Gelli Primary School Latest News

Countdown to London 2012

2012-01-29T21:43:00.000Z

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This year our Cluster PESS Co-ordinators are planning to mark the

London 2012 Olympic and Paraolympic Games with some special

activities that our pupils will be able to participate in. Catch up on these

in the PESS Blog soon

School reopens for the Spring term 2012

2012-01-02T12:18:00.000Z

School reopens for the Spring term for pupils on WEDNESDAY 4th January 2012. Breakfast Club will be open from 8.00 a.m. as usual. We hope that everyone had a wonderful Christmas and that Santa brought you everything that was on the list. We now look forward to a busy term and getting back into the routine. There are many exciting activities to look forward to for the pupils to be engaged in. We look forward to welcoming everybody back.

Track Santa on his ride tonight

2011-12-24T09:42:00.000Z

You can trach Santa's Sleigh ride tonight by following the link below
http://www.noradsanta.org/en/

Nadolig Llawen babw

School Council hold meeting in the Welsh Government Senedd Building

2011-12-18T20:49:00.000Z

The School Council visited the Senedd in Cardiff Bay to hold a meeting in Siambr Hywel and to look at where the Assembly Members make decisions about things that happen in Welsh life. Here is a video diary about what happened during the day.

Thank you and a Happy Christmas to all at Gelli Primary School

2011-12-18T11:31:00.000Z

May I on behalf of the governing body and staff offer our thanks for the cards and presents that we are given by the children each Christmas. We really appreciate the effort made to thank us each year. We hope that everyone will enjoy a peaceful Christmas and that Santa brings everything on your lists. As usual, the pupils have created a wonderful athmosphere in school and the concerts and other end of term activities have put us all in the festive spirit.

Please also join us in offering our prayers and condolences to the Davies family during this difficult time for them.

Over the next few days I will be updating the blog with videos of the Grandparents Concert and other activities that have been taking place during this busy term. I have a new piece of software that will allow us to transfer these to our blogs more effectively.

I will also use the text to parents service to remind parents of arrangements for returning to school in the new year.

Year Six bid farewell to Mr Jones

2011-12-17T19:43:00.004Z

This is the video of the complete assembly that Year 6 prepared and performed for Mr Jones on his last day

Mr Jones' Farwell Assembly

2011-12-17T00:34:00.000Z

Here are some short videos of sketches and songs taken from Mr Jones' farewell assembly this morning

Here is a sketch where Mr Jones falls out of the Pound Shop in Ton Pentre

Shannon introduces the next sketch

Mr Jones slips up again

Mr Jones falls off a chair

Shannon closes the sketches

First Song

Second Song

Finale

Thank you Year Six for giving Mr Jones such a wonderful send off

Goodbye and pob lwc Mr Jones

2011-12-16T21:00:00.003Z

A new member of the team

2011-12-14T22:20:00.000Z

I am very pleased to announce that the Governing body appointed Mrs Joanna Taylor to succeed Mr Christopher Jones as Learning mentor for Additional Learning Needs today. Mrs Taylor is currently ALN Co at St Michael's Primary School in Newport and will take up the appointment in the summer term. She is an experienced teacher and her current school was praised in a recent ESTYN inspection this summer. She has recently moved back to the Pontypridd area but has relatives in the Treherbet area so we are really welcoming one of our own home. I am sure that Mrs Taylor will be missed when she leaves her current school and we look forward to her joining us after Easter.

Arrangements for the Christmas Concerts

2011-12-04T13:30:00.000Z

During this week parents will be sent their allocation of tickets for theupcoming Christmas Concerts.

Class 1 and 2 - (Nursery and Reception) will be allocated two tickets perfamily per performance which will be held on Monday 12th December at 1.30 p.m.and Tuesday 13th December at 9.30 a.m.

Class 3 and 4 - (Year 1 and 2) will be allocated two tickets per family perperformance which will be held on Monday 12th December at 2.15 p.m. and Tuesday13th December at 10.15.

The Junior concert this year will be performed jointly by Years 3, 4, 5 and6. Due to the limitation on space in the Hall we will only be allocating ONETICKET per family per performance. Tickets will be issued to the elder sibling.These performances will take place on Tuesday 13th December at 1.30 p.m. and at6.00 p.m. I realise that this will be a disappointment to some but we simplycannot accommodate any additional family members. We have explored thepossibility of moving the performances to a larger venue in the community butthis has proved to be difficult.

We will, of course, be filming the performances so that you may purchase theconcerts on DVD for posterity.

Please will you abide by the no photography rule. In addition this year wewill not be able to accommodate any children under school age in pushchairs orbuggies. A recent change in the fire safety regulations has led me to requestthat this regulation be observed. I thank you in advance for your anticipatedco-operation.

As usual we will not be charging for admission to the concerts but would askyou to make a voluntary contribution to the school fund during a retiringcollection.

School is closed for pupils on Wednesday 30th November 2011

2011-11-29T23:03:00.001Z

Members of the GMB and UNISON trade unions - along with the Professional Associations of the National Association of Head teachers (NAHT); National Union of Teachers (NUT); National Association of Schoolmasters and Union of Women Teachers (NASUWT) have notifed their employs that the school will be involved in industrial action on Wednesday 30th November 2011. School will be closed for pupils.

The decision to close the school or send pupils home is never takenlightly, but in this instance, where staff have elected to take lawfulindustrial action, I will have no choice but to take appropriate steps toensure the health, safety and well being of all pupils

Bag2School Collection on Wednesday 23rd November 2011

2011-11-21T20:49:00.000Z

We are pleased toannounce that the school has organised a textile collection with Bag2School in order to raise funds forour playground equipment project.

Bag2School are the UK’s leading textile recycler andfundraiser working with schools and since its inception in 2001 they have nowpaid out over £10 million.

As well as raisingvitally needed funds for our school, it also helps the environment by helpingto divert unwanted textiles away from landfill. A recent DEFRA report has shownthat textile collection schemes are helping to reduce the volume of textilesdiscarded as municipal solid waste. However it is a fact that as a nation westill send 1,081,000 tonnes of textiles to landfill every year.

By gettinginvolved in our Bag2Schoolcollection, you have an opportunity to sort through your cupboards andwardrobes and donate unwanted textiles in the bag provided – this can includeadults’ and children’s clothes, shoes (tied together please), hats, belts,bags, soft toys, curtains and bedding (not duvets or pillows). We will receive £500 per tonne or £0.50/kg which willbe a great boost for our fundraising. In addition it will also raise awarenessamongst the children of the benefits of recycling and reuse.

If you fill thedonation bag and still have more then you can use any other bag to donate youritems and don’t forget to ask grandparents, friends and neighbours to have asort out as well!

Bag2School will be collecting from ourschool on WEDNESDAY 23^rdNOVEMBER at 9.00 a.m. Please bring your bag (or bags!) to THE SCHOOL HALL and help us havea really good collection.

Many thanks indeed for helping us with this uniquefundraising opportunity.

Urgent information for parents regarding industrial action on Wednesday 30th November 2011

2011-11-21T20:38:00.000Z

Members of the following trade unions - the GMB and UNISON along with the Professional Associations of the National Association of Head teachers (NAHT); National Union of Teachers (NUT); National Association of Schoolmasters and Union of Women Teachers (NASUWT) have notifed their employs that the school will be involved inindustrial action on Wednesday 30th November 2011. As my professional association is one of the above I am required to undertake a risk assessment relating to the potentialimpact of the action. Under current industrial legislation employees who continue to workcannot be required to undertake work beyond their normal duties. The risk assessment is made against the impact that the action will have on thehealth and safety of pupils, staff and visitors, whether the school is able todeliver a full or amended curriculum and ultimately whether the school should remainopen or whether it should close.
I have informed the Director of Education and Chair of Governors that the school will be closed for pupils on that day. The reasons are that it is not possible to provide adequate staffing cover for all or some of the pupils; No first aid cover be available; There will be indequate supervision of children at lunchtime and break times neither will there be sufficient support staff available in class to assist with children with special needs etc and the particular demands of nursery and KeyStage 1.Emergency hazards will not be dealt with appropriately, such as broken glass, spillages and hygiene issues such as cleaning of toilets and dealing with vomitand other bodily fluids.
The representatives of the professional associations have asked me to write to parents informing you of why this action is being undertaken.
Followingjoint meetings and discussions with the government, the professional associations believe that theproposed changes to pension schemes are unfair and unnecessary. They believe thatthe proposed changes will seriously damage motivation and morale, exacerbatingthe already serious problems of recruitment and retention of school leaders.
First and foremost, school leaders see the attacks on pensions as an attack on pupils.This is because they fear that any cuts to terms and conditions such as pensionscould have a profound effect on the recruitment and retention of talentedstaff. Heads fear that high calibre graduates may be discouraged from enteringthe profession and force gifted younger staff to re-think staying on.
Teachers have already accepted their part in helping to bring the nation’s debtunder control by accepting a two-year pay freeze and tighter budgets. It isalso why they have made sure that the teachers’ pension scheme – which was significantlyamended in 2007 - is sustainable and affordable, a fact with which the NationalAudit Office and the Public Accounts Committee concur. We are extremelyconcerned that school closures will disrupt the lives of working parents andregret that it may come to that. However, we hope parents and the widercommunity understand that school leaders believe passionately in the value of agood education and do not see why it should be put at risk to pay for themistakes of others.
Please will you make alternative arrangements for your children on this day as the school will not be open to receive any pupils. School will recommence for all pupils on Thursday with Breakfast Club opening at 8.00 a.m.

A BIG THANK YOU for our Children in Need donation

2011-11-20T11:18:00.001Z

A BIG THANK YOU to everyone who donated money for our CHILDREN IN NEED APPEAL this year. We collected £196.16 and Miss Mathias managed to telephone our pledge in to the BBC Office and hopefully our sum will be displayed on the banner on the screen sometime during the Children in Need television programme on Friday.

