Important Dates  18.09.13 Prizegiving – 7 o'clock.  08.10.13 Parents’ Evening Yr. 11 –  3:45‐5:45  15.10.13 Open Evening –  6:30 – 8:30  25.10.13 Training Day – School closed to pupils. (This is not included in the Contact Book).  28.10.13 – 01.11.13 Half Term Holidays. 

 Attendance

  

Thanks to the co-operation of pupils and parents, the school’s attendance figures have improved considerably and have risen from 91.1% last year to 93% this year. There is always room for improvement, however, and far too many pupils still have an attendance rate of 92% or less. Next year we will be in regular contact with any home where the pupil’s attendance is 92% or less. We will introduce two changes from September :

1) Like every other school in Gwynedd, the school will not be grant any request from parents of pupils in years 10 and 11 to withdraw a pupil from school to go on family holidays and only 5 days will be permitted in years 7-9.

2) The National Assembly has published new guidelines that entitle schools to impose a financial penalty of £120 on parents where their children have missed 10 or more days without authorisation.

Presentation of Personal Profiles

On Friday 24 May, a ceremony was held to present  Personal Profiles to year 11 and year 13 pupils before they sat their examinations and left school. It was good to welcome PC Dewi Thomas as guest speaker. It has been a tradition for a number of years for the pupils to wear their best clothes for the ceremony – they all looked extremely smart! We heard an original musical composition, 'Latin Festival', by Lowri Evans and a solo by Catrin Griffiths 'Breuddwydio Wnes' (I Dreamed a Dream) from 'Les Misérables'. It was lovely to see the hall packed with parents and friends. The pupils presented their class teachers with gifts as a sign of appreciation. Our thanks to everyone who supported the ceremony.

Presentation of Personal Profiles : Gethin Williams, Emily Pritchard, Thomas Parry Glesni Jones, Dion Jones and Cerian Emlyn Jones

School Report – BBC

A group of year 8 pupils produced a radio bulletin for tBBC’s  School Report. They broadcast items about the new zip wire in Bethesda, parking problems in Gerlan, the school choir’s trip to Eurodisney, what was happening in the youand the developments in Neuadd

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Year 12

Trip to London

On the 24th and 25th of June a group of Yr. 12 BACC students travelled to London. Over a period of two days they had a chance to get a real taste of London, seeing the Changing of the Guards at Buckingham Palace, Big Ben, the London Eye, Downing Street and Trafalgar Square. ‘China Town’ and Leicester Square were lively and impressive and the British Museum was extremely

interesting. The group were escorted around the Houses of Parliament and were given the opportunity to talk with Hywel Williams MP and listen to part of a debate in the House of Lords. After a day of visits they were able to relax in the theatre during the evening and watch the musical ‘We Will Rock You’.

Writing Prize

Congratulations to Esme Crowe from year 7 for winning the second prize in the prose competition for year 7 pupils at the Urdd National Eisteddfod, held in Pembrokeshire at the end of May.

Year 6 Science Transition Activity

Year 6 pupils from the primary schools in our catchment area visited the school Science Department recently to enjoy a morning of science activities.   The department had arranged

‘CSI Bethesda’ activities! Someone had ‘borrowed’ the projector from the laboratory and that person had left evidence at the scene of the crime. The pupils’ role was to collect evidence, look at it and use it to try to decide which one of the three was the culprit. The pupils looked at samples of chemicals on the soles of their shoes, fingerprints and footprints and the ink used on the note that had been left by the criminal.  After returning to their schools, the pupils wrote a newspaper article on their findings and we are looking forward to reading them when the pupils arrive here in September.  

Ysgol Dyffryn Ogwen Sports Day

The school sports day was held this year on the school playing field on 5 June. We had a good day of competitions in the fine weather. Tryfan was the victorious house this year. The victorious pupils went on to compete in the Arfon competition later on. Congratulations to the enthusiastic group from year 10 who decided to raise money on the day. They collected a total of £300 by selling delicacies, cold drinks, crisps, little home-made cakes and small pots of ice cream from Môn ar Lwy – Taste of Anglesey. A cheque for £150 will be presented to the Alaw Ward by Eleanor Jones and the other £150 will go to the 'Race for Life' campaign, in which Lynne Jones, the Head of the English Department, and Sarah Freeman, a year 9 pupil, both ran. There was much fun and leg pulling as they raised the money but they also developed many useful workplace skills on the day. Many thanks to everyone for their efforts.

Boxing – Four Nations Competition

Sonny Riley, year 7, represented Wales in the semi-final in Motherwell recently. He won the bronze medal in the under 12s category for his weight. Well done, Sonny.

Athletics Success Congratulations to Aled Owsianka Roberts who came first in the high jump in the Eryri Schools Athletics Championships. Aled will represent the Eryri team in the Welsh Athletics Championships on 6 July in

Cardiff.

Cricket

Congratulations to Matthew Williams and Osian Glynne Jones on being chosen for the Eryri under 15 cricket team and to Matthew Buchanan, Sion Davies and Ben Roberts Williams on being chosen for the under 13 team. Matthew Buchanan has also won a cap for Wales again this year; best wishes to him during the games over the summer.

