Principal s welcome back

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1 7 th September, Principal s welcome back TOP INDEPENDENT SCHOOL IN WALES! I am delighted to welcome everybody back after the summer break. As you will have seen from the local press, we have achieved outstanding results at A level and GCSE and I am proud to share these with you. At A level: 23% gained A* 55% gained A*-A 82% gained A*-C 12 students gained all A* 33 students gained all A* and A At GCSE: 7 girls achieved all A*s 29 girls achieved all As/A*s Of the total entries: 47% achieved A* 78% achieved A to A* 99% achieved A* to C While I am not a big fan of league tables, it is always lovely when we are near the top and many of you will have seen the article in the Echo which acknowledges us, once again, as the top school in Wales.

2 7 th September, Student News It was fantastic to have Hannah Mills, a former student, at our very first assembly talking to the students about her success in the Olympics, where she achieved a silver medal in the 470 sailing event. New Beginnings This year, we welcomed our new Year 7s and other girls through the Senior School. In the College, as well as welcoming most of our Year 11s back, we have also given a warm welcome to 68 new students. All the students have settled in well and there have been induction activities for both Year 7 and Year 12 to help them get to know each other and the staff. On Wednesday afternoon, Mrs Gosney launched our new, extended, Enrichment Programme to the Year 12 students. All members of the College met in the Sports Hall to hear about the many sporting and extracurricular activities on offer to them. We believe in a healthy body as well as a healthy mind and on Wednesday afternoon students can chose from a wide range of activities: from Aerobics, Rowing and Rugby to Dry Slope Skiing (please see the brochure attached). In the assembly, we also mentioned Hannah R-S in Year 7, who won 1st place at the optimist competition linked to the Extreme 40s event last weekend. Congratulations, Hannah! I was also delighted to hear that Molly in Year 8 took part in the Olympics Opening Ceremony. In addition to the many sporting activities on offer, the students were also keen to sign up for some of the numerous enrichment activities available in their curriculum time. Debating, Rock Band and Howell s Radio were some of the opportunities made available to them. (More news of Howell s Radio later as we are launching the Annual Fund this year to help support this exciting new initiative). This is in addition to the many lunchtime clubs that have been promoted during Freshers Fair. I hope that your son / daughter has signed up to take advantage of some of these great opportunities. And Finally Beauty and the Beast rehearsals are well underway and there is no doubt that it will be an amazing show. More details of how to purchase your tickets will be available in the next Newsletter. Sally Davis Molly was one of the Only Kids Aloud who were filmed and recorded at Rhossili beach singing "Bread of Heaven". Molly also sang with Only Kids Aloud and Only Men Aloud at the Paralympic Flame Festival concert on 27 August from outside the Millennium Centre. We were thrilled to see the LAMDA results which were exceptional again this year. This is a very important part of our extra-curricular offer. Well done to all involved. We are always delighted to celebrate the achievements of our students, so please keep us informed of any areas of success or excellence that can be shared with others. PRINCIPAL STOP PRESS Be sure to visit the Insole Court this Saturday between 2-5pm. The Insole Court Trust are hosting a very special event to celebrate the transfer of Insole Court from Cardiff County Council to the community.

3 Enrichment Programme What can you do?

4 Introduction to the College Enrichment Programme Mrs Michelle Gosney, Deputy Principal Sport for Leisure, Sport for Competition, Sport for Life Badminton Coach: Mrs Carol Jones Enrichment activities are a substantial part of your college offer. The range of sporting, academic and creative opportunities available allow every student to build on existing skills and talents as well as develop new ones. Beginners or experienced players are welcome to play badminton in the Sports Hall each week. Dry Slope Skiing Coach: Mr Peter Cruickshank The social benefits of being involved help students to develop confidence, friendships and self esteem. Engaging with others in social and competitive ways reinforces the Howell s ethos that a healthy body is a healthy mind. The College Enrichment Programme provides opportunities for all College students to enhance their learning through Sport in Action or Life Skills. The programme is timetabled on Wednesday afternoons and extended through a number of sports clubs and training sessions programmed as extra-curricular activities. If you are planning to join the College Ski Trip in February half term, this package of lessons would be an excellent introduction to the sport as well as the possibility of being involved in the Schools Dry Slope Skiing Championships. Choose one sport for the term or change sport or activity every half-term.

5 First Aid Course Coach: Mrs Anna Lewis Hockey Coach: Mr Geoff Roderick You would need to commit to this certificated course for half a term. The group size will be limited to 6 8 students. The course will run four times throughout the year. Fitness Training & Running Coach: Mr Tom Biebrach Training and matches are held on Tuesday after college at Leckwith Stadium. Team members will have the opportunity to take part in the GDST Hockey Rally in Northampton and the Cardiff and Vale Schools Tournament. Netball Coach: Mrs Fay Shorney Join Mr Biebrach in the Fitness Suite each week to develop your own training circuit. Football Coach: Mr Wally Carter (Left) Assistant Coach: Mr Steve Elmes (Right) Training and matches will take place on Wednesday afternoons. You will have the opportunity to take part in the School and Vale Tournament and the GDST Netball Rally in Northampton. Rowing Coach: Mrs Sarah Thomas Football for fitness will run every Wednesday afternoon. Training for those students who wish to be in the football team will take place on Monday after School. Team members will have the opportunity to take part in the Cardiff League and Under 18 Welsh Schools Cup competitions as well as local friendlies. Rowing for beginners, intermediate and experienced rowers will be arranged at Llandaff Rowing Club, by Captain Sarah Thomas. Courses will run depending on interest.