Announcing our Art Exhibition

2011-11-19T13:35:00.000Z

The pupils and staff are delighted to announce an exhibition of the children’s art to be held in our school gallery on Thursday 1st December 2011.
The children have produced some stunning art and we know you will be proud when you see their beautiful pictures professionally framed and mounted on display stands.
The Visual Arts play a big part in the life of the school and is an area that every child can enjoy and play a full part in. The Art Curriculum encourages display, so having their art framed and displayed will be a big occasion for them. Someone special to show it to will add a lovely finishing touch for them so make a space in your diary for this special event!
These original framed works of art can be purchased by the artist’s family.
If you would like to purchase your child’s picture but cannot come to the exhibition, just send the money in an envelope and we will look after delivery.
The exhibition will not be an annual event, so do come along, bring your camera, bring family and friends and with your help we can make it an occasion to remember for everyone.

I would like to wish a warm welcome to parents, grandparents and other family members to join us to view your children’s work. Nursery and Reception children will be in the hall at 3.00 p.m. Year 1 & 2 children will also be in the hall at 3.10. You are requested to collect your children from the hall once you have visited the exhibition. Junior children will join them at 3.15. Refreshments will be available. Please make a big effort to come and see your child’s work and make this exhibition a success.

Our previous exhibition in 2008 was very popular and feedback from parents was very positive. Let's hope that this will be able to be replicated this year. Reminders will be sent by pupil post and text2parents messages.

Children in Need celebrations

2011-11-17T22:18:00.000Z

Tomorrow we will celebrate Children in Need day as usual in School. The pupils will be invited to dress up in pyjamas or any other clothes as school uniform need not be worn on this occasion. We will be taking a coin collection as usual and the money will be donated to the BBC Children in Need appeal. Teachers will discuss with pupils what is appropriate to wear and if you want some help in making the most of the day all the information is on the BBC Children in Need website at http://www.bbc.co.uk/pudsey/

Healthy Schools Phase Four Award

2011-11-15T23:06:00.000Z

Today we were assessed for the Fourth Phase of our Healthy Schools Award and, of course, we were successful. My thanks go to the staff and pupils for developing the initiatives that were part of our action plan and to Mrs. Fraser for leading the project. Look on the Healthy Schools Blog to see what evidence we provided and see the photos and videos of the related activities.

Christmas Celebrations and Activities

2011-11-14T16:05:00.000Z

The arrangements for the last week of term activities for our Christmas celebrations are as follows.

Monday 12th December

1.30 p.m. Class 1 and 2 Concert (Nursery and Reception)

2.15 p.m. Class 3 and 4 Concert(Year 1 and 2)

Tuesday 13th December

9.30 a.m. Class 1 and 2 Concert (Nursery and Reception)

10.15 a.m. Class 3 and 4 Concert (Year 1 and 2)

1.30 p.m. Junior Concert

6.00 p.m. Junior Concert

Wednesday 14th December

School uniform not needed

1.30 p.m.FOUNDATION PHASE PARTY Class 1, 2, 3 and 4 (Nursery, Reception Year 1 and Year 2)

Thursday 15th December

School uniform not needed

1.30 p.m. JUNIOR DEPARTMENT PARTY

Friday 16th December

School uniform not needed

School will close after afternoon registration for the Christmas holidays.

Parents please collect pupils at 1.10 p.m.

Newsletter 6 Monday 14th November

2011-11-14T15:25:00.000Z

Planned industrial action for Wednesday 30th November 2011
Several of the teaching and other unions have balloted their members and at present I have been informed that there is a plan to take industrial action in support of the opposition to proposed changes to their pension plans. Precise details of the action to be undertaken is not available but it is likely that parents will need to make alternative childcare arrangements for that day as the school will be closed. As soon as I have precise information I will clarify the situation with you. Please will you make contingency plans for this day should the strike action take place.

Year 6 Remembrance Assembly
May I take this opportunity to thank Mr Jones and Year Six for providing us such wish such a moving assembly on Friday morning. It was a special occasion and I am very pleased that we were able to come together on Armistice Day to commemorate those who have given their lives in the various conflicts around the world. It is very important that the pupils of Gelli Primary are aware of this national commemoration. I am sure that parents who were able to attend were moved by the message the pupils conveyed. Diolch yn fawr.

Parents Focus Group
Mrs. Flanary-Davies met with our newly formed Parents Focus Group on Friday. I hope that this will be an opportunity for parents to contribute to developments in the development of provision. I hope to meet with the group on a regular basis so that the parent voice can contribute in a positive way. The group plan to issue bulletins to communicate any developments to parents.

School Crossing Patrol
Mrs. Lake our School Crossing Patrol outside Darran’s has recently retired. Mrs. Flanary-Davies and members of the school Council presented Linda with a bouquet of flowers in recognition of her long service in keeping our pupils safe. We wish her well in her retirement. We are working with the School Transport Team to recruit a replacement for her. I recently sent a text asking parents inquiring whether on not anyone would wish to be trained as a School Crossing Patrol Officer at Ty Isaf Road. If you know of anyone who would like to take this opportunity please contact the school.

Bags2School
The School and Eco Council have organised an initiative to collect unwanted textiles in good condition which are then sold to export markets worldwide where they are sorted and then sold to the general public. Bag2School is a free fundraising scheme established in 2001. They work in partnership with Schools to help us raise funds from our donations. They operate throughout the UK; collecting and selling your unwanted textiles to importers and wholesalers in many countries of Eastern and Western Europe, Africa and Asia. The funds that this scheme generates will then go towards the Eco School Action plan. We have distributed bags next week and you can return them to school and deposit them in the school hall from Monday 21st November onwards. If you require additional bags please bring them in ordinary black bin bags and they will be transported in those. The bags will be collected on Wednesday morning 23rd November so please can all bags be returned before then. We raised over £250 last summer and I hope that we can top that on this occasion.

Children in Need – Friday

On Friday we will celebrate Children in Need day as usual in School. The pupils will be invited to dress up in pyjamas or any other clothes as school uniform need not be worn on this occasion. We will be taking a coin collection as usual and the money will be donated to the BBC Children in Need appeal. Teachers will discuss with pupils what is appropriate to wear and if you want some help in making the most of the day all the information is on the BBC Children in Need website at http://www.bbc.co.uk/pudsey/

Art Exhibition
The children are busy completing their paintings for an Art Exhibition which will take place on Thursday 1st December at 3.00 p.m. The organiser will be in school next Friday to collect the exhibits for framing. Please will parents put this date in your diaries to view and purchase your child’s work. We will send out precise details of this event in a separate newsletter, however, those parents who remember the previous exhibition will remember how successful an event it was. We hope that this event will be even more successful.

Education Minister in discussion with School Council

2011-10-22T21:22:00.000+01:00

Mr Leighton Andrews Education Minister in the Welsh Government answers questions posed to him by memeber of the Gelli Primary School Council.

Education Minister visits our School Council

2011-10-20T20:56:00.000+01:00

Our new School Council was elected earlier this term and today they were visited by the Education Officer at the Senedd Mr Dilwyn Young Jones (back row right) and our own Assembly Member and Education Minister Mr Leighton Andrews (left). Mr Young Jones talked to the School Council about the work that the Welsh Government undertakes on our behalf in Cardiff Bay and how important a role the School Council plays in bringing forward the views and opinions of pupils at Gelli Primary. In previous years, our pupils have visited The Senedd in the Bay to conduct a meeting in Siambr Hywel and later this term the present school council will also make the trip.
Last year, the School Council worked with the Head teacher, Governors and Staff to raise money to improve our play facilities. They undertook several fundraising activities to purchase a "Trim trail" for the Big yard. Mr Young Jones and Mr Andrews are pictured above with Mrs Dyer, School Council Co-ordinator at Gelli Primary.
During his visit Mr. Andrews answered questions from the pupils and commented on how much of an honour and a privilage it was to represent the Rhondda as an Assembly member and undertake the difficult role as Education Minister. We are very grateful to him and Mr Young Jones for visiting Gelli Primary and look forward to visiting The Senedd in December.

Newsletter 4 Autumn Term

2011-10-14T13:51:00.001+01:00

Work being undertaken outside the school by Walesand West Utilities
The work outside the school continues and the next phasewill see the area beyond the school entrance affected around Carter’s Cornerand into Ty Isaf Road.The road works will free access to the car park and the drop off lane outside butI would appreciate if you would make every effort to keep that area clear ofvehicles and take extra care when walking on the pavement to avoid anyaccidents. May I also remind parents that access to the school car park isprohibited at all times and we will pass on the numbers of cars who flaunt thisrule to the police along with any CCTV footage as evidence. I hope that thiswill not be necessary and we can rely upon your continued co-operation.
The company have assured me that the disruption will be keptto a minimum and will only last a few days until they proceed further up Ystrad Road. If youhave any comments regarding this issue, please feel free to discuss anyconcerns with me or you may wish to contact the W&WU Customer Enquiry Teamon 02920 270653 or customer.enquiry@wwutilities.co.ukwho will be pleased to help you.

Collecting pupils at the end of the day

I have been asked by our Foundation phase staff to remindyou of our policy for collecting pupils at the end of the day. Nursery pupilsare collected from Nursery at 3.00 p.m. Reception at 3.05 p.m. from theFoundation Phase Yard, Year 1 at 3.05 p.m. from the Year 1 door and Year 2 at3.10 p.m. at the main entrance. At present there is a lot of congestion outsidethe Year 1 area which is causing some problems in dismissing the pupils. I willbe grateful if you could consider this when picking up your children anddisperse as soon as they have been picked up.

Breakfast Club

I have been informed by Breakfast Club staff that pupils arebeing left on the premises at 7.50 a.m. This is not acceptable and the schoolor the staff cannot be held responsible for your pupils before the scheduledstart of club at 8.00. a.m. I will have to write to individual parents if thiscontinues and the LA have informed me that if this persists they will withdrawthe privilege of attending Breakfast Club for those pupils.

Grandparents Concert

Our annual Grandparents concerts were a big success againthis year. It is a special occasion to celebrate Grandparents Day and thespecial relationship that they have with your kids. We recorded each concertand I have begun to put samples on the school blog for you to see. I have beenexperiencing technical difficulties and hope to resolve them over the weekend(…. well after the match tomorrowmorning)

Harvest Celebration

This year we will be supporting a school in Rwanda as partof our Harvest celebrations. Next week Mr Greg Reynolds from Rwanda Restoredwill return to collect our donations. If you have not already done so pleasewill you send in your donation so that our plans to use any money raised topurchase mosquito nets that cost £5.00 can be achieved.

