Castle School Pembrokeshire

Ski trip have arrived!! Tired but excited. I have emailed everyone. If you don’t receive the email in the next 2 hours please email me r.algieri@cspembs.co.uk. Thank you!

Ski update - we had quite a smooth crossing from Dover to Calais and have just stopped in Luxembourg for breakfast!

Castle School helping pupils prepare for life as well as exams...
Year 10 and 11 had the opportunity to take part in a series of workshops to give them the skills needed to apply for jobs and interviews. They have learned about using Job Descriptions to really enhance applications, how to write a good CV and cover letter and how to interview well.
The workshops culminated with a mock interview evening. Every pupil had to interview for 2 positions. They put into practice what... they had learned about using Job Descriptions to prepare for their interviews. 5 local professionals came for the evening and held 10 minute interviews with pupils giving them feedback on what they did well and how they could improve. At the end of the evening a pupil was selected for each position. This was a fantastic event and has given them all a real insight into how to apply for jobs and when it matters, perform well at interview. They have all requested that this becomes an annual event! The feedback from the professionals was incredible, they all commented on how mature our pupils were, how well they communicated and responded to the questions and, compared to other 15-16 year olds that they interview, were very impressed! Well done to everyone who took part, congratulations to those that 'got the job' and a huge thank you to the 5 local professionals who gave their time and expertise to make their experience as beneficial as possible.
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Well done to pupils from Year 4, 5 and 6 for competing in the Narbeth and District Inter Schools Gala this morning! They all swam fantastically and had great team spirit supporting each other in races. We came away with 2 first places, 2 second places and 2 third place ribbons. Amazing!

Mrs White has a talent for making science fun!
Year 9 tried their hand at making DNA from strawberry laces, cocktail sticks and fruit pastilles. In order to achieve this they had to make a double helix with base pairs in-between. This is to help them understand what DNA is made from and how variation works.

FOOTBALL TOURNAMENT CANCELLED TODAY
Due to bad weather, they are cancelling the Year 8 Football Tournament. It will be rearranged for after half term.
If you have the football kit at home please bring it in today. Thank you.

Few reminders for the Senior school...
Year 10 and 11 - a reminder mock exams start tomorrow. Remember to bring revision resources in to revise.
Year 9 - RE mock exam is tomorrow.
... Ski trip - Passports and EHIC are due in tomorrow.
Netball players - please bring the dresses back tomorrow. Hand them into the office or to one of the netball coaches.
Year 7 and 8 football team - football tournament at Caer Elen on Tuesday. If you haven’t given the football kit back please wear it in on Tuesday.
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Years 7 and 8 had a GCSE Biology Day on Friday!
The morning was all about lichens. Pupils learned about symbiosis, bioindicators and how important lichens are to indicating air pollution. They then took part in the Opal Air Quality Survey and looked at the lichens we have on-site and linked that to the air quality. Next week they will have a go at a GCSE Biology question about this topic to see if learning about it practically improves their understanding and if they can apply what they learned.
In the afternoon they had a mad maths treasure hunt where they had to find and solve 24 questions all related to topics they have been covering in school.

Puffins need to say a great big THANK YOU to George for bringing some extra special visitors with him into school on Friday; ‘Blue’ and his daddy Mark. ‘Blue’ is a Hyacinth Macaw, an endangered species. It is the largest flying parrot species and we were lucky enough to see one flying at Castle School!

Friday: Due to the really awful weather, Years 7 & 8 were pretty much classroom based all day. This was a great chance to do some data analysis from the birdwatch and weekly weather monitoring. Pupils started collating data and deciding how they would anaylse the results. Tuesday: A lovely weather day on Tuesday! Prep pupils took part in a Springwatch Hunt where they had to photograph and log signs of spring, taking measurements where possible. There findings will form part of our annual observations and monitoring of seasonal changes on our site. They also made some more fat balls for the hungry birds and started looking at the data they collected from their birdwatch.

Great to see Clement in Year 7 mentioned in the Western Telegraph!

Yesterday, Year 7 and 8 netball girls played against Caer Elen’s 2 teams. They played extremely well, despite being extra tired from playing two matches!

SKI TRIP
If pupils would like a hoody, the form and money (cash only) needs to be in tomorrow.

Puffins have been studying the topic ‘Space’ this term and coincidentally, a spaceship crash-landed on the playground! They found a letter from an alien who asked them all about their planet so they now know lots about earth.
They made a space snack to take to the moon and had to put on their space helmets and boots! They made fruit rockets to practise 3D shapes and blew rockets to see how far they could fly in the playground! It has been such fun and they still have lots to do!

SKI TRIP - PLEASE NOTE
Pupils will be given a letter with the final details tomorrow.

Congratulations to Izzy in Year 11 who represented West Wales at the U16’s National Inter Area tournament. She played extremely well! A fantastic achievement.