleak snowSprawling

A swathe of heavy carpetConcealing the ground

Couldn’t stop shoots of grassGingerly

Peering up at the whiteness of it allFeebly giving up their attemptsStill, softly falls every snowflake

A night of silenceSnow capped gate post

StandingTall and uprightA proud soldier

Guarding the house from threatStill, softly falls every snowflake

A night of silenceRobinSitting

Alert, his posting the gate postBlood red breast

ShiningA vivid warning flare

Still, softly falls every snowflake

A night of silenceFir treesStooping

Under their heavy burdenSnow

White as icing sugarA cloak

Draping around their bony shouldersStill, softly falls every snowflake

A night of silenceMe!

Staring!At the wonder

The whiteness of it allThe crispness of it all

Still, softly falls every snowflake

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Chr

istm

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Christmas...

10

Spor

t

The Prep school cross country course is hilly andmuddy – so good practice for races! In November ourU11 boys and girls teams travelled the long journey toSt Mary’s Hall to take part in the IAPS North WestSchools cross-country championships. This is a hardrace against stiff competition so the boys were delightedto finish 3rd overall, with Solomon Dickens (11th) andFinlay Hare (15th) getting top 20 places. Three girls –Hannah Bloodworth (13th), Daisy Lee-Browne (17th)and Molly Noad (18th) also came in the girls’ top 20.Well done to all our runners!

Football Captain: Ethan HillThe football teams had a good term with some greathighlights (see below) and many close matches. AsAditya Swaro reported after an U8s match against TheFirs: “Some of us came back with bruises but it was allworth it!” U11A v Terra Nova 5-3 (Solomon Dickens 3; Man ofthe Match Ben Subkovas for great defence)U11 Bronze medal winners at 6 a-side footballtournament at Ellesmere College U11 v St Mary’s Hall 5-2 (Solomon Dickens 3, WilliamSissons 2; Man of the Match Ben Subkovas)U10 v St Mary’s Hall 2-0 (Man of the Match MatthewKatsouris)U9 v Abbeygate College 2-0 (Savanna Dickens 2; Manof the Match Matthew Katsouris)

Cross Country Chess

FootballHockey Captain: Daisy Lee-BrowneThe first match of the season was played on grass(against Terra Nova), but a win set the U11 team off toa good start. The U10s had some excellent wins againstSt Mary’s Hall and Liverpool College, and the U11s hadseveral close matches and a win against The Ryleys. U11 v Terra Nova 3-2 (Savanna Dickens 2, Molly Noad1)U11 v The Ryleys 2-0 (Daisy Lee-Browne 1, GeorgiaJones 1)U10 v St Mary’s Hall 3-0U10 v Liverpool College 3-1

Sports and Clubs

Chess Captain: Imogen Camp

2011 has been an incredible year for the Chess

team, with both Imogen Camp, Year 6, and Arjan

Bolina, Year 4, selected to represent Wales at the

Junior Quadrangle Team Tournament in

December. Arjan was recently crowned Welsh

Chess Junior Grand Prix Champion. Amrit Bolina

from Year One made it two tournament wins out

of two when he won the Pre-Prep section of the

UK Chess Challenge Round One, on Saturday

3rd March, 2012 and William Sissons from Year

6 was the highest scoring Prep School player in

the competition.

Hockey

11

Sailing

Swimming

Drama

Every Summer term, groups of pupils from Years 3-6

are taken down the road to the promenade for 'taster

sessions' in sailing. They are accompanied by trained

members of staff and experienced sailors from the

senior school. They learn single-handed sailing in

Optimists, Toppers, Picos, RS500s, Lasers and RS

Teras, as well as having an opportunity to go for a

joyride in a dinghy with an instructor. Very shortly after

starting they get to compete, and last year Prep sailors

took part in the Northern Prep School Challenge on

Killington Reservoir and the Pico Challenge in Colwyn

Bay. This year we look forward to adding the IAPS

Regatta to the mix.

Swimming Captains: Molly Noad and Tom Bale

Our swimmers continue to make everyone at the Prep school

very proud. In the Urdd competition, no fewer than six

individual swimmers and four relay teams won their races in

the Conwy county heats at Llandudno. This qualified them to

swim in the national finals in Cardiff in January. But before

then, the Prep school competed for the first time in an IAPS

gala at St Mary’s Hall where once again our swimmers came

away with a clutch of medals. The results of the Urdd national

finals in January 2012 were:Silver Teddy Roberts Individual butterfly (Yr3/4)

Bronze Finan Close Individual breastroke (Yr 3/4)

Gold Boys' Freestyle Relay Yr 3/4 (Finan Close, Teddy

Roberts, Finlay Hare, George Smith-Edwards)

Silver Boys' Medley Relay Yr3/4 (same team)