Ugly Bugs Ball

We will be holding another Ugly Bugs Ball on Thursday 20thOctober. The Disco will take place in the school hall from 4.30 – 5.30 p.m. forNursery, Reception, Year One and Two pupils. Please can I remind parents thattheses pupils must be accompanied by an adult to the disco as we cannotsupervise any unaccompanied pupils.

The disco for the Juniors will be from 5.45 – 6.45 p.m. Youcan dress your child up as an Ugly Bug. An entrance fee of £1 per child will becharged. There will be food available, some party games. A further reminderwill be circulated in a future newsletter. Proceeds from the evening will go topurchase equipment for the pupils.

Grandparents concert videos

2011-10-09T19:54:00.002+01:00

Grandparents Concert

2011-10-06T21:42:00.001+01:00

Parents can collect children from school after the concerts tomorrow afternoon. Unfortunately we cannot accomodate any parents but if you wish you can collect your children after the Foundation Phase concert at 1.45 p.m. and the Junior pupils can be collected at 2.45 p.m. Pupils can go home with their Grandparents but if you wish to give permission for your child to be taken home please can we have this in writing.
Pupils will be supervised until normal end of school hours if needed.

Parents Evening Arrangements

2011-10-06T21:32:00.000+01:00

Can Iclarify the arrangements for next week’s parents meetings.

You and your child are invited to attend an informal presentation by the class teacher of our classroom expectations, our class rules, homework arrangements, information on how you can support your child at home and all other aspects of the class routine.
This will be followed by the class teacher running through the work forecast which you receive each term.
There will be a short question and answer session at the end.

Pleasewill you be mindful that we will not discuss any individual children duringthis time. If you feel that there are any unresolved issues concerning yourchild please will you make an appointment to see me and we can discuss anappropriate plan of action to resolve this. Younger children will be supervisedin the hall by our Foundation Phase staff during your visit.

The timetable will beas follows.
Monday 10th October
Year 4 - Mrs. Johnson - 3.20 p.m.
Year 6 - Mr. Jones - 3.30 p.m.
Tuesday 11th October
Year1- Mrs. Dyer - 3.20 p.m.
Wednesday 12th October
Reception- Mrs. Dyer / Miss Davis - 3.20 p.m.
Year2 - Mrs. Fraser - 3.20 p.m.
Year3 - Mrs. Carly - 3.30 p.m.
Thursday 13th October
Year5 - Mrs. Flanary-Davies - 3.30 p.m.

Ihope that as many parents as possible will attend as I feel this is animportant opportunity for us to communicate some important issues with you.Please will you complete the invitation form at the bottom of the letter andreturn it to your class teacher by as soon as possible.

Newsletter 2 Friday 30th September 2011

2011-10-06T21:23:00.000+01:00

Work being undertaken outside the school by Walesand West Utilities

The workoutside the school continues and the next phase will see the school entranceaffected. The road works will limit access to the car park. The drop off laneoutside school will be used as a thoroughfare for delivery vehicles and wewould appreciate if you would take extra care when walking on the pavement toavoid any accidents. The company have assured me that the disruption will bekept to a minimum and will only last a few days until they proceed further up Ystrad Road. Pleasecan we remind parents that the school car park cannot be used as a dropping offpoint for pupils at any time. Your co-operation and patience is very much appreciated.I will keep everyone updated on the progress of this work

If youhave any comments regarding this issue, please feel free to discuss anyconcerns with me or you may wish to contact the W&WU Customer Enquiry Teamon 02920 270653 or customer.enquiry@wwutilities.co.ukwho will be pleased to help you.

Building work being carried out in the lane from Ty Isaf Road to theNorth entrance to school

The buildingwork indicated in my previous newsletter is being carried out in the lanebehind school. A wall is being rebuilt and I wish to alert you that fencingwill be erected to prohibit access to the school during this time. As many ofyou use this short cut as a means of coming to school I would like draw yourattention to this work. Again your co-operation and patience is muchappreciated. I will keep everyone updated on the progress of this work

Collecting pupils at the end of the day

I have been asked by our Foundation phase staff toremind you of our policy for collecting pupils at the end of the day. Nurserypupils are collected from Nursery at 3.00 p.m. Reception at 3.05 p.m. from theFoundation Phase Yard, Year 1 at 3.05 p.m. from the Year 1 door and Year 2 at3.10 p.m. at the main entrance. At present there is a lot of congestion outsidethe Year 1 area which is causing some problems in dismissing the pupils. I willbe grateful if you could consider this when picking up your children anddisperse as soon as they have been picked up.

Sound of Music DVD

TheDVD of the Sound of Music production has now been edited and copies can beordered by completing the slip on the bottom of this newsletter. We wouldappreciate pre-payment and you will be notified when they are available forcollection.

GrandparentsConcert

We willbe holding our annual Grandparents concerts this year next Friday 7th October.As usual, the Foundation Phase and Key Stage One children will perform at 1.15and the Juniors at 2.00.

Inprevious years we have received requests for parents to attend. This concert isa special occasion to celebrate Grandparents Day and I appreciate that not allGrandparents are able to attend and that some of you wish to see your childrenperform. It is proving to be difficult to apply this as many parents areunwilling to co-operate. Please will you assist us in not attending and makethis a special day for Grandparents. We will record each concert and putsamples on the school blog for you to see.

Harvest Celebration

Thisyear we will be supporting a school in

Rwanda

as part of our Harvestcelebrations. Mr Greg Reynolds, a former deputy head teacher at this school whois now in retirement, visited the school to inform pupils in publicising the workhe and some of our former head teachers undertake in supporting a school andthe children of an African village. I used our text2parents facility to remindyou that the collection was being taken yesterday; however, a large majority ofthe pupils were unaware of this. A collection box has been left in the school libraryarea for donations. Mr. Reynolds plans to use any money raised to purchasemosquito nets that cost £5.00. If, on average, each child donate a £1 we willbe able to purchase 40 mosquito nets that will protect the children of thevillage from being bitten by the insects while they sleep and avoid themcontracting malaria or any other illness. I am sure that we can achieve thistarget. You may be interested to visit the web site of the organisation at www.rwandarestored.org.

Annual Book Fair

Thankyou for your support for our Annual Book Fair during the week of MondaySeptember 19th. I would like to thank Mrs. Johnson for organising the event soefficiently and for the staff who helped with running the sessions so smoothly.

Reporting to Parents Evenings

We areinviting parents to a meeting during the week of October 10^th toOctober 13^th where each class teacher will outline the classroomexpectations they have for the coming year to you with your pupils. Thesessions will begin after school and take the form of a 10 minute presentationby the class teacher of class rules, homework arrangements, information on howyou can support your child at home and all other aspects of the class routine.This will be followed by the class teacher running through the work forecastwhich you receive each term. There will be a short question and answer sessionat the end. Please will you be mindful that we will not discuss any individualchildren during this time. If you feel that there are any unresolved issuesconcerning your child please will you make an appointment to see me and we candiscuss an appropriate plan of action to resolve this. Please will parents makeevery effort to attend this important meeting.

Precisedetails for each class meeting will be circulated in a separate newsletter onMonday evening and appear on the School blog. A text message reminder will besent 24 hours before your class meeting.

Ugly Bugs Ball

We willbe holding another Ugly Bugs Ball on Thursday 20^th October. TheDisco will take place in the school hall from 4.30 – 5.30 p.m. for Nursery,Reception, Year One and Two pupils. The disco for the Juniors will be from 5.45– 6.45 p.m. You can dress your child up as an Ugly Bug. An entrance fee of £1per child will be charged. There will be food available, some party games. Afurther reminder will be circulated in a future newsletter. Proceeds from theevening will go to purchase equipment for the pupils.

Newsletter 1 Autumn Term 2011

2011-09-09T12:00:00.002+01:00

May I take this opportunity to welcomenew parents into our school community and hope that you will play an activepart in your child’s education with us in the coming years. The children havesettled down well into the new term with their new teacher’s and classes and Iam confident that we can look forward to another productive year at GelliPrimary.

We will continue to use ourtext to parents facility this term. This initiative proved very successful lastyear and thankfully there have been no reoccurrences of the late night texts.If you have a new mobile number please will you send details to Mrs Thomas sothat we can update our database.

In addition we are in theprocess of setting up a new website which will go live later this month. Thiswill give generic details of policies and procedures and will be designed withparents in mind. I have also updated the school blog facility which now will beeasier to update from within school. A new feature this term will be thedevelopment of our Moodle site. This area will be mainly to showcase pupilswork and the opportunity for pupils to access resources for working from home.This will be a secure site and a password will be needed to maintain security.There will be an area where we will be able to post photographs and videos ofpupils in a secure environment. Further information will be circulated infuture newsletters.

Work being undertaken by Walesand West Utilities

Essentialgas maintenance work is being carried out in and around our village. Next weekthe work will seriously effect our school as the planned work of replacing gasmains and service pipes is due to take place outside the school. This will meanthat traffic lights will be in operation and I anticipate disruption at thestart and end of the school day for the foreseeable future. During the nextfortnight the traffic lights at Ystrad Road travelling south will be placed at theentrance to our drive. The setting down area outside school will be inside theworks and therefore unusable. It is anticipated that the next stage of theoperation will involve setting up a three way traffic control around from Ystrad Road to Ty Isaf Road. Thiswork is scheduled to take place during the last fortnight of this month. Therewill be no disruption to the school itself as this work does not include anymaintenance to our pipe work and school is therefore unlikely to be affectedother than the transport issues.
Pleasecan I ask parents to make every effort to make adjustments to the journey timesso that the school timetable is not adversely affected. Some of you remembersimilar work being carried out a few years ago and your co-operation duringthat time was greatly appreciated by myself and the staff.
I am indiscussions with the school crossing patrol team to ensure that this servicewill be in place during this period of disruption and the health and safety ofour pupils will be ensured.
In theirletter to residents

Wales

and West Utilities commented “We regret that this essential work cannot becarried out without causing some disruption and once again we apologise for anyinconvenience this change may cause you. Your co-operation and patience is muchappreciated while we work to make your gas supply safe and secure.”
If youhave any comments regarding this issue, please feel free to discuss anyconcerns with me or you may wish to contact the W&WU Customer Enquiry Teamon 02920 270653 or customer.enquiry@wwutilities.co.ukwho will be pleased to help you.