Rugby

Morgan Owen and Ashley Rowlands succeeded in winning places in the RGC (Rygbi Gogledd Cymru) under 16 rugby squad for the next season. Osian Glynne Jones has also been selected for the development squad; he is clearly an all-round sportsman. Games will be played against teams from the Ospreys, Blues and Scarlets regions during the season. You can follow their progress and find details of the games on the website www.nru.co.uk.

Activities Week

This term an activities week was held for all the pupils in years 7, 8 and 9. Fortunately the weather was fine and warm during the week this year and we had a good week with the pupils enjoying themselves and having interesting experiences. The emphasis was on developing skills and the activities contribute to elements of the Personal and Social Education framework such as Health Education, Citizenship and Environmental Education:

- Rope work and orienteering in Parc Padarn, Llanberis - First Aid activity, ‘Heartstart’ - 'Macbeth' workshop - Bangor University's ‘Talent Opportunities Programme’ - Enterprise activity – And what then? - Cycling - Art and cookery workshop - Health and Citizenship days - A local walk on the Carneddau - Visit to the Llangollen Eisteddfod - Teamwork on Llanddwyn beach

Bronze Achievement for the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award group!

Congratulations to the committed and adventurous group of Year 11 pupils who recently managed to achieve their Bronze Duke of Edinburgh’s Award – Matthew Evans, Dion Jones, Nathan Lambert, Guto Morris, Elis Ogwen, Daniel Roberts, Iwan Thomas and Gethin Williams. After a session of intensive training to develop their skills in map-reading, safety and the use of outdoor equipment, they were given the opportunity to display these skills during a two day expedition in Snowdonia. The group were able to take advantage of the sunny weather to follow a variety of trails from the Bethesda area, to Capel Curig and Llyn Crafnant and experience the thrill of sleeping, cooking, socialising and working together in the open air. Mr Dafydd Harris-Davies (Leader), Ms Glenda Parry (Deputy Leader) and Mr Dewi Emlyn (Assessor) also offered support during the expedition. Well done, everyone who was on the expedition and all the best for your further achievements in the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award.

School Meals Prices from September 2013

First Course                   ‐£1.70 Full Meal – first course, cake, custard or a bottle of water        ‐£2.15  

Package (roll and water or cake)               ‐£1.70 Pudding                    ‐£1.35 Bowl of Fruit                   ‐£1.35 Bowl of Salad                   ‐£1.65 Jacket Potato and 2 fillings               ‐£1.70 Large filled bap                   ‐£1.65 Filled roll                  ‐£1.30 Fajitas                    ‐£1.65 Pasta                    ‐£1.65 Paninis                    ‐£1.55  Cake or biscuit                   ‐£0.70 Fruit                    ‐£0.35 Toast                    ‐£0.25  Milk Shake                   ‐£0.70 Bottle of water                   ‐£0.60 Juice                     ‐£0.65

School Staff

At the end of another academic year the school says goodbye to Miss Elin Evans who has been with us as a general subjects teacher and Mrs Anita Owen, Head of Geography and Head of Years 7 and 8 who has been with us for 20 years. We thank them for their contributions and their hard work for the school. We will miss them. We welcome Mrs Nest Williams as the new Head of Geography.

Free School Meals/School Uniform Grant

You may be eligible for a grant from the Welsh Government to help you to buy school meals/school uniform for your child if you ar on a low income:- For more information contact the Gwynedd Benefits Office, Gwynedd Council, Penrallt, Caernarfon, Gwynedd, LL55 1BN. Tel:- 01286 682689. E-mail: budd-daliadau@gwynedd.gov.uk. 

Official School Uniform

Girls:

• Official school sweatshirt • Light blue polo shirt with the school logo • Plain black trousers (NO jeans, tracksuit trousers or

leggings) or a black skirt of suitable length – not much above the knee

• Dark low heeled shoes – black or brown – No TRAINERS

Games – Girls • Sports shoes • Shorts – dark blue • White T-shirt • Tracksuit – black or dark blue • Dark blue socks and pads

(Orchid Fashion)

Boys• Official school sweatshirt • White polo shirt with the school logo • Plain black trousers (NO jeans or tracksuit

trousers) • Dark low heeled shoes – black or brown – No

TRAINERS

Games – Boys • Football / rugby boots and sports shoes • Black shorts • White T-shirt • The school blue rugby shirt • Black knee-length socks and football pads

(Orchid Fashion)

Pupils are not permitted to wear jewellery apart from: a watch, one pair of plain ear ‘studs’, one plain ring on a finger. No other jewellery of any sort is permitted such as studs on any other part of the face. It is not permitted to wear caps, make-up or nail varnish and extreme hairstyles are not allowed, whether with regard to colour, length or style.

Primary / Seconday

It was a pleasure to welcome 61 pupils who are starting at Ysgol Dyffryn Ogwen in year 7 in September, for the day on the 4th of July. They were given a chance to experience Welsh, Technology and Physical Education lessons and to spend time in their new registration classes.