School Magazine Summer 2012 - The Maelor School

The Maelor School,
Penley,
Wrexham, LL13 0LU
01948 830291
Dear Parents/Guardians
Inside this issue:
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Pg 4
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Pgs 7
& 9
Pg 10
Pg 11
Pg 12
I s s u e 9
S U M M E R 2 0 1 2
Maelor School
Magazine
Also available in full colour on: www.maelorschool.org.uk
Welcome to the Summer edition of our school magazine and I am delighted to say that the last few months have been
full of many different and varied activities. We have celebrated the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee and seen the Olympic
torch at the school, had two published authors discuss their books and seen some outstanding classroom efforts celebrated
within these pages.
Over the next few months there will be some building work taking place in the school as our A and B blocks and our
Hall are rewired and our main drive resurfaced. We will endeavour to keep the disruption to a minimum and lessons
should remain unaffected.
I know you will join me in wishing Mr David Lewis the very best as he is retiring from the school this summer. He
intends to keep in close contact with the school and wanted me to thank parents and pupils for all the support he has
received over the years.
The school has launched a new Twitter page and if you would like the latest news from the school, please follow us
@maelorpenley.
Finally, please enjoy the summer break and I look forward to seeing you in the next academic year.
Mr Simon Ellis, Headteacher
Follow us :
@maelorpenley
Jubilee Cookery
Competition
Yr 7 Castle
Competition
Exam News
Pupil Poems
Swimming Success
Army Day Report
PTA - NEEDS YOU
Croeso i rifyn yr haf o gylchgrawn ein hysgol. Mae pleser gennyf ddweud y cafodd y
misoedd diwethaf eu llenwi gyda gweithareddau gwahanol ac amrywiol. ‘Rydym wedi
dathlu Jiwbilî’r Frenhines ac wedi gweld ffagl Olympaidd yn yr ysgol. Cawsom hefyd
awduron â llyfrau wedi’u cyhoeddi yn trafod eu profiadau yn ogystal â dathlu ymdrechion
enfawr o fewn yr ystafellddosbarth y tu fewn i’r tudalennau hyn.
Yn ystod y misoedd a ddaw bydd gwaith adeiladu trwy’r ysgol gyda blociau A a B yn cael
eu hailweirio a’r prif lôn ceir yn derbyn wyneb newydd. Ymdrechiwn i gadw aflonyddwch
yn isel iawn gydag ychydig o effaith ar werse ag y bo modd.
Gwn y byddwch yn ymuno â mi wrth ddymuno’r gorau glas i Mr David Lewis a fydd yn
ymddeol ar ddiwedd y flwyddyn academaidd hon. Bwriada ef gadw gysylltiadau agos
gyda’r ysgol ac ‘roedd eisiau arno roi diolchiadau mawrion i ddysgwyr ac i rieni am yr holl
gefnogaeth a dderbyniodd dros y blynyddoedd.
Mae’r ysgol wedi lansio tudalen newydd Trydar (Twitter) ac os hoffech ein dilyn, cewch
chi drwy chwilio am @maelorpenley.
I gloi, gobeithiwn y byddwch yn mwynhau’r egwyl dros yr haf ac edrychwn ymlaen at eich
gweld eto yn y flwyddyn academaidd newydd.
Mr Simon Ellis, Pennaeth

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I s s u e 9
DIARY DATES
July 2012
Monday 2 - Year 12 Work Experience week starts (1 week).
Tuesday 3 - Year 6 Parents’ Evening 7pm - 9pm.
Wednesday 4 - Sports Day.
Thursday 5 - Year 6 spend a day at the Maelor School.
Friday 6 - Reserve Sports Day.
Monday 9 - Year 10 Work Experience starts (2 weeks).
Tuesday 10 - Humanities French Trip depart.
Tuesday 10 - Activities Week starts.
Tuesday 17 - Humanities French Trip return.
Thursday 19 - School closes for the Summer Holiday.
August 2012
Thursday 16 - ‘GCE’ results available from 9am.
Thursday 23 - ‘GCSE’ results available from 10am.
September 2012
Tuesday 4 - School re-opens for Years 7 and 12 only.
Wednesday 5 - School re-opens for Years 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 & 13.
Farewell and Good Luck!!
Pupils, Teachers and Support Staff would like to say
farewell and good luck to all those pupils in Year 11
and Year 13 who have now left. We wish them well
in their chosen path ahead whether it be to find
employment, go to college or to university.
The exam period has now come to an end and for the
rest of the pupils the last few weeks of the summer
term will be an enjoyable one with Activities Week to
look forward to.
Year 12 are out on Work Experience week commencing
2 July for one week and Year 10 are out on Work
Experience the last two weeks of term.
Dydd Mabolgampau (Sports Day), weather permitting,
will take place on Wednesday 4 July with some
individual field events taking place in the morning and
the whole school going out onto the field after lunch to
cheer on their House. 2011 winners were Dyfed but
who will take up the challenge this year?
Have a good holiday and we look forward to seeing
you all back refreshed in September.
Olympic Torch
Year 11 Maelor School pupil, Matthew Mills, was one of
the 8,000 inspirational people chosen to carry the
London 2012 Olympic Torch in the relay across the UK.
He ran his mile in Wrexham on the 30 May 2012 and
brought the torch into school soon after.