Building work being carried out in the lane from Ty Isaf Road to theNorth entrance to school

I havebeen informed that there will be building work being carried out in the lanebehind school. A wall is being rebuilt and I wish to alert you that fencingwill be erected to prohibit access to the school during this time. As many ofyou use this short cut as a means of coming to school I would like draw yourattention to this work. Again your co-operation and patience is muchappreciated. I will keep everyone updated on the progress of this work

Lost property

The staff have separated fourlarge bags of lost clothing, coats, bags, assorted school uniform articles andP.E. kit and are in the process of returning the marked items to their owners.There are, however, two large bags of items that have no identification. Pleasewill parents call in to identify and reclaim any lost items. Any unclaimedarticles will be donated to charity after Friday 30th September.

Haircuts and Bling

I have noticed that there is anincreasing amount of jewellery being worn by pupils, even some of the infantchildren. Can I remind you that our policy is that the only items of jewellerythat are considered appropriate are wrist watches and studs or sleepers forpierced ears. We do not approve of either jewellery or cosmetics unless forspecific cultural reasons and that only once approval and agreement has beenobtained from the head teacher and governing body. Staff are not permitted toremove or “look after” any item of jewellery for children. If an item of“bling” is seen worn, staff will request that the item be removed and takenhome. If this item is seen on any other occasion it will be placed in anenvelope in the secretary’s office and parents will be informed and required tocollect it. The safest place for these items is at home.
May I also remind you thattramlines, highlights and other form of dyed hair are also not acceptable. Iwould request that children who have returned to school with these takeappropriate action over the weekend to address this as I will be contactingparents to discuss this if this rule continues to be flaunted. Our policystates that we will ask parents to remove pupils from school until such time asthe haircut becomes acceptable. I hope that his will not be the case.

GrandparentsConcert

We willbe holding our annual Grandparents concerts this year on Friday 7th October. Asusual, the Foundation Phase and Key Stage One children will perform at 1.15 andthe Juniors at 2.00.
Inprevious years we have received requests for parents to attend. This concert isa special occasion to celebrate Grandparents Day and I appreciate that not allGrandparents are able to attend and that some of you wish to see your childrenperform. It is proving to be difficult to apply this as many parents areunwilling to co-operate. Please will you assist us in not attending and makethis a special day for Grandparents. We will record each concert and putsamples on the school blog for you to see.

Harvest Celebration

Thisyear we will be supporting a school in

Rwanda

as part of our Harvestcelebrations. Mr Greg Reynolds, a former deputy head teacher at this school whois now in retirement, will visit the school to undertake work with pupils inpublicising the plight of the children of this African village. We will beasking the children to donate coins to a collection on the morning. Furtherdetails will be circulated in future newsletter.

Annual Book Fair

We willbe holding our Annual Book Fair during the week of Monday September 19th.Further details will be circulated in next week’s newsletter.

Reporting to Parents Evenings

We areinviting parents to a meeting early next month where each class teacher willoutline the classroom expectations they have for the coming year to you withyour pupils. The sessions will begin after school and take the form of a 10minute presentation by the class teacher of class rules, homework arrangements,information on how you can support your child at home and all other aspects ofthe class routine. This will be followed by the class teacher running throughthe work forecast which you receive each term. There will be a short questionand answer session at the end. Please will you be mindful that we will notdiscuss any individual children during this time. If you feel that there areany unresolved issues concerning your child please will you make an appointmentto see me and we can discuss an appropriate plan of action to resolve this.Please will parents make every effort to attend this important meeting.

Dates for Half term

Thisyear school will finish for half term after school on Friday 21^stOctober 2011 and reopen on Monday 31^st October.
Schoolwill close for the end of the Autumn term on Friday 16^th December.Monday and Tuesday 19^th / 20^th December will be INSETdays and school will be closed for pupils on these two day while staff attendIn-service training.
Schoolreopens for pupils for the Spring term 2012 on Wednesday 4^th January2012.

School starts for pupils on September 6th.

2011-09-05T21:58:00.001+01:00

Just a reminder that school starts for all pupils on Tuesday September 6th. Breakfast Club will be open as susal at 8 a.m.

Please be aware that there are roadworks on Ystrad Road and there is likely to be delays at peak times. Please allow additional travelling time.

The Trim Trail is completed

2011-07-28T13:56:00.000+01:00

Work was completed on the "Trim Trail" comissioned by the Play Leaders for the yard. The workmen Steve and Stuart dug the footings in the quiet yard and set the logs into holes and filled them with post screed. The play leaders will organise activities in the yard in the new term.

Developments in the playground

2011-07-27T13:44:00.001+01:00

Workmen lay the foundations for our new adventure playground

The play leaders and school council have worked together this year to organise and raise funds for developing the school yard. This week we have arranged for work to be completed to paint the yard and errect an adventure playground for the large yard. This structure has been purchased from funds raised by the pupils who have organised our drink drop initiative, the fruit tuck shop and Enterprise week. By employing a reputable construction company the play leaders have become aware of health and safety regulations and our new Year 6 play leaders will organise activities for our pupils to play safely at lunchtimes and playtimes. They have also purchased Basketball posts to be placed in the newly painted basketball court in the ball play area. Llongyfarchiadau bawb.

The new five-a-side and netball basketball court have been painted on they yard.

The balance beam leads on to some stepping logs.

then across to a log walk and finally a suspended walk on a wire.

information for parents

2011-07-22T22:26:00.000+01:00

To clarify our policy this document is available in the school prospectus and on the information page of the school website. Parents wishing to disapply their children from images being used as set out in this policy have filled in this form.http://www.gelliprimaryschool.org.uk/Use%20of%20digital%20photographs%20on%20school%20publications.pdf

Posting pupil images on social networking sites.

2011-07-22T20:37:00.000+01:00

Please can I remind parents that posting images of pupils on social networking sites is prohibited and contravenes our school policy. Parents do not have permission from parents to use images and therefore are acting illegally. I will be grateful if any images taken by parents during the Sound of Music productions this week are removed immediately. Failure to do this will result in parents being reported to Facebook and possible action taken under Child protection procedures. I hope that we can rely upon your cooperation to avoid this. An official video and photographs taken by Mrs Amanda Smith on behalf of the school will be available in September.

Free Summer Activities for Children

2011-07-15T09:11:00.000+01:00

I would like to draw your attention to the following programme which RCT's services for young people have organised. Click here to go to the wicid.tv site and navigate through the news section to the Summer Programme link. Full details and a contact telephone number is available.

Business success for Gelli Dragons - Rhondda Leader article

2011-06-23T20:48:00.000+01:00

by Carys Jones, Rhondda Leader

BUDDING Bransons and aspiring Alan Sugars pitted their entrepreneurial skills at Gelli Primary School’s enterprise week.
Each class at the school was handed a business grant of £30 and were challenged to turn it in to as much profit as possible in the week-long Apprentice-style competition.
Headteacher, David Cynan Jones, said: “During our successful Estyn inspection in the summer term last year, one of the recommendations made by the inspection team was that we further develop the pupils’ entrepreneurial skills and introduce them to the concept of how to set up their own business.
“The challenge is an ideal way of introducing the pupils to the concept of establishing a class mini enterprise with the added incentive that the pupils can keep the profit they make from their efforts to purchase resources to improve their classroom.”

As part of the event, pupils enjoyed developing their understanding of how to research their product, cost out any outgoings and balance them against other outlays.
To get the competition off the ground, parents placed pre-orders or donated cash to support their child’s class. The school was then open on the Friday afternoon for a mini fete so that the parents and the local community could see what goods were up for sale.
Among the items for sale at the innovative youngsters’ stalls were handmade cards, key rings, hanging baskets, bird feeders, jewellery and cookies.
Bright sparks in the Reception class even took the initiative to use their start-up grant to buy their own chicken and sell its eggs.
As well as keeping the money made, the class which made the most profit had their total matched by two local entrepreneurs, Neil Gimson, of NRG Heating & Plumbing, and Carl Morecroft, of UPVC Direct.”
The winning class – who took the title of Gelli Dragons – was Year 3 Dosbarth 5, who raised £264.70 selling key rings, face painting and tattoos.
Year 5 Dosbarth 7 were named runners up, with £258.34 made by selling bird feeders and holding a bring and buy sale.
Each class managed to triple their £30 starting cost and the whole school collected £1,671.84.
The pupils now plan to invest the money in new basketball posts for the playground, with the winning class being given the match funding as a special prize.
Delighted with the event’s success, Mr Jones added: “I would like to thank the staff and pupils for their hard work during the week, to our parents and their extended family for their continued support and for our local business partners for their financial support.”
Read More http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/south-wales-news/rhondda/2011/06/23/business-success-for-gelli-dragons-91466-28916488/#ixzz1Q88s7VjO

Planned Industrial action by members of the NUT and ATL

2011-06-22T22:21:00.000+01:00

As you will be aware from the media, colleagues in NUT and ATL will be taking industrial action on the Thursday 30th June 2011. The action (a one day strike) will result in class or whole school closures across the country. I have been informed by members of staff at this school that they intend to take strike action on that day and consequently there will be no school for children. School will open as usual on Friday 1st July 2011. The decision to close the school or send pupils home is never taken lightly, but in this instance, where staff have elected to take lawful industrial action, I will have no choice but to take appropriate steps to ensure the health, safety and well being of all pupils.
We are aware that school closures inconvenience parents and carers and so I am writing to give you advance notice of the likely impact of the action on this school.
Thank you for your patience and understanding.

