News
Year 9 Options Evening - Thursday 19/04/18
 You are warmly invited to this very important evening in which we will outline all the options that are available to the current Year 9 pupils in September 2018. We will be launching the ‘Cwricwlwm Rhydywaun 2018’ and our new Options Handbook will be available to provide further information on all the courses that are available, including all new courses. The remainder of the evening will be free for you to visit the Heads of Department who will be delivering subject specific presentations in their teaching rooms. ‘Careers Wales’ will also be represented to offer additional advice. This is an extremely important evening for your child’s future and I very much hope that you will be able to attend. |
Rhydywaun's Roboteers
A group of students from Ysgol Gyfun Rhydywaun competed in the Tomorrow’s Engineers EEP Robotics Challenge, where they undertook a new challenge this year commemorating the 100th anniversary of the RAF. The 10 students that competed were Nia Davies, Lloyd Jones, Lexie Williams, Tayleigh Rees, Emyr Lloyd, Joel Lewis, Eleri Griffiths, Alys Watkins, Eleanor Hope and Menna Morris. They chose to adopt last year's British Champions' name of ‘Optimus Primates 2.0’.  The work started in September with the team developing a strategy for the robot challenge, and materials research for the presentation. It was very pleasing to see the enthusiasm and inventiveness from Joel, Nia, Emyr, Lloyd and Tayleigh as they devised a robot that could solve problems on the challenge board e.g. devising a device using a Lego Mindstorm robot to lift and carry an aeroplane from one side of the board to the other, and a device sensitive enough to lift a small Lego figure safely without dropping it or splitting it in two. Whilst this took place Eleri, Lexie, Alys, Menna and Eleanor were busy developing and honing their presentation skills. In addition, Emyr was busy creating a second robot designed to complete a distance race in the shortest time.  During the Welsh Regional round (which saw 8 other schools competing for the first time in Wales), being in RAF St. Athan for the Centenary celebrations was quite an experience. The competition was fierce with Emyr winning the fastest robot competition, the presentation team wowed the interview panel and the robot challenge team performed outstandingly. Their preparation and practice payed off and they won the Welsh Regional round, making them the Welsh National Tomorrow’s Engineers EEP Robotic Challenge Cymru winners!  During the British Finals in Birmingham, after non-stop practice, reaching the NEC for the second consecutive year was quite an achievement. The girls received high praise from Lego executives from Denmark; Emyr came second in the 8m sprint race with a time of 3.47 seconds, and the team completed the robot challenge successfully, with only 3 or 4 other schools managing to complete the task out of the 46 competing on the day. The team were rewarded for their efforts by achieving 5th place. Coming 5th in Britain is quite an achievement and an excellent performance considering the competition where there were 46 other schools competing on the day, with 480 schools participating with an overall total of 8,000 students across Britain!  The school is very proud of our students and we would also like to thank Mr Kevin Davies, Mrs Catryn Brace and everyone who's supported the students on their trip to Birmingham. |
Update 19/3/18
Following further snow and ice clearing work as well as the favourable
weather today, the school will be OPEN for all on Tuesday 20/3/18. |
Update 19/03/18
 The yard and play area areas are covered in snow and ice and the weather forecast is for more snow and low temperatures overnight. As a result, we have decided for health and safety reasons to reduce the number of pupils on site and keep them to cleared areas. We intend to open to everyone on Tuesday 20/03/18 unless the weather gets worse. |
Update 4/3/18
The school will be OPEN on Monday 5/3/18 as usual for all pupils. Many thanks to the volunteers and the site team for clearing the pathways and school entrance. |
School closed - Thursday (01/03/18) and Friday (02/03/18)
Based on current Met Office forecasts of severe winter weather, which is expected to have a significant impact from tomorrow, Thursday 1 March and into the weekend, the local authority has advised us to close the school tomorrow, Thursday 1 March and Friday 2 March. An update will be provided over the weekend in respect of Monday, 5 March. |
Message from the Council - Inclement weather
“The council is closely monitoring the latest weather forecast and, based on the local and national updates, is preparing for a period of significant snowfall which is expected to impact on schools and Home to School Transport."
“A further update will be issued on Wednesday which will take into account forecast updates but, based on the latest information, it is..."
“Likely that schools may need to close early on Thursday 1st March"
“Highly likely that schools may need to be closed on Friday 2nd March"
“Likely schools may need to be closed on Monday 5th March" |
Yr.11 Options Evening - 01/02/18
 You are warmly invited to this very important evening in which we will outline all the options that are available to the current Year 11 pupils in September 2018. We will be launching the ‘Cwricwlwm Rhydywaun 2018’ and our new Options Handbook will be available to provide further information on all the courses that are available, including all new courses. The remainder of the evening will be free for you to visit the Heads of Department who will be delivering subject specific presentations in their teaching rooms. ‘Careers Wales’ will also be represented to offer additional advice. This is an extremely important evening for your child’s future and I very much hope that you will be able to attend. |
| Attachments:
Llawlyfr Noson Opsiynau Bl.11 2018.pdf
Post 16 Transport Provision to College/School
Dear Parents/Guardians Merthyr County Borough Council are conducting a public consulation on post-16 transport for pupils from Merthyr. If post-16 transport is removed, this will have a significant detrimental effect on the school's post-16 provision and we encourage parents and pupils from Merthyr and Rhondda Cynon Taff to respond to the consultation and to attend the relevant engagement sessions. See the letter for more details. Thank you for your co-operation. |
| Attachments:
Post 16 Consultation January 18.pdf
Advice regarding the social media app ‘Sarahah’
Following advice from RCT Council we would like to notify all parents and guardians regarding a social media app called ‘Sarahah’. This app, which links to Instagram and Facebook accounts has been deemed to be appropriate for pupils aged 17 and above, and as such has been blocked by the school. We would advise parents and guardians to monitor their child’s usage of this site.
For more advice on social media usage please click on the following link. |
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