Dear Pupils and Parents,
Croeso i San Siôr
Oh the Places you’ll go!
Today is your day
You’re off to great Places
You’re off and away.
When the children leave San Sior they get a Dr Seuss book called ‘Oh the Places you’ll go!’ I’m wondering if we should actually give the book to the children when they start the school and not when they leave. If you haven’t read it – it’s worth a read. It’s a book to give to anyone embarking on a new journey, and in his unique crazy style Dr Seuss writes about the highs, the lows, the excitement, the disappointments, the fun and likely pit falls of any adventure.
It seems to me a sad fact that schools these days are measured by raw statistics and performance data and, it seems sometimes, with little regard to a child’s emotional and spiritual development. At San Sior we balance the demands of the curriculum, think outside the conventional box, and give children opportunities to have as many first-hand experiences as possible with due regard to what we call a ‘hidden curriculum’.The results are high standards where children take pride in their work and a love of learning.
At San Sior we really try to balance the demands of the curriculum while giving children the opportunities to have as many first-hand experiences as possible and believe that the use of the natural world as a resource can result in high standards where children take pride in the world around them and a love of learning.
“Tell me, I’ll forget...
Show me, I’ll remember...
Let me do it, I’ll understand”
Exciting initiatives inspire the children to want to write. Whether it’s travelling along the Menai Straits in a RIB; learning the story of the Welsh Dragon on location on top of Dinas Emrys; climbing the Welsh Matterhorn, Y Cnicht; discovering the Tudors in Plas Mawr,Conwy, studying a smoldering meteorite on the school playground, working alongside award winning authors or selling the school honey at the Conwy Honey Fair.
Our nursery children started their first weeks of term collecting apples from our orchard and eggs from our hens. They counted the eggs, made a class graph, redesigning our egg boxes, buttering their toasts topped by scrambled egg. We have a flock of a hundred and forty hens and are the only school in Wales allowed to sell eggs to shops. The school business ‘Wyau San Sior’ promotes entrepreneurial skills by partnering withlocal businesses and the school won Welsh Assembly Government Best Primary Enterprise Award for the innovative ‘Wyau San Sior’ enterprise as well as the Business Engagement Award. Education should be hands on..
Our surroundings provide a rich and diverse learning environment that complements the work of the indoor classroom. The school goldfish has been replaced by chameleons, chickens, monitor lizards, tortoises, geckos of every variety and exotic frogs the size of saucers. We aim to equip all pupils with the skills and knowledge to allow them to become responsible and active citizens, as they proceed onto the next stage of their education, and be the the next generation of Steve Backshalls, Iolo Williamses and David Attenboroughs .
The school was established in 1856 but moved to the existing site in 1993. The school was initially built for 122 pupils; and over a number of years the school building has been amended to accommodate the 246 pupils currently on roll. Each year group is taught in separate classrooms by 6 full time teachers and 4 part time teachers with the support of 8 Assistant Teachers and 3 support assistants. The outside learning environment is fully utilised for a range of environmental activities and this has attracts regular interest from local and National media as well as the local community, schools and colleges across the UK. We have had two visits from BBC Countryfile and recently we welcomed HRH Prince Charles to the school to see what we do.
The school is a lead school for Global Learning and 15 nationalities are represented at the school, while 45 pupils speak another language other than English /Welsh representing 18% of the school community. This is significantly higher than the county average of just 5%. While English is the predominant language of the pupils, Welsh is used extensively at the school.
We use Apprentice style challenges to inspire and promote entrepreneurial skills and develop each child's creativity thus ensuring each child reaches their full potential, to be fully literate and to be able to participate in a bilingual society. How do we do this?
We provide a stimulating and challenging curriculum, empowering children to think for themselves and to exceed their expectations; realising the limitations of the classroom as a learning environment and the opportunities that the wider environment holds.
‘You have brains in your head.
You have feet in your shoes.
You can steer yourself
In any Direction you choose’
‘And you will succeed?
Yes! You will indeed!’
(98 and 3⁄4% guaranteed)
Kindest Regards
Ian Keith Jones
(Headteacher)