Arrangements for school on Friday June 24th

2011-06-22T22:18:00.001+01:00

If your child is not going on the school trip to Drayton Manor Park it is expected that your child will be in school. If your child is not present the absence will be unauthorised unless we have a letter of explanation. There will be members of staff in school to supervise all pupils and the School Cook has requested that I notify her how many pupils will require a school lunch that day.
Code of Conduct for the Drayton Manor Trip
Running a trip of this magnitude requires a great deal of co-operation on your behalf. I hope you will read the following agreement and sign it and respect the Learner Traveller Code which is an important part of our behaviour policy. The staff have arranged the trip so that everything should go without a hitch. Here are a few things that we will insist upon for the smooth running of the trip. Please take time to read them and bring them with you on the coach.
1. Will parents please remember that you have been allocated places on a specific bus and under no circumstances will they be allowed to change these arrangements.
2. Please refrain from smoking in front of the children either on the bus or at services stops or in the park.
3. The consumption of alcohol is also strictly forbidden in front of the children. If parents are suspected of arriving on the bus under the influence of alcohol we are duty bound to inform the police under Child Protection procedures. This also applies to any other form of anti social behaviour.
4. Please will everyone be punctual and meet at the agreed time and place. The staff will undertake frequent “head counts” to establish that everyone in the party is present before moving on. Mr C Jones will be taking the school iPad so he can contact everyone through our text2parents service. You will also be given the school mobile number to contact a member of staff if needed or in the case of any emergency. You will receive several messages throughout the day reminding you of the departure arrangements.
5. Politeness and respect on the bus is vital. We will ask everyone to stay in your seat for the whole journey; please do not block the aisle with your bag or other belongings; Always wear a seatbelt if one is provided; Please do not distract the driver when he or she is driving. Please will you refrain from eating or drinking on the bus.
6. There will be a senior member of staff available in school. A text message will be sent to all parents about a half hour before the coaches arrive at school.
7. Junior pupils will be limited to a maximum of £10 spending money. May I remind parents that staff are NOT responsible for pupils money and if they bring over the suggested amount it is done at their own risk. For pupils accompanied by adults you can set your own budget limit.
8. Please will Junior children NOT bring mobile telephones or any other portable electronic devices such as Nintendo DS, iPods or MP3 players. The school is not responsible for these if lost or broken.
9. Please can you make sure that your child’s name is put on items of clothing and bags. Again the school is not responsible for any clothing lost or left in Drayton Manor or on the bus.
I am sure that if we follow these guidelines the trip will be a very enjoyable and successful experience for all.

A bus list and final details of the itinerary will be distributed after school by pupil post tomorrow.

Please will all pupils and parents be in school at 7.45 a.m. to register. The Buses will leave at 8 00 a.m. sharp as we will be unable to wait for any latecomers.

Enterprise week at Gelli Primary

2011-06-13T15:01:00.013+01:00

This week is enterprise week where each class will be given £30 to start their enterprise. At the end of the week the class who have made the most profit will be crowned the Gelli Dragons.
Today every class made their "pitch" to each other in the hall. Check out what's on offer.
Class 1 Dosbarth 1 Nursery

Class 2 Dosbarth 2 Reception

Class 3 Dosbarth 3 Year 1

Class 4 Dosbarth 4 Year 2 part one and two

Class 5 Dosbarth 5 Year 3

Class 6 Dosbarth 6 Year 4

Class 7 Dosbarth 7 Year 5 Parts One, Two and Three

Class 8 Dosbarth 8 Year 6

Please circulate this message

2011-05-19T19:44:00.001+01:00

The reports circulating facebook about a girl having been abducted from Gelli Primary School today are untrue.

Attempted child abduction

2011-05-17T11:43:00.001+01:00

Unfortunately, I have had another case of an attempted child abduction reported to me this morning. This one involves three Primary aged pupils, who were asked by 2 men in a car if they wanted a lift home, and were questioned when they refused. The incident occurred yesterday afternoon at 4.30pm, in the shopping area of Talbot Green (near Barclays Bank). The car involved was silver in colour, with tinted windows, and it had a roof rack.

The police have been informed, and the girls involved have given fairly clear descriptions of the two men involved. It is also hoped that CCTV in the area may help to identify the car. Can you assist by relaying the message to your children to be vigilant? If you see any suspicious cars in the vicinity of our school please inform me. Thanks.

Blog is up and runnning again

2011-05-17T11:38:00.004+01:00

The technical hitches that have plagued our blog site are now over and normal activity will now be restored. For updates to this site please hit the follow button and you will be given updates when posts are included on this site.

Year Four Assembly

2011-04-02T12:30:00.009+01:00

Year Four performed a wonderful assembly on Friday which celebrated Mothering Sunday. For those of you who were unable to join is make sure that you have a big box of tissues near to hand.

Well done Dosbarth 6 and Mrs Johnson and Miss Brown. You certainly made our mothers feel special on this day. Llongyfarchiadau.

School is closed Friday 17th December 2010

2010-12-17T07:11:00.004Z

Gelli Primary School is closed Friday 17th December 2010. The school grounds are under several inches of snow and conditions are forecast to deteriorate during the day making travel difficult. I have taken the decision to close on these criteria.

You can check for update status for all schools in Rhondda Cynon Taff by clicking on http://www.rctcbc.gov.uk/EN/EducationLearning/SchoolsColleges/School-closures/SchoolClosures.aspx

School Choir sing at the Rhondda Churches Christmas Festival

2010-12-13T21:17:00.001Z

The school choir singing at the Rhondda Churches Christmas Festival at Ystrad Sports Centre.

School is Closed - Monday 6th December 2010

2010-12-06T08:54:00.002Z

I have had to close the school due to the large amounts of ice in and around school. The caretaker will be attempting to clear the areas for school to reopen tomorrow.

School commences for pupils on Tuesday 7th September 2010

2010-09-01T09:41:00.002+01:00

School will recommence for pupils after the summer holidays for pupils on TUESDAY 7th SEPTEMBER. The staff will be involved in THREE days In-service training the previous week and on the Monday. This is slightly unusual but we will be involved in training with the cluster schools on this occasion We look forward to welcoming everyone back and, of course, our new pupils. Breakfast Club will open at 8.00 a.m.

Llongyfarchiadau Miss Pennington

2010-07-23T13:34:00.002+01:00

Congratulations Miss Pennington on achieving her Higher Level Teaching Assistant award.

ESTYN Inspection Report released

2010-07-19T22:19:00.003+01:00

The Registered Inspector has completed his report after our recent inspection and has sent copies of the summery report to parents and copies of the full report to school. They will be distributed to parents in September. Anyone who wishes to access a copy before then will be able to do so from the ESTYN website from tomorrow Tuesday 20th July onwards. The Summary Report for parents is available by clicking HERE and the Full Report HERE. I hope you enjoy reading them.

Mr. Hughes receives some leaving gifts

2010-07-19T21:20:00.006+01:00

It was also pressie giving time to Mr. Hughes. The Year 6 parents had collected money for a present which we were able to give him at the Leaver's Assembly. The staff decided to buy him a watch so that he would be on time in his new school. And because Mr Hughes hasn't been able to play golf for so long due to the birth of his son and the inspection, we decided that he would need to have a lesson from a Golf Pro.

Stephanie presented Mr. Hughes with a certificate for being a grood role model

Mrs. Sims presented Mr Hughes with a bespoke card of a picture of him in the stocks during last year's PTA Fete.We wish Mr Hughes all the success in his new school.

Mr. Hughes' Leaving Assembly

2010-07-19T19:15:00.019+01:00

We had a leaving assembly for our outgoing Deputy Head teacher Mr. Hughes on the last day of term. Miss Mathias and Mrs Johnson were very sneeky rehearsing when Mr. Hughes was not looking. As part of it the assembly the children performed a sketch all about Mr. Hughes. Take a look at it

In addition we performed two songs - You got a friend in me from the Disney Extravaganza.

The Juniors performed "Together" from High School Musical.

The Violin Group play at our End of term Assembly

2010-07-19T18:26:00.002+01:00

Our violin group play for one final time during our End of term assembly.

Llongyfarchiadau Stephanie

2010-07-19T17:55:00.001+01:00

Stephanie, one of our Year Six leaver's, recently gained her Associated Board Grade 1 violin. She was presented with her certificate in our final assembly. Llongyfarchiadau Stephanie

Goodbye Mrs Griffith our super violin teacher

2010-07-19T17:21:00.005+01:00

Mrs Griffiths, our violin teacher, is leaving the Music service after teaching thousands of pupils to play the violin during her career. Among them are our own Mr Jones and Mrs Blackey our Cluster worker. She intends to keep teaching privately and also plays in the Rhondda Symphony Orchestra. It was a pleasure to have her company during our final asembly where she accompanied the string group. Good luck and best wishes for the future.
We welcome her replacement Mr May who joins us in September.

A Review of the year

2010-07-17T11:06:00.008+01:00

As we approach another year’s end and head to a well deserved summer holiday, I would like to take the opportunity to thank all parents for their continued support during this past year. This has been the most productive year since I assumed the Headship of Gelli Primary School just over three years ago. It has been an important year in many ways. We have had success in achieving continued success in all areas of school life. On the sporting field several teams reached local and district finals. Our PESS initiative led by Mrs Carly and assisted by Miss Hatch was awarded the Activemarc Cymru and we were selected to be involved in a successful Local Authority PESS review. They also organised the first whole school Sports this summer which was very successful.
We were treated to several musical performances notably the Grandparents concert, Christmas productions, St David’s Day performances and the Foundation Phase Disney Extravaganza. Pupils competed in the Treorchy Male Choir Junior Musician Competition.
The ESTYN inspection in May was a very successful and positive experience and I am sure that you will be very pleased when you read the report which we will be able to distribute in September. If you cannot wait until then, it will be published on the ESTYN website from Tuesday 20th July. I will put a link to it on our school website when it will be available. I would like to thank everyone involved from volunteers such as Mrs Sims, Ms Burnett, and Mr Click; Mr Jones the caretaker, the Governing Body; the staff and most importantly the children. The village can be proud of its school. We can now look forward with the confidence that the strategies we are employing for raising standards and meeting our children’s needs are successful.
With the end of each year comes the usual farewell to our Year 6 pupils. I am sure that they will be successful in whatever they do in Treorchy Comprehensive. I look forward to following their career with interest.
We also say goodbye to two members of staff. Mr Hughes who is to take up an appointment as Deputy Head teacher in Ninian Park Primary School in Cardiff. Mr Hughes has a young family and wishes to pursue career opportunities closer to home. I am very grateful to him for his constant support as my Deputy and being such a good role model for the staff and children. I am sure that you would all wish him well in the future. We will appoint his successor in October.