Gold Boys' Freestyle Relay Yr5/6 (Tom Bale, Adam Lee-

Browne, Will Sissons, Matthew Harrison)

Skiing Captain: Daisy Lee-BrowneSkiing continues to be extremely popular in the Prep school with

around 60 children heading for the ski slope in Llandudno every

Thursday afternoon for lessons. From beginners through to our

Squad skiers, we have phenomenal talent in the school. The first

event of the season, the North Wales Ski Races saw Rydal

Penrhos Prep win Gold, Silver and Bronze team events, as well as

Gold individual medals for Keira Bonnington, Ben Constantine and

Daisy Lee-Browne. At the Welsh Ski Championships in

Llangrannog, the Rydal Prep A team – Aaron Spencer, Ben

Constantine, Alex Davies and Keira Bonnington – all skied

brilliantly to win the Championship Shield. In January 2012 Keira

Bonnington was crowned Mini Girls Welsh Champion in

Champery, Switzerland. Our thanks go to many dedicated

parents, to Mrs Twine, but most of all to Mrs Elson for the many,

many hours she has spent at the ski slope.

Skiing

The drama club wows audiences twice a year with

fantastic performances in the School Hall. The

youngest members of the School took part in an

original production, ‘Christmas Chaos’ in December,

while Year 4 delighted audiences with their take on

‘Persephone’ by Julia Donaldson. The play saw

Persephone, played by Ellie-Rose Smith taken to the

Underworld by Pluto (Gabriel Maelor Pritchard) and

the subsequent search to get her back. The fantastic

scenery and music added to the drama and the hard

work and commitment by the pupils ensured a

wonderful production. There will be more about

Persephone in the next newsletter.

Trip

s &

Mus

icTrips and Music

St Asaph Cathedral

Year 5 enjoyed a visit to St Asaph

Cathedral in October. Pupils were

lucky enough to see one of only three

surviving copies of Bishop William Morgan’s

Welsh Bible, which is housed in the Cathedral.

They also had an opportunity to become a

Bishop, a Dean or a Canon as pupils learnt

about the Anglican system of dioceses in

Wales. The visit finished with a whistle-stop

Treasure Hunt around the Cathedral building.

Chester Trip

In December, Year 4 went on a trip tovisit The Grosvenor Museum inChester to learn more about the topicof Romans. The pupils had a greatday, exploring the secrets of Roman life,examining real and replica artefacts as well asdressing up as Roman soldiers, beforemarching around Chester (or Deva to give itits original Roman name) with a Romansoldier.

Llanrug

In September all the pupils in Year

6 went to Snowdonia to stay at

Llanrug Residential Centre for a

week of activities. The weather

was hot and sunny and pupils enjoyed a wide

range of challenges including kayaking, gorge-

walking, rock climbing, sea level traversing

and some evening star-gazing!

“…my instructor helped me across because I

was scared. Have a go because it’s fun!”

“How much fun on a scale of 1 to 10? 10!”

Issue 1 – Page 12

Celt Power

Pupils in Year 2 were Celts for a dayduring a trip to Plas PowerEnvironmental Education Centre inSeptember. The action-packed day includedhelping out a Celt with wattling and daubing,designing shields, making thumb pots, andthrowing spears. Pupils dressed up in tunicsand shawls, painted their faces with blueswirls, and spiked their hair to be magicallytransformed into trainee Celts.

Animal Music

Ensemble Cymru clarinettist Sioned

Roberts enthralled pupils in Year 3 in

an animal-themed workshop and

informal concert in September.

Sioned played excerpts from ‘Peter and the

Wolf’ to show how music can portray different

animals, then helped the children as they took

their turn. Trumpets, hand drums and

xylophones were used to depict an elephant

blowing his trunk and stomping around while

surrounded by little crawling insects!

Chair Music

Members of Ensemble Cymru heldworkshops with all year groups inthe autumn term, ending with Year6 in December. At their lunchtimeconcert, Year 6 performed a piece based on‘ostinato’ – repeated patterns – called ‘ChairMusic’. The pupils, Mr Williams, Sioned andMike from Ensemble Cymru were led byconductor Daisy Lee-Browne, who set thetempo and stopped and started each player asthey tapped their way through a crescendoand back. Fantastic!

Artwork inspired by Year 1 visit to Mostyn Gallery

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New

sMrs ElsonParents, pupils, colleagues and governors were all saddened to begin 2012 with the awful news that Mrs Elsonhad been taken ill over the holidays and would not be returning to work. The gap that this has left in our heartsand in our school is enormous. Kelly was a terrific Head of Pre-Prep, full of energy, a great teacher, a real rockon whom children, colleagues (including Heads) and parents could lean. Her commitment to the children tookher to many places, including the heated climes of the swimming pool with lessons and squad, the cooler slopesof the Great Orme with our skiers and, more recently, into the woods with Forest School. Two characteristicsrun through all that she did. First, a drive to make a positive difference for all the children she came across andsecondly, great success. As I write, Kelly is fighting to make a real difference for herself and I know we all hopeshe is just as successful as she has been at school.