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Maelor School
At the end of April 2012,
Mrs Jones told the class that
we would be taking part in a
cookery competition in
which we would be making
a dessert. The competition
was in honour of the
Queen’s Diamond Jubilee
and was called ‘Fit For A
Queen’.
In our next lesson we
brought in all our
ingredients to make our
chosen desserts which had
to be done within the 1 hour
lesson.
I made a British Strawberry
Trifle with a fruity Union
Jack flag on the top. I sent
in my entry along with
everyone else and a week
later I found out I had got
into the final and had just
over a week to prepare.
Year 8, Ghost Stories
Year 8, Ghost Stories
Year 7, Arthur Story
Jubilee Cookery Competition
On the day of the competition I arrived and got my mic and
apron ready while they got my ingredients ready. We had
an hour to make our desserts but I made mine in under 45
minutes with plenty of time for it to go in the fridge. After
the time was up I had to dish out the trifle for the judges. I
was full of nerves while the judges were making their
decision.
Once they called out all of the runners up they were ready
to call out the winner. As I was waiting we found the
English — Radio Stories
Mr Drake’s English
classes have again
proved themselves to
be worthy radio stars!
You can listen to the
Year 8 class versions
of their Ghost stories
which was undertaken
in two groups.
Year 7 groups wrote
and performed their
stories based on Sir
Gawain & the Green
Knight which forms
part of the Legend of
King Arthur.
Just go onto the school
website and click on
the picture to listen.
points were really close ranging
from 46 to 46.5!!
Then they called my name for
Second Place!!
Three pupils from our school
took part in the final and they
were Catherine Levell, Anna
Williams, Mae Allen and myself.
It just shows that the Maelor
School is good at cooking!
Report by Charlotte Jones, Yr 9
Mrs Jones would like to thank
all the girls who took part in
the competition final and a
special WELL DONE to
Charlotte Jones who came
second.
Year 8, Bercelot Story Year 8, Gawain Story
Year 8, Camelot Story
Year 8, Lancelot Story
Year 8, Excalibur Story Year 8, Merlin Story

Maelor School
Yr 7 Castle Competition
In History this year the Year 7 pupils competed in an inter form Castles Competition.
After studying a module on castles in their History lessons, pupils in all five forms in Year 7 had to build
their own model of any castle of their choice. This took place over the Easter holiday and pupils then
brought their castle to school for judging.
Each form was awarded a book voucher for first, second and third place winners.
Mr Quinn and Miss Collings were delighted with the exceptionally high standard of entries and it was
very tough choosing the winners!
The winning castles and some other excellent examples are currently on display in the school library.
The winners were:
7SH
1st - Ellie Cox
2nd - Mary McBain
3rd - James Price
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7JJL
1st - Emily Mitchell
2nd - Freya Davies
3rd - Tom Matthews
7JKB
1st - Jessica Owen
2nd - Rhys McDermott
3rd - Deacon Parry
7SEC
1st - Tizzy Williams
2nd - Gracie Evans
3rd - James Norris
7JNW
1st - Jamie Wilson
2nd - Max Tekeian-Haftavani
3rd - William Westerman
Miss Collings would like to say
“Well done to all those in Year 7, the castles were brilliant!”