Mrs. Griffiths, our violin teacher, is taking early retirement from the Music service. She has taught a large number of pupils in her time here who have continued their enjoyment of playing the violin in the Comp. She will continue to teach privately and continue to play in local orchestras. We wish her well for the future and thank her for her contribution.
We look forward to welcoming our new pupils in September.
I hope that the staff and pupils have a well deserved rest over the next six weeks and return refreshed in September to continue to raise standards and ensure that our pupils make appropriate progress.
Thanks to the PTA for organising the Fete and the Leaver’s Ball so successfully again this year. We welcome new members to meetings from September.
I am planning to update the school website and blog over the summer and set up class areas on our Moodle site. We hope to put video content and other material such as photos and homework on a secure part of the site that parents and pupils will access via a password system. This should further enhance our home school communication provision.
Have a good summer.

Term dates and INSET day information

2010-07-17T10:49:00.003+01:00

Gelli Primary School will close for the summer holidays on FRIDAY 16TH JULY. The staff will be involved in In-service training on Monday 19th July.
School will recommence after the summer holidays for pupils on TUESDAY 7th SEPTEMBER. The staff will be involved in THREE days In-service training on THURSDAY 2nd and FRIDAY 3rd SEPTEMBER and on MONDAY 6th SEPTEMBER. This is slightly unusual but we will be involved in training with the cluster schools on this occasion and also on TUESADY 4th and WEDNESDAY 5th JANUARY 2011. There will be another two INSET days which will be taken in the Summer term 2011.
If there is a repeat of the inclement weather we have experienced during the past two years that will force schools to close because of snow during the winter, the Minister for Education has written to suggest that these may be used to make up the time. This information and the dates for school holidays in 2010 - 2011 is available from the school calendar link on the School website and the term dates link to the RCTCBC website.

Goodbye and good luck Mr Hughes

2010-07-17T10:26:00.004+01:00

Mr Hughes is leaving us today to take up an appointment as Deputy Head teacher in Ninian Park Primary School in Cardiff. Mr Hughes has a young family and wishes to pursue career opportunities closer to home. I am very grateful to him for his constant support as my Deputy and being such a good role model for the staff and children. I am sure that you would all wish him well in the future. Ninian Park will be getting an outstanding teacher, a very effective manager and a very good colleague. He is a future head teacher and will visit the school during next term to complete his National Professional Qualification for Headship programme. which will culminate with a positive outcome. We will appoint his successor in October.

Goodbye and good luck to the Class of 2010

2010-07-17T09:38:00.004+01:00

We said goodbye to our Class of 2010 today. They have been very effective in helping me and the staff look after the children of Gelli Primary School. I hope that you will appreciate this tribute video. The photographs were taken by Mr Phil Smith and each pupil was presented with a copy of the individual photo and one of the group. We thank Mr Smith for making these and I am sure that you will agree that they are a fantastic momento of their time in Gelli Primay. Thank you the Class of 2010 for your contribution to Gelli Primary School. Diolch Dosbarth 2010 am cyfranu'n helaeth i fywyd yr ysgol.

The Leaver's Assembly 2010

2010-07-14T11:13:00.005+01:00

Year 6 performed their Leaver's Assembly in the School Hall. As usual, it was full of fun, laughter and the usual "mickey taking" with Mr Jones in Year 5 singled out for particularly harsh teatment this year. There was an awful lot of tears as well as this is the last opportunity for us to wish them well on their journey to Treorchy Comprehensive in September.

There was also an "I'm a celebrity Gelli Primary Teacher. Get me out of here!" sketch performed and the leaver's song "That's what Friends are for." Everyone enjoyed the occasion and we hope that these videos can help you enjoy some of their performance.Photographs of the 2010 Leaver's Assembly are available to view on the School Gallery.

The Disney Extravaganza

2010-07-14T10:06:00.006+01:00

Photographs of the Disney Extravaganza are available to view on the School Gallery site. A DVD of the concert will be available in September. We have arranged that Mr Smith, (formally Deputy Head teacher at Ton Pentre Juniors) will video the rehearsal and evening performance and will edit it over the summer holidays and produce a DVD package that will include individual and group photographs of the pupils. He will display these in the hall during our open evenings in mid September. Further details will be available in the letter outlining our plans at the beginning of next term.

The 2010 Leaver's Ball

2010-07-11T13:21:00.002+01:00

The 2010 Leaver's Ball took place at the Ton Pentre Football Club on Wednesday 7th July. As usual, our Year 6 pupils dressed in their gowns and suits and looked the part. We had a special mystery guest this year. Mr Nigel Owens, the international rugby referee, broke into his very busy schedule to present our awards. This year's winners were - The Sports Personality was Jenna; The Lifetime award went to Michael; The Achievement award to Keira and the children voted Jack L as their Star of the Year. Congratulations to them, but they were all winners as ever. Mrs Smith our official photographer is editing the photos as I type and she will make them available to parents on our Gallery site early next week. In the meantime here are some casual photos taken by Miss Hatch. Our thanks, as ever, go to Mrs Sims and the PTA for arranging the evening and decorating the Hall in the Football Club so beautifully.

Click HERE to visit our Gallery site.

The Inaugural Gelli Primary School Whole School Sports Day

2010-07-11T12:42:00.006+01:00

Mrs Carly and Miss Hatch, our PESS leaders, organised the first whole school sports day this year. In previous years Junior and Infant Sports have been organised separately and after the successful pilot of taking the Junior Sports to the Pentre AstroTurf last year they decided to invite the Foundation phase along this year. The school was divided into four house teams, Buddug, Caradog, Gwenllian, and Owain.
There were a good variety of races and games for the children from nursery to Year 6 to participate in and it was pleasing to see every child in Gelli Primary being involved. Few schools can boast this achievement. The winning house was Caradog and they were presented with a brand new cup donated by the PTA.
Click here to follow the link to our gallery site to see the photographs taken.

Sorry we've been away

2010-07-11T12:05:00.003+01:00

Our technical difficulties have now been resolved and we are open for business as usual. We have a great deal of catching up to do so look out for frequent updates about activities that have occured since half term such as some of our sporting achievements, the 2010 Leavers Ball, the first whole school sports day and the Disney extravaganza. Come back soon.

Transition Music Activity

2010-07-06T22:31:00.008+01:00

Every year a member of the music department at Treorchy Comprehensive School works with our Year Six pupils on a transition module. The work undertaken will be the first module that the children will study at Treorchy next September. Mrs. Marks taught the children an ostinato and wove the African melody Banwa over it in a number of parts. They used pitched and unpitched instruments to make this arrangement and Mrs Marks accompanied them on the piano. We hope you enjoy their performance.

Old Gelli football kit lands up in Africa

2010-05-25T16:51:00.006+01:00

Earlier this year a party of teachers from Rhondda Cynon Taff visited our partner school in Mbale. They took with them some old football and rugby kit and other items. The photographs show how delighted the children were to be able to play in our kit.

Headline news from our ESTYN inspection.

2010-05-22T18:28:00.005+01:00

We have received very positive and encouraging verbal feedback from the Registered Inspector following last week's ESTYN inspection. Their judgement is the Gelli Primary is a good school with no important shortcomings but has some outstanding features in many areas.
Mr Alan Walters, the registered inspector reported back his preliminary findings to the staff and Governing body on Thursday evening. The full report will be produced within 45 days and will contain seven grades against the key questions in the inspection framework. The main findings were that they judged standards to be good overall with many outstanding features in many areas of teaching and learning. The inspectors saw sector leading practice in the areas of behaviour along with the care, guidance and support we offer the children. Leadership and Management were also judged as outstanding features, particularly the model of distributed leadership along with our use of available resources.
I am delighted for the staff as they have worked constantly over the last three years with me to raise standards. They commented very favourably about the team ethos that the school has. I'm also very pleased for the community who now have official verification that we have a school that the village can be proud of. I also feel that with time we can continue to develop the areas and identify outstanding practice in other areas.
The main stars of the week, however, were the children, who were singled out by the Inspectors as confident, polite, hard working and a credit to all of us. They commented that everyone succeeds at Gelli Primary in their own way.
The full and short report of parents will be published before the summer holidays. I am sure that you will enjoy reading about our achievements.

Messages of Congratulations

2010-05-22T18:20:00.003+01:00

To Mr Jones and the staff and children,
I am so pleased that this week has been such a success for you, all too often I hear of schools who crumble under the pressure of inspections. Although, you knew all along that you have a fantastic bunch of teachers in the school and that all was in perfect working order. I am also thrilled that you invited Idris and myself up to the school yesterday for assembly!
Charlotte Newman - Ford
New Directions Education

Another birthday

2010-05-15T10:17:00.002+01:00

Penblwydd hapus i Mr Jones. Yesterday Mr Jones in Year 5 celebrated his birthday.

Penblwydd hapus Mrs Fraser

2010-05-15T10:09:00.004+01:00

Penblwydd hapus i Mrs Fraser. We made a big fuss of Mrs Fraser this week as we celebrated her reaching the end of another decade. She can now look forward to life begining as the proverb says.

ESTYN Inspection Parents meeting

2010-05-15T10:07:00.001+01:00

Can I thank all those parents who attended the pre inspection meeting with the Registered Inspector last week. Although I was not present, I have been told that it was very positive and reflected the support we have from you as parents. I hope that we can show this to the inspectorate this week.

Eco greenhouse

2010-05-15T10:05:00.000+01:00

The Eco Schools Council eco greenhouse has been completed in the garden. Thank you for providing us with hundreds of three litre plastic bottles to complete it. Please will you thank friends, family and work colleagues who have helped. The gardening club are busy cultivating plants to put out to decorate the school after the frosty weather clears.

Technical difficulties

2010-05-15T09:36:00.002+01:00

Our host ISP has reported that they are currently undertaking routine server maintanance over the coming three weeks. Some aspects of the school website will be unavailable for update during this time. The Latest news and class blogs will remain unaffected, so will the electronic calendar. Thank you for your patience.

