Latest News

Spring Term 2013

Pupils from Years 7, 8 and 9 went to Ystradgynlais Town Centre to witness the return of the Welsh Guards from their tour of duty in Afghanistan.  (Photos taken by Rhys Stoneman and Ronan Harkness - Year 7.)

Autumn Term 2012

It's been a hectic first term in our new school building.  Our end of term newsletter provides an insight into some of our successes and achievements.

Summer Term 2012

23rd August: Pupils at Ysgol Maesydderwen are celebrating another successful year with some outstanding A Level results with all students moving on to the University of their choice for the second consecutive year.   

The school has attained 100% pass rate with 69% of students achieving A*-C.  There were some exceptional individual results with some students achieving straight A grades.

GCSE results were also excellent, with almost two-thirds of students achieving at least 5 A*-C GCSEs.  Many of these students will return to our Sixth Form and take advantage of our new building's state of the art facilities.

9th August: Building work is progressing well and we are on track to open for all pupils on Thursday, 6th September.  The new entrance will be accessed from Croesffyrdd (past the swimming pool) and pupils will be given a tour of the new school and facilities on the first day back.

Summer Term 2012

The question and answer session was part of a Welsh Baccalaureate week at Aberystwyth where pupils from four schools in South Wales undertook a range of activities to support their Welsh Baccalaureate studies. The week was organised by the Welsh Government, Aberystwyth University and the National Library of Wales.

As part of their visit to the Welsh Government office at Aberystwyth the students were assigned a ministerial portfolio and asked to develop their own manifesto. The students developing the Education portfolio shared their new ideas with the Minister as well as questioning him on his thoughts for the future. Following the question and answer session the pupils visited the National Library of Wales and took part in an interactive lecture at Aberystwyth University.

10th May: A leavers' assembly was held for Year 11 and Year 13 pupils in the school hall.  Former Maesydderwen pupil Richard Corgan was the guest speaker.  He gave an excellent speech highlighting the importance of working at being confident and never giving up on your goals.  Progress files were presented and there were speeches from Miss Jenkins (Head of Year 11) and Mr Burrows (Head of Year 13) as well as some of the pupils.  Other pupils provided musical entertainment and there was a film prepared by Year 13 media students.  After the assembly, pupils and guests were invited to an informal reception.

Good luck to all pupils with their forthcoming examinations! 

8th May: A concert will be held in the School Hall on Saturday, 26th May - just weeks before it is demolished as part of the New Build project.  Proceeds from the concert will be used to help restore the school organ, which will be rehoused in the new school building.  The organ was originally donated to the school in the 1950s im memory of those who lost their lives in the World Wars.

The concert is being organised by Côr Dathlu who will perform alongside guest artists and pupils from Maesydderwen.  Tickets cost £10 and are available from the school office.

8th May: Only Boys Aloud reached the final of Britain's Got Talent after their performance on Sunday night.  Maesydderwen's Liam Howells again secured a prime spot on the stage and was ideally placed to tell Dec how amazing the result was!  The final takes place this Saturday - May 12th.

30th April: The link below opens up a Powerpoint presentation featuring pictures from the trip to Nepal over Easter.

Everest Expedition

20th April:  A group of Year 9 pupils attended the Phoenix Project at Abercrave Fire Station.  The course supervisor commented that the pupils on the course were the best group that have ever participated in the project.

Spring Term 2012

26th March: Maesydderwen sixth-form pupil Liam Howells appeared on Britain's Got Talent with Only Boys Aloud.  Thirteen million viewers watched as the judges gave the group four yesses and it looks likely that they will make it all the way through to the live semi-finals later in the Spring.

15th March: The design and creation phases for the sculpture that will sit outside the new school's main enterance have been completed.  Rebecca Buck explains how the project has evolved on our Art Curriculum page, where there are also photographs that give an insight into the sculpture's creation.  The Evening Post has written about the project and the news story can be read here.

1st March: We held a special assembly to commemorate St. David's Day.   

Pupils provided a mixture of musical performances and poetry.

The results of the homework competition that has been running over the last month were also announced. 