Maelor School
****** EXAM NEWS ******
A big THANK YOU and congratulations to everyone for enabling all the exams
during the Summer to start on time and for helping the process to run
smoothly by being prepared. Well done everyone!!
Best of luck for your results!!
The Results Days are as follows:
GCE – Thursday 16 th August from 9am to 12 noon.
GCSE – Thursday 23 rd August from 10am to 12 noon.
Useful information for Results Day:
The envelopes containing your results will be in alphabetical order on the
desks in the hall starting with A on your left hand side as you walk
through the main doors into the hall working round to Z, which will be by
the main doors on the right.
Should you be unable to collect your results yourself and you wish someone
else to collect them, school needs to have a signed letter from you to
this effect. They can bring this with them on the day.
Should you wish the results to be posted, you would need to hand a self
stamped addressed envelope into the Exams Office before the end of
the Summer Term.
There is a limited number of staff available to give results over the telephone
so please try to avoid this option if at all possible.
For the A Levels, should you wish to send off for a photocopy of your paper,
there will be forms available from me to be filled in on Results Day.
They will need to be paid for then also (prices to be confirmed).
Your Certificates will be available from January 2013 when they can be
picked up from Reception – please call first so that they will be ready.
Thank you, and good luck!!
Miss Lawton
Examinations Officer.
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Maelor School
Sporting Achievement
‘My Journey to the Olympic Stadium’ by Matthew Williams
The Sainsbury UK School games is a 4 day event, held each year, for Year 10 & 11 pupils in every school in
the UK. It embraces 12 sports from fencing to wheelchair basketball and includes my sport Athletics. It has
been held each year since 2004, but this year was to be a special year, as it was to be used as a test event for
the Olympic Games, and for my event it meant competing in the Olympic stadium 12 weeks before the likes
of Usain Bolt and Jessica Ennis had their turn!
I finished the 2011 season ranked number 1 in the UK in my favourite discipline the Discus. Training through
the first part of the winter had gone great and even though I had moved up an age group (from under 15 to
under 17) and also moved up a weight (from 1.25kg to 1.5kg), I was throwing further than ever.
Then it happened. After a throw where I put everything into it, my back was in agony. This was early January
2012. I was training in Birmingham and my dad drove me home, had some physio on it and rested for a few
days and then went back to training. Within 3 throws I was back in the same position and I needed to get this
sorted.
I had an x-ray which was clear and then had an MRI scan, and with the results came the devastating news
that I had damaged one of my discs in my lower back.
In early February I saw a back specialist, who recommended a minimum of 3-6 months rest and to start work
with a Sports Physio. I was inconsolable as the School Games were less than 3 months away. Was this to
mean I would miss my chance of throwing in the Olympic Stadium?
The back specialist put me in touch with Jeff Ross a New Zealander who had previously been head physio for
the All Blacks and Manchester City. Jeff examined me and asked what I wanted to do - I said I wanted to
throw in the School Games. His reply was that he liked a challenge but thought that if I put the effort in he
could get me there. A program was set up which I had to follow morning and evening, 7 days a week, 3 hours
a day. No PE, no gym, no throwing the discus! The end result was that only 2 weeks before the games I was
allowed to start throwing the discus again, just short sessions but enough for me to realise that I was going to
make it to the Olympic stadium!!!
On Sunday 6th May I got on the bus with all my fellow Welsh team members and we were all very excited.
Over the next 3 days we met Lord Coe and loads of other sport personalities. We attended functions where
we were given advice on nutrition, sports psychology and drugs. We watched some of the other sports like
fencing and table tennis and we got to try our hand at wheelchair basketball, which was great.
On Wednesday 9th May we got to the stadium - the place is unreal!! Our minibus was checked out by sniffer
dog, we were frisked by security 4 times and then there it was in front of me, the whole reason for my last
3 months, the Olympic Stadium. We got there before the crowds and got
to look around, it was awesome. I’d never competed anywhere like this
before. We walked around pinching ourselves.
One hour before my event I warmed up and then we were called to the
arena. There are 8 competitors in my event, one from each region in England
and a further competitor from Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
The stadium was filled up with over 10,000 school kids but Mum and Dad
were there at the front with my coach Nigel Bevan.
We got 4 or 5 warm up throws and then the competition started. My first
throw was a foul but my second was safe, just to register a distance but it
was 43.85m and into the lead. The next 20 minutes were a blur. I did not
manage to throw any further but suddenly it was all over and I’d won!! I was
whisked off to the podium to get my gold medal presented by Jason Gardiner
(4x100 relay gold medallist in 2004 Olympics), interviewed by Sky
and Channel 4. “What’s it like to win the gold medal at the Olympic
Stadium” they asked. “Sweet” was my reply!!!!