6 Rugby Coach: Mr Matthew Sweeney Zumba / Aerobics Teacher: Mrs Justine Davies Mr Sweeney has experience of coaching a Junior Blues Regional Team in 2010/11. He has led the Rugby at Howells for the past two seasons and have taken the team to the Urdd National 7s each year. He also arranged the inaugural Howell s 7s competition last season in which the Home Side were runners up to Stanwell School. We intend repeating this successful event in October The players will train on a Wednesday afternoon as well as playing regular friendlies against local Cardiff teams. Swimming Teacher: Mrs Fiona Mills Join Mrs Justine Davies in the Great Hall on Wednesday afternoons to enjoy Zumba for fun. Additional Opportunities Cross Country League races are held for boys and girls in the autumn term. Golf This sport is only available in the Spring Term. You will have the opportunity to use a local driving range and can take part in the Shelter Cymru Competition and the Schools Competition at local clubs. Free transportation is provided by the School. Ski Trip Ski trip to Austria during Spring Half Term Join Mrs Mills in the Swimming Pool on Wednesday to enjoy swimming for leisure. Gold Duke of Edinburgh s Award Yoga Teacher: Catherine Kelleher Join Mrs Catherine Kelleher on Wednesday afternoons in BR3 to enjoy yoga. Preparation for this award takes place during curriculum time and includes expedition training in the Brecon Beacons during autumn term. The practice expedition is held during summer term and the qualifying expedition will be held in the summer holidays Time: Monday, period 2, weeks A & B.

7 Extra Curricular Opportunities The Extended Project Entrepreneurship Mrs Julie House Mrs Kate Jones The Extended Project is an opportunity for students to design and carry out a research project of their own choice with minimal teacher supervision. A successful project allows students to demonstrate that they are creative learners with the ability to research, think critically and evaluate evidence to an advanced level, independently. It also requires a very high level of communication skills through the production of a written report and an oral presentation of the project to a selected audience. It is very useful to students applying for highly competitive degree courses who need to make their university applications stand out from the crowd. Debating Mrs Helen Davies Entrepreneurship can be defined by describing what entrepreneurs do. For example: "Entrepreneurs use personal initiative, and engage in calculated risk-taking, to create new business ventures by raising resources to apply innovative new ideas that solve problems, meet challenges, or satisfy the needs of a clearly defined market." Entrepreneurship is not restricted to business and profit: it may involve participation in an event which brings about a change to achieve some benefit. For instance last year s Bust fashion show raised 4000 for Velindre hospital s Leading Lights Campaign for specialist cancer care nurses. This charitable event resulted in the team participating in Global Entrepreneurship week and becoming finalists in a local Masterclass competition run by Careers Wales and Colorfoto. For a long time it was thought that entrepreneurs were special, that they were just born with the ability and desire to go their own way, on their own. Over the past twenty years or so, we've discovered that entrepreneurs learn to do what they do and that they also learn, to a large extent, to be who they are. That's why we say they are made not born. Many of the opportunities offered in the college help you to develop your entrepreneurial skills. In addition to being hugely enjoyable, both as a participant and as a spectator, debating develops the valuable skills of lucid communication, formulating and substantiating a coherent argument and challenging opposing viewpoints. It is an excellent preparation for university and job interviews where you are required to 'think on your feet' and for many career paths, including Law and Politics. At Howell's, we hold internal debates in a variety of formats, and participate in a range of national competitions, including the CEWC competition, Debating Matters and the Oxford and Cambridge Schools' Competitions.

8 Work Experience A work placement is your opportunity to spend a period of time outside the classroom, learning about a particular job or area of work. During your placement, you'll be able to find out what skills employers look for when they're hiring someone to fill a job vacancy. You will also get the chance to develop your selfconfidence and communication skills. This will help you to work better with other people in further or higher education, as well as in your future career. Extra Curricular Clubs Whizz Bang Science Join Mrs Churchman to prepare science experiments to take out to our feeder Junior Schools. Time: Week A: Tuesday, Period 4 Howell s Radio Join Mr Hunter in preparing radio broadcasts and learning how to operate our own school radio. Times: Week A: Monday, Period 2 Week B: Tuesday, Period 4 Howell s Rock Band & Musical Performance In Year 12 your work experience placement needs to be organised during school holidays as you cannot miss curriculum time from your studies. It is usual for this to involve working in a business or organisation full-time for one or two weeks, or spending one day per week in the workplace over a number of months. This latter choice may be particularly valuable if entering the voluntary sector as experience for Medicine courses. Consider care homes, charity shops, special schools which run literacy classes, mother & baby groups etc. See: Mrs House in the Careers Room Come along if you are interested in forming a school rock band and/or would like to be involved in musical performance. Times: Week A: Tuesday, Period 4 Week B: Tuesday, Period 4 Welsh for the workplace Times: Week A: Tuesday, Period 4 Week B: Thursday, Period 4 Fresher s Fayre At the Fresher s Fair, students are also introduced to the following opportunities: Choir, Jazz Group, Orchestra, Millennium Volunteering, Interact, Envision, Engineering, Welsh for the Workplace and Eco Club.

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