New Zealand Experience Monday 26th September

Year 6 pupils from our seven feeder primary schools had a real treat on Monday 26th September.

            After the Welsh rugby team smashed Namibia 81-7 at 9.15am, Year 6 arrived just in time to experience a day of New Zealand culture at Abersychan School.

            Pupils were placed into eight groups with pupils from their own and other primary schools. Hopefully they’ve made some new friends already before starting at Abersychan School in September 2012. Each group enjoyed a wide range of lessons based on the culture, history or landscape of New Zealand.

            All Year 6 pupils completed a testing ‘New Zealand Quiz’ in our state-of-the-art Learning Plaza. They used the SENTEO voting system which allowed them to vote electronically via a remote control.

            Some pupils were lucky enough to make Afghan Cookies in our home economics department. Others tried out the ‘haka’ in our dance studio. The Fitness Suite was in full-swing with Year 6 trying out some fitness regimes that the New Zealand rugby squad would be proud of. Pupils learned about New Zealand animal fact files in English, the national anthem in music, Maori tattoos in art and rugby skills in PE.

            Year 6 enjoyed a hot lunch in our canteen and took lots of souvenirs home with them. All pupils were awarded with medals for taking part in the New Zealand Experience and went home with a better knowledge of a diverse country.

            Miss Rees and all Abersychan staff would like to thank Year 6 for being a pleasure to teach during the day.

Open Evening Thursday 29th September

Abersychan School was put on show once again for our prospective pupils to explore on Thursday 29th September.

            Parents, carers and Year 6s were invited to Abersychan School’s Main Hall at 6pm where they listened to the Head Boy, Scott Daly, and Head Girl, Laura Price. Year 7 did an outstanding job when they told the audience all about their first day at Abersychan School. Our dance troupe, ‘Dance Stars,’ performed their award-winning dance routine and wowed everybody in attendance.

            Parents, carers and Year 6 were then invited to look around Abersychan School. There was a quiz for pupils to complete during their tour. The lucky winners were sent a ‘Love2Shop’ voucher for answering all 20 questions correctly.

            All staff were on-hand to answer any questions and display work in their departments.

            The PE department made sure their amazing equipment was on-show, including a massive trampoline, gymnastic equipment and Abersychan’s Fitness Suite.         

            Pupils were able to see the snakes in the Science department and discover how an animal’s lungs work with the help of a sheep’s internal organs! Once they’d enjoyed inflating the sheep’s lungs, pupils tried out the ‘screaming jelly baby’ experiment, a fascinating water-vapour test and saw their hair stand on-end when touching the Van de Graaff generator.

            The Performing Arts department put on a great show by demonstrating acting skills in the small hall, dance routines in the dance studio and choir rehearsals in the music classroom. Our music department also showed off our range of musical instruments including drums, piano and keyboards as well as a range of woodwind and brass instruments.

            Year 6 pupils enjoyed sampling the healthy packed lunch options in our home economics cookery room and some lucky visitors tried their hand out as a brick-layer for the evening in our construction classroom! Year 6 helped build some sturdy walls and proved they were more than capable of mixing cement!

            All departments were available for parents, carers and Year 6s to visit. A great evening was had by all and Abersychan staff would like to thank all those who attended and of course the Abersychan pupils who represented the school.