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Maelor School

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Maelor School
Author Laura Jarratt with pupils from Years 9 & 10
Author James Dawson visited the school on
Tuesday 19 June 2012 to give pupils in
Year 9 the in-sight into his new book “Hollow
Pike”. He read extracts and answered an
array of questions from the pupils.
Hollow Pike is aimed at young teenagers for
both boys and girls and has had very good
reviews.
His book has been shortlisted for the Queen
of Tees award and is the first time that a
male author has been nominated.
Visiting Authors
Author Laura Jarratt held a Creative Writing
Workshop at the Maelor School on Thursday 15
March 2012. The author is better known to our
pupils as Miss Jane O'Brien, one of two Deputy
Heads at the school.
She was celebrating the launch of her first
novel, “Skin Deep”, which is aimed at young
adults.
Author James Dawson with pupils from Years
Staff and Pupils Celebrate the Diamond Jubilee
The canteen staff did a
marvellous job to produce
something quite different
from the normal menu -
sandwiches, sausage rolls,
cakes, jelly and ice-cream!!
Lunchtime on Thursday
31 May 2012 saw the
school canteen transformed,
decked out in
red, white and blue
to celebrate the
Queen’s Diamond Jubilee.
Pupils and staff
had a great time
celebrating the Jubilee and
got into the spirit of the
party.

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Maelor School
Twin Towers
We’ll always remember
The eleventh of September
For reasons that are filled with sorrow
It happened in a flash
When two planes crashed
And put an end to people’s tomorrows
The families will always cherish
Those of them that did perish
And that they can no longer hold
These men felt so strong
But what they did was so wrong
Leaving the world feeling empty and cold
2996 people died
2996 families cried
It seemed a pointless point to make
These men had a problem with race
It was mainly because of the colour of our face
But left the world in heart ache
George Bush he was at a school when he
Found out about the fools
Attempt to end the lives of innocence and
Plan to destroy the towers
But now where only lay flowers
As the families stand hand in hand
By Michael Gilliver, 8REW

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Maelor School
Mr Williams Marathon Effort!!
As you all know, Mr Williams ran the London Marathon in aid of the Teenage Cancer
Trust. He ran it in a fantastic 3 hours and 53 minutes!
During our Fun Run and Non Uniform Day in April pupils and staff raised £775
which help towards Mr Williams’ grand total of £3135.
Many, many thanks to all those who took part, it was a great effort and enjoyed
greatly by all at the Maelor School. The photos show just how many got into the
spirit of the day!
Swimming Success
Ten pupils from year 7 and 8 have had tremendous success in
winning the Wrexham Schools Year 8 Swimming Gala 2012.
Those who were in the team were: Ben Dawson, Eden Moseley,
Michael Gilliver, Jordan Davies, Joseph Small, Bethan
Palmer, Sophie Platt, Frazer Korkic, Felicia Owen-Jones and
Joseph Griffiths. Well done to them all.
Rotary Scholarship
Programme
We have now been very fortunate over the last
few years in our link with Erddig Rotary Club
which sponsors students to study for a year in
Georgia, America.
Three of our students have been studying in
Georgia over the past twelve months and we had
seven students applying this year. Sophie Williams,
Becky Davies and Jenny England return
very soon from their year away in America and
we look forward to hearing their presentations.
Megan Thomas in Yr 13 has been successful in
her application this year and leaves for Georgia
in August. We wish her all the best.

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Maelor School
Army Day 2012
On the 17 May 2012, Year 9 students went to Bala for the
Army ‘Dragons March’ event.
There were different marquees and stalls set up with activities
such as rock climbing, face painting and target practice.
There were people in uniform giving out stickers as
well. There was an obstacle course in the middle of the
grounds and ten people from our school were entered to do
this, 8 boys and 2 girls. I did this and it was hard work, but it
was fun and I would do it again. Everyone doing this had to
wear green overalls and a helmet.
Pupils at the Maelor School achieved 2 silvers
and 14 bronzes in this year’s UKMT
Junior Maths Challenge.
Over 240,000 pupils from across the UK sat
the Junior Maths Challenge with roughly the
top 6% receiving a gold certificate, the next
13% silver and the next 21% bronze.
Highest achievers at the Maelor were:
Alex Oulton - Best in School & Silver
Joseph Small - Best in Yr 7 & Silver
The Junior Maths Challenge is run by the
UK Mathematics Trust and aimed at those in
Years 7 and 8 and is sat during school time.
It was good that other schools and colleges were there,
it was better when it got busier further on in the day. I
think everyone who went has learnt at least a small
amount about the army and how to join. They had real
tanks there that people got to go in and learn about. A
burger van was also on site!! It was a good day and if
I got the chance to, I’d go again.
Junior Maths Challenge
Bronze Awards
Year 8
Sam Shoemark
Ryan Leech
Rhiannon Colins
Tegan Jones
Molly Ashworth
Victoria Lewis
Report by: Lucy Belk 9DJT
Year 7
Chris Bird
Hugh Wycherley
Robert McMinn
James Norris
Harry Morgan
Nathan Devonport
Ffion Coates