ESTYN Inspection – Parents meeting a reminder

2010-05-03T21:40:00.000+01:00

As you already know the school is due to be inspected as part of the programme of regular school inspections arranged by Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector for Education and Training in Wales. The inspection will be carried out by a team led by Mr. Alan Walters, a registered inspector.
This letter is to formally invite you to attend a meeting with the registered inspector that is being held before the inspection on Tuesday May 4th at 5.30 p.m. in the School Hall. The meeting is open to all parents / carers of pupils at the school. The staff and governors will not be present during the meeting unless they also have children in school. The purpose of the meeting is for you to tell the registered inspector your views about the school and how it works so that so that these views can be included in the inspection. Although the registered inspector will want to hear your views, and will attempt to answer your questions, he or she will not be in a position to comment on your views, which will be taken account of in the inspection. The registered inspector will also be able to tell you about the inspection.
I hope that you will be able to come to the meeting

Gardening Club

2010-04-16T22:06:00.003+01:00

The children who are participating in our Gardening Club each Friday have begun to plant some vegetables and salad products. Have a look how Mr Jones the caretaker showed them how to do it.

St David's Day Photographs No 8 Class 6

2010-04-09T11:27:00.002+01:00

St David's Day Photographs No 7 Class 5

2010-04-09T11:26:00.002+01:00

St David's Day Photographs No 6 Class 4

2010-04-09T11:23:00.001+01:00

St David's Day Photographs No 5 Class 2

2010-04-09T11:22:00.001+01:00

St David's Day Photographs No 4 Class 8 Year 6

2010-04-09T11:21:00.001+01:00

St David's Day photographs 3 Class 1

2010-04-09T11:20:00.002+01:00

St David's Photographs No 2 Class 7

2010-04-09T11:18:00.001+01:00

St David's Day photographs No 1 Class 3

2010-04-09T11:07:00.004+01:00

The Rhondda Leader photographer has sent the photographs he took of the children which appeared in the paper over St David's Day. Our recent newsletter gave you details of how you can order these.

Sharing Assembly

2010-03-27T09:47:00.004Z

Every term we end with our Sharing assembly. This allows all our pupils to tell everyone what they have been most proud of during the term, what they have achieved and why. This term we gave Ethan in Year 6 the flip camera to record everyone's contribution. We are VERY PROUD of the achievements of all our children at GELLI PRIMARY. We hope you enjoy them and agree with us.

Year 4 - Dosbarth 6

School Calendar

2010-03-06T09:55:00.005Z

We have introduced a new feature on the school website which I am sure you will help us to improve home school communication. We have put an online calendar which will inform parents of activities in school. In addition to the notification letters sent home by pupil post, newsletters and class blogs this will be an additional facility that will keep parents informed and updated on school activities. You can also subscribe to updates by using the Followers facility on each blog site.

INSET Days

2010-03-06T09:48:00.000Z

We have planned two further INSET days for Thursday11th and Friday 12th March. The staff and Governors will be involved in training on those days and therefore there will be no school for all children on those two days. Our last two Inset days will be on Monday 12th
April (the beginning of the Summer term) and Monday 19th July.

World Book Day 2010

2010-02-28T19:11:00.003Z

World Book Day is being celebrated at Gelli Primary School on Friday 5th March this year.
Children in will celebrate World Book Day by undertaking literacy activities in class, dressing up as their favourite fictional character from a book, film or television series. There will also be a book swap. Look out for an article in our local newspaper and another post on this site.

St David's Day Celebrations

2010-02-25T23:58:00.004Z

We will be celebrating St David's Day with our traditional concerts. Early Years and Key Stage One children will perform at 1.15 p.m. and Key Stage Two children at 2.00 p.m. You are invited to send TWO family members to the performance. We will not be issuing tickets; however, we will ask parents and grandparents to help us by using all the chairs provided. Please will you make your way to the side entrance where you will be met by some of our year 6 pupils who will show you to the seats. There will be a retiring collection which will be donated to school funds.
The children CAN be picked up from school by parents after the concerts. We will be using the chairs in the hall and it will be difficult to operate normal class lessons after the children perform. Any child who cannot be picked up for any reason will stay in school until the end of the normal school day.
If you intend to allow friends or relatives to pick up your child, please will you give us written consent to do so.

Llongyfarchiadau - We've achieved the Activemarc Cymru

2010-02-22T20:35:00.003Z

This morning we had a letter confirming that we have been awarded the ActiveMarc Cymru.

ActiveMarc Cymru is a schools accreditation scheme designed to offer schools the chance to achieve recognition for its commitment to developing high quality PE and school sport and for promoting the benefits of physical activity. Schools that achieve the prestigious ActiveMarc Cymru status will receive a certificate and will be able to display the ActiveMarc Cymru logo on school documentation and websites for three years.

Mrs Carly and Miss Hatch have co-ordinated our PE in School Sports initiative and the staff and other outside agencies have contributed to our Out of Hours provision.

I am very proud that we have been recognised by the Sports Council of Wales Assessors as a school that is committed to raising standards in PE. I am sure that ActiveMarc Cymru will make a significant contribution to raising the profile of PE, daily physical activity and school sport to the benefit of young people in Wales. We want to make sure youngsters in Gelli get the best possible start in sport. Well done everybody.

Parents Evening appointments

2010-02-03T23:07:00.001Z

Letters were distributed today containing details of the arrangements for next week's parents evenings. We would like to offer you an appointment to discuss your child’s progress with your class teacher next week beginning on Monday 8th February until Thursday 11th. The teachers are working at different time during the week and a list of their appointment times are included below.
Here are the arrangements for our parent evenings.
• You are invited to report to the school main hall FIVE MINUTES prior to your appointment where you will be taken to meet your child’s teacher by one of our Year 6 pupils.
• The bell will ring after each ten minute appointment.
• Please will you complete a parental response form after your appointment commenting on your child’s achievements and progress to date.
• Please will you ring Mrs Thomas, the school secretary to make a specific appointment or if you are available to come at any time then an appointment will be made for you.
• You will receive confirmation of your appointment be letter on Friday.

Please fill in the appointment times on the sheet outside the Nursery, Reception, Year 1 and 2 classroom
Class 5 Year 3 Mrs Carly Monday and Wednesday 3.30 – 5.00 p.m.
Class 6 Year 4 Mrs Johnson Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday 3.30 – 5.00 p.m
Class 7 Year 5 Mr Jones Monday and Wednesday 3.30 – 6.00 p.m.
Class 8 Year 6 Mr Hughes Monday and Tuesday 3.30 – 6.00 p.m.

There is a link to this letter here from our Moodle site
This system proved successful in previous years and avoided unnecessary delays to those who will have later appointments.

New look website

2010-01-31T22:27:00.001Z

http://www.gelliprimaryschool.org.uk/ has undergone a facelift. There is not only a new design using some of the techniques I picked up on a recent training course, but also simpler navigation and hopefully more content and a link to our Moodle Calendar, Blog, Newsletters, Prospectus and other pdf documents for your information. At present ther are some bugs in the system which will be edited by half term. Please can you report any broken links or give any other feedback to me by e-mailing me at head.gellipri@rctednet.net

Our New Wet Weather Gear

2010-01-24T00:50:00.001Z

The new wet weather gear purchased from the proceeds of the Ugly Bug Ball has arrived in school. The children are really excited at the thought of donning their new kit and exploring outside. . A big thank you to all who contributed to raising the funds to purchase these. Key Stage 2 teachers have decided to buy a set of mini video cameras so that the children can use them to record their work and put them on their blogs.

Newsletter published today

2010-01-23T14:58:00.000Z

A newsletter has been published Friday 22nd January with updated information about arrangements for the beginning of term. If you have not received this you can follow this link to download an electronic version. In addition the school calendar will be updated from our Moodle site.

Arrangements for Friday 15th January 2010

2010-01-14T20:02:00.001Z

Check out this video which show the conditions in and around school.

Arrangements for school for Friday 15th January 2010 are as follows. The relief caretaker has cleared a pathway from the lane enterance on TyIsaf Road so that it is possible for parents to have aceess from the Gelli end of our school site. In addition, the majority of snow that fell on the pathways has been cleared all the way around school so that walking in the school grounds is now possible safely. The surrounding areas and pavements were still under several inches of snow this afternoon and were slippery, but were improving and will no doubt continue to do so by the morning.
As you can see a great deal of effort has been made to prepare the school for the children's return.
Can I suggest that we observe the following safety arrangements for tomorrow morning.

Children in Nursery should be brought to the nursery door as usual NO EARLIER THAN 8.50 a.m.
Children in Reception class, Year 1 and Year 2 must be accompanied by an adult and brought to the main entrance under the clock NO EARLIER THAN 8.50 a.m.. They will be taken to their classes immediately.
Children in Years 3, 4, 5 and 6 should also come in to school via the main entrance NO EARLIER THAN 8.50 a.m.
SCHOOL WILL FINISH FOR ALL PUPILS AT THE NORMAL TIMES/
THERE WILL BE NO BREAKFAST CLUB tomorrow.

I hope that you will make every effort to bring the children to school.

STATUS UPDATE THURSDAY 14th JANUARY 2010

2010-01-14T14:54:00.001Z

GELLI PRIMARY SCHOOL IS OPEN FRIDAY 15th JANUARY 2010.

Further details of opening arrangements will be posted on this site later this evening when I get home as I am experiencing technical difficulties posting from school at present.
Please will parents circulate this message.

SCHOOL IS CLOSED THURSDAY 14th JANUARY 2010

2010-01-13T17:50:00.000Z

I have just completed a site visit and the Chair of Governors and I have decided to close the school on Thursday 14th January 2010. The main road is clear, but the snow ploughs that were used to clear the road overnight have sprayed slush on to the pavements which has already frozen.and the surrounding streets are still under inches of snow. RCT have withdrawn their home to school transport tomorrow. The school will be open for staff in the morning, unless conditions deteriorate overnight. We plan to reopen school on Friday as usual as conditions are due to improve throughout the day, I will confirm this tomorrow on this site.

My thanks go to our relief caretaker who has begun clearning the snow from paths and will continue to make improvements to the site tomorrow to make sure that we are open on Friday. I would like to thank everybody for their patience this week in what must be the most difficult of times in recent years, Thank you for your co-operation. I have been in touch colleagues and our cluster schools have also made a similar decision. Please will parents circulate this information to others. We will also post this link to our facebook page.

WEATHER UPDATE AT 10 am JANUARY 13th 2010

2010-01-13T10:06:00.002Z

It is still snowing in the village and my sources report that there is between 8 - 10 inches of snow on the ground.