The winning house was TWRCH!

February 2012 - Photos from the half-term Maesydderwen Ski Trip to Austria.

23rd January:  Yet another addition to the school's trophy cabinet as Ysgol Maesydderwen students were successful in last week's Swansea Valley Rotary Club Youth Speaks and Quiz competitions.  The evening was a great success and judges complimented students from all schools on the high standard.  It was a great evening for Ysgol Maesydderwen with Molly Carr winning best Chairperson, Lauren Donnelly achieving best Speaker, Stephen Ellerby getting the joint best score in the quiz and Ysgol Maesydderwen winning the overall competition. Ysgol Maesydderwen’s Youth Speaks team comprised of Molly Carr (Chairperson), Lauren Donnelly (Speaker) and Stephen Ellerby (Vote of Thanks).  Annabel Davies, Leandra Criane, Catrin Walsh and Stephen Ellerby made up the Quiz team.   

17th January: We have gained funding from Communities First to build a sculpture at the front of the new school building.  The project will run over the next few months and will be lead by the head of our Art department, Miss Katy Gullam and Ceramics Sculptor Rebecca Buck.  More information on the project, including details of how you can get involved, are on our Art Department page, where we will also keep you updated with the latest developments as they happen.

Autumn Term 2011

8th December: We held a Christmas Carol Service at St. Cynog's Church in Ystradgynlais.  Entry was free and mince pies and mulled wine were provided courtesy of the Friends of Ysgol Maesydderwen.  Many thanks to everyone who took part or supported the event.

2nd December:  Year 8 pupils have won a national competition that challenged youth groups and schools to produce a road safety DVD or video about the dangers of drinking and driving.

The competition was run as part of the Wales-wide anti drink-driving campaign being enforced by the four Welsh police forces and supported by the Welsh Government and local authorities across Wales.

On 1st December, the pupils involved in the creation of the film - entitled 'News for Numpties' - went to the Congress Theatre in Cwmbrân for the official launch of the anti drink-drive campaign where the winning films from each police force area were shown.

Click on the link below to view the award winning video!

News for Numpties

11th November: We held our annual Remembrance Day service in the school hall.  Later, pupils and staff from the school joined a service held at Ystradgynlais Cross.

4th November: The school's Charity Week has raised over £2,000!  Our activities culminated in a Charity Concert compered by Maesydderwen's answer to Ant and Dec - Sam and Jethro.  (Though in fairness to Mr. Donnelly, he's probably a good foot taller than Jethro...)  There was a variety of singing, dancing and music and Naiomi also entertained with some stand-up comedy.  Many thanks to everyone who participated throughout the week, whether it was in the concert, on the charity stalls or in many of the sponsored events that have taken place.  Some photos from the concert and the stalls can be seen below.

3rd November: The school's Charity Week continues, with today's lunchtime event being a 400 metre race between Pupil Support Officer Mr. Huw 'Shakey' Thomas and Year 11 pupil Ceri-Wyn Donovan.  With an eleven stone weight advantage, Ceri-Wyn was the race winner.  The winning time was 1 minute 35 seconds. Michael Johnson will no doubt be shaking in his golden boots.

Tomorrow, the week draws to a close with our Charity Concert.  Pupils may dress in mufti for a donation of £1, or push the boat out and wear fancy dress for a donation of £2.  This year's chosen charity is Cancer Research.

13th October:  In a busy night for the school, the Friends of Ysgol Maesydderwen put on a successful fashion show at the Ystradgynlais Welfare Hall and the school's Quiz Team won the Glantawe Lions' Rotary Quiz held at Birchgrove school.  Some photos from the fashion show can be seen below. 

27th September: A Remembrance Service was held in the School Hall to commemorate the life of Squadron Leader Cedric Watcyn Williams.  Cedric was a former pupil at Maesydderwen who lost his life in the Battle of Britain in 1940.  Many guests attended the service, including Cedric's brother who, at the age of 97, gave a speech that mesmerised the pupils.

11th September:  A sixth form disco was held at the school, as we welcomed our new Year 12 group back to Maesydderwen.