Rydal Penrhos SocietyWhen students walk out of school on their final day, it’s certainly not “goodbye”. We love to stay in touch, heartheir news, celebrate their successes and provide support in the years to come. All former students automaticallybecome a member of the Rydal Penrhos Society, joining a diverse group of people who also attended RydalPenrhos, Rydal School or Penrhos College. Members are invited to events and reunions throughout the year,both at school, across the UK, and around the world. They receive the Society Newsletter twice a year, receivehelp organising reunions and events and, above all, are part of a vibrant network of former students aged

between 18 and 103! With a huge selection ofcareers from Law, Medicine and Education, toMarine Biology and professional kite surfing,there really is a lot of knowledge and experienceto be shared.

If you have any questions about the RydalPenrhos Society, please get in touch with Alumni& Development Director, Sarah Ritchie, onSJRitchie@rydal-penrhos.com, or by telephoneon 01492 539736.

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Senior School News2011 saw the school’s best A-levelresults since the current A-levelcurriculum was introduced ten yearsago, and it is significant that all bar fourof the candidates secured at least oneB grade, showing the breadth of theirsuccess. 85% of pupils achieved A*-C,64% scored grades A*-B, and out of25 A-level candidates, 37% wereawarded A* and A grades.

The A-level results reinforce theschool’s success in the InternationalBaccalaureate; those results werepublished in July, and the 28 IBcandidates achieved an average scoreof 31.5 points. On the tariff used byUCAS for university admissions, the

Excellent Exam Results in 2011

Maximising our AssetsIn September the school saw a changein the weekly routine and a revisedtimetable for the new academic year.Both these changes were introducedto make the best use of opportunitiesfor learning in the classroom andbeyond. All academic lessons are nowconcentrated early in the day while theafternoons are given over to sport,outdoor education, cultural andenrichment activities, which carry oninto the early evening as well as theweekends.

Sport has always been at the heart ofthe school, whether it be throughteam sports or individualperformance. Team sports have gonefrom strength to strength in the pastyear, with notable successes includingwinning the boys’ National Hockeychampionships at U18 & U12, the 1stXV representing Wales in the

average IB score of 398 UCAS pointsis equivalent to 2 A*s and an A – atruly outstanding achievement. Whencombined with the A-level results, theschool’s average points score is 356UCAS points, equivalent to everyleaver achieving 3 A grades.

In GCSE 91% of candidates scoredA*-C grades – the standard measurefor success at GCSE – and 46% ofthose were A* and A grades. The yeargroup scored an average of 9 A*-Cpasses. Three candidates scored all A*and A grades: Annabel Large, HenrySalisbury and Sarah Wright amassed 34of the top grades between them, and atotal of 17 pupils achieved at least

seven A* or A grades each. 2012 seesthe exciting introduction of the OCRNationals into the Sixth formcurriculum to provide an additionalprogramme for pupils who wish togain a formal qualification that has A-level equivalence but with a morevocational slant.

We are delighted that the current HeadBoy, Thomas Warrington, has beenoffered a place to read Engineering atEmmanuel College, Cambridge, andStephen Brown, who left last summer,has been awarded a post-results placeto study Mathematics at ChurchillCollege, Cambridge.

inaugural Six Nations Rugby Festival,and an unbeaten U12 Cricket team.All three girls’ hockey age groups arestill on course to reach the NationalFinals, as are the senior Netball teamin the Presidents’ Cup. The 1st XVnarrowly lost to Crawshays andEllesmere but had good wins againstStonyhurst (previously unbeaten) andKing’s School, Macclesfield.

In outdoor education pupils areenjoying the increased time andopportunity to discover all aspects ofthe programme. The school continuesto enjoy a fine reputation with sailing.The Duke of Edinburgh programmeis growing in popularity, with threetraining weekends already organisedthis term. There are regular white-water and sea-kayaking weekends, aswell as climbing and mountain-walking trips. We were indebted to acurrent parent for a generous

donation to support the department.

The new school routine has enabled avery wide number of enrichmentclubs to run: 137 different activitiesfrom Archives to Zumba ensure thatpupils continue to experience a widerange of academic, creative andpractical activities, complementing theschool’s desire to nurture all-roundabilities in all our pupils.

Issue 1 – Page 15

Rydal Penrhos Preparatory SchoolPwllycrochan Avenue

Colwyn BayLL29 7BP

Telephone: 01492 530381Email: prep@rydal-penrhos.com

www.rydalpenrhos.com

The Heart of the School...