RCT has advised staff to take extreme care and not to put themselves or others in danger by attempting to access areas affected by heavy snow. However, I plan to make a site visit later today to see if it will be practical for us to make the pathway from Ystrad Road safe enough to open the school tomorrow. The Chair of Governors and I will discuss a number of possibilities from closing the school to opening with reduced a timetable. I also need to contact staff members to assess their local circumstances and to see if we have an adequate complement off staff. I will make a decision later in the day and post an update on this site and our facebook page.

SCHOOL IS CLOSED WEDNESDAY 13th JANUARY 2010

2010-01-12T21:13:00.000Z

The Chair of Governors and Relief Caretaker conducted a site visit at 8.30. p.m. and have reported that it will be impossible to guarentee that the conditions in and around the school will allow us to open the school tomorrow. We have decided to take this decision now in order to make sure that parents can inform each other and there be no confusion in the morning.
The snow is due to last throughout the night and into the early morning but conditions will improve by late morning. The relief caretaker and I are planning to meet mid morning and endeavour to clear the pathway as we did yesterday. I am sure that we will be able to make the school safe for the children to return to school on Thursday.
Updates will be posted on this sight when available and on the facebook page.
Thank you for your patience during these difficult times.

SEVERE WEATHER WARNING FROM RCT CBC MONDAY 11th JANUARY 2010

2010-01-11T18:19:00.001Z

RCT issued the following weather warning at 3.30 p.m. this afternoon.

"This is a weather forecast, prepared by the Met Office specifically for Rhondda Cynon Taf CBC, which we have received within the last 30 minutes. You may, therefore, wish to make contingency plans for tomorrow, to send pupils home early if the forecast materialises, "

On Tuesday afternoon, a band of persistent sleet and snow will push in slowly from the south-west. This is expected to continue into Tuesday evening and right through until Wednesday morning. Some of the snow will be heavy, threatening widespread and very significant accumulations (especially, but not exclusively over the high roads) with greater than 15cm possible. RSTs below zero with widespread ice. Fog developing over the high routes too. On Wednesday daytime, outbreaks of sleet and snow will become lighter and more patchy, but may persist for much of the day, with further slight accumulations. Widespread ice. The rest of the week is expected to remain cold, although milder conditions will attempt to move in off the Atlantic. As a result, there is low confidence in forecast cloud amounts and RSTs through the week but they are likely to be below zero at times with ice. Snow is possible at times, but this threat will mainly become confined to the high roads where it will also be very foggy.

As a result of this advice schools in the area are closing at lunchtime tomorrow. Please will you organise that your child is picked up after they have had their lunch. Packed lunch children can be picked up at 12 noon.
Nursery and Reception children to be collected at 12 noon.
Year 1 and 2 children at 12.15 p.m.
Junior children will be picked up at 12.30 p.m.

PLEASE WILL ALL PARENTS KEEP THEIR MOBILE PHONES SWITCHED ON DURING THE MORNING IN CASE WE HAVE TO EVACUATE THE SCHOOL.

SCHOOL WILL BE OPEN TUESDAY 12th JANUARY 2010

2010-01-11T14:35:00.002Z

I am delighted to announce that school will be open on Tuesday 12th January for all pupils. As you can see, the relief caretaker has cleared a path from the gate at Ystrad Road to the main entrance and the nursery door. Please can we observe the following safety precautions.

Children in Nursery should be brought to the nursery door as usual NO EARLIER THAN 8.50 a.m.
Children in Reception class, Year 1 and Year 2 must be accompanied by an adult and brought to the main entrance under the clock NO EARLIER THAN 8.50 a.m.. They will be taken to their classes immediately.
Children in Years 3, 4, 5 and 6 should also come in to school via the main entrance NO EARLIER THAN 8.50 a.m.
SCHOOL WILL FINISH FOR ALL PUPILS AT 3 p.m.
THERE WILL BE NO BREAKFAST CLUB tomorrow.

The surrounding streets and pavements are still very icy and I would warn you to take extreme care when walking to school or from your car. This situation may continue around the school for some time as the LA have no plans to grit schools and their environs and we do not have any stocks of grit in school or are likely to source some for s considerable length of time..
In addition PLEASE DO NOT USE THE SCHOOL CAR PARK as we have been unable to clear it of the snow that fell last Wednesday morning.
I apologise for the disruption to your children's education and hope that the coming days will see a return to normal.

URGENT MESSAGE SCHOOL IS CLOSED MONDAY 11th JANUARY 2010

2010-01-10T17:50:00.001Z

I have just completed a site visit and as you can see from these pictures taken at 4pm today conditions around the school grounds continue to be too dangerous for us to open school for pupils tomorrow MONDAY 11th JANUARY 2010. The pathways are still under a few inches of snow and ice. I have been unable to source any rock salt from any local DIY stores and there is no likelihood of sourcing some in the near future.

I have arranged that a relief caretaker will be in school at 9.30 tomorrow to clear paths to the school main door and nursery entrance from the front entrance from the gate on Ystrad Road. This should enable the children to walk safely into the school building so that school can be open on Tuesday. I still await clarification from my professional association and the LA if we can open on a reduced timetable from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. I also need to clarify what arrangements if any can be made for Breakfast Club.

The main road is extremely icy and I would advise extreme caution when walking across this area to the school. It is very unlikely that this area will be treated in the near future and will remain a high risk area to those who use it. I will update the status throughout tomorrow and inform parents of the likelihood of school resuming on Tuesday and any safety warnings that will need to be observed.

Update on arrangements for MONDAY 11th JANUARY 2010

2010-01-10T13:40:00.000Z

The Chair of Governors and I are planning to make a site visit this afternoon to assess if it will be possible to open the school for pupils tomorrow Monday 11th January.

At present there is still a significant area around the school which is under snow and ice. We will need to assess if there has been any change in circumstances since Friday and then make a judgement to inform parents as soon as possible for child care arrangements to be made and to avoid any unnecessary journeys if the forecast of snow for the morning arrives.
My feeling at the moment is that once we have made sure that the pathways from the front of the school to the main door are clear I will open the school. The chair and I have discussed the possibility of opening with restricted hours 10 to 2 (I will need to check with the LEA to see if this is ok). If it snows this afternoon and this evening or overnight then I will have to reconsider. If the snow is heavy and the area around the school is unsafe then the school will remain closed.
The relief caretaker and I will attempt to ensure that the pathway from the front of the school to the nursery entrance is clear and the pathway to the main entrance is clear. When this has been achieved we will notify you by posting a message on this site and the face book page.
My professional association the National Association of Head teachers (NAHT) has sent an e-mail to RCT requesting that the roads and pavements around schools be made a priority. We still await a reply. Although staff may be able to get into school it is another decision whether it is safe for children to approach or enter the premises. The County Borough Council Highways Division are now only able to deal with keeping major roads, and emergency routes open, and they are unable to agree to any requests to clear school access roads, driveways, car parks or playgrounds. They also cannot supply any schools with rock salt, and grit bins are not being replenished either. The Council's Procurement Unit has a negotiated contract with Robert Price Ltd to supply establishments with rock salt, but due to a country-wide shortage, they cannot meet demand at the current time.
I hope that you will see from my comment that we are making every effort to ensure that the school will be open as soon as it is possible, but I must reiterate that unless the site is completely safe for the pupils then the school will remain closed.
Please continue to check this page for updates.

Gelli Primary School Latest News

Countdown to London 2012

School reopens for the Spring term 2012

Track Santa on his ride tonight

School Council hold meeting in the Welsh Government Senedd Building

Thank you and a Happy Christmas to all at Gelli Primary School

Year Six bid farewell to Mr Jones

Mr Jones' Farwell Assembly

Goodbye and pob lwc Mr Jones

A new member of the team

Arrangements for the Christmas Concerts

School is closed for pupils on Wednesday 30th November 2011

Bag2School Collection on Wednesday 23rd November 2011

Urgent information for parents regarding industrial action on Wednesday 30th November 2011

A BIG THANK YOU for our Children in Need donation

Announcing our Art Exhibition

Children in Need celebrations

Healthy Schools Phase Four Award

Christmas Celebrations and Activities

Newsletter 6 Monday 14th November

Education Minister in discussion with School Council

Education Minister visits our School Council

Newsletter 4 Autumn Term

Grandparents concert videos

Grandparents Concert

Parents Evening Arrangements

Newsletter 2 Friday 30th September 2011

Newsletter 1 Autumn Term 2011

School starts for pupils on September 6th.

The Trim Trail is completed

Developments in the playground

information for parents

Posting pupil images on social networking sites.

Free Summer Activities for Children

Business success for Gelli Dragons - Rhondda Leader article

Planned Industrial action by members of the NUT and ATL

Arrangements for school on Friday June 24th

Enterprise week at Gelli Primary

Please circulate this message

Attempted child abduction

Blog is up and runnning again

Year Four Assembly

School is closed Friday 17th December 2010

School Choir sing at the Rhondda Churches Christmas Festival

School is Closed - Monday 6th December 2010

School commences for pupils on Tuesday 7th September 2010

Llongyfarchiadau Miss Pennington

ESTYN Inspection Report released

Mr. Hughes receives some leaving gifts

Mr. Hughes' Leaving Assembly

The Violin Group play at our End of term Assembly

Llongyfarchiadau Stephanie

Goodbye Mrs Griffith our super violin teacher

A Review of the year

Term dates and INSET day information

Goodbye and good luck Mr Hughes

Goodbye and good luck to the Class of 2010

The Leaver's Assembly 2010

The Disney Extravaganza

The 2010 Leaver's Ball

The Inaugural Gelli Primary School Whole School Sports Day

Sorry we've been away

Transition Music Activity

Old Gelli football kit lands up in Africa

Headline news from our ESTYN inspection.

Messages of Congratulations

Another birthday

Penblwydd hapus Mrs Fraser

ESTYN Inspection Parents meeting

Eco greenhouse

Technical difficulties

ESTYN Inspection – Parents meeting a reminder

More gardening club videos

Gardening Club

St David's Day Photographs No 8 Class 6

St David's Day Photographs No 7 Class 5

St David's Day Photographs No 6 Class 4

St David's Day Photographs No 5 Class 2

St David's Day Photographs No 4 Class 8 Year 6

St David's Day photographs 3 Class 1