Summer holidays:

At the end of the academic year, we would like to wish the children all the best over the summer holidays. It has been another busy and successful year at Ysgol Henblas, with many wonderful experiences. Here's a taste of the year:

Looking back on the past year and a look ahead:

Your child will have brought home a leaflet summarizing our successes as a school since September 2022, and looking forward to the next academic year. We will ask you as parents for your ideas to fit in with the four priorities we will have in 2023-24. To read more of the Ygsol Henblas evaluation and school development click here!

September start date:

Ysgol Henblas will reopen for the children on Tuesday September 5th.

Volunteers:

Huge thanks to everyone who has helped in different ways over the year. We are very lucky to have so many parents and friends at the school who are so willing to volunteer, in football, rugby, Urdd, netball, ball skills clubs; the raft race; in the garden; reading with the children; everyone associated with the Parent Teacher Association; and guests who are ready to talk about their experiences.

High praise to the staff for their continued dedicated enthusiasm towards your child's education, to the members of the governing body for giving their time so readily, and to you as parents/guardians for your support and willingness to work together.

INSET dates 2023-24:

Breakfast club:

Note, there will be no change to the care club price from September. The price will remain £1.25 (8:00-8:25a.m.)

Farewell:

Good luck to every single pupil in year 6!We wish the 14 who are leaving to go to secondary school all the very best and know that they will enjoy further successes there.

These are the 14 special pupils who are saying goodbye:

Open afternoon:

At the end of the academic year a wonderful afternoon was had - an opportunity for the family to look at the children's work! Thank you to everyone for supporting and to Siwgwr Plwm Henblas for opening their doors!

See all of the Open Afternoon pictures

Reading challenge:

Why not try the reading challenge over the summer!

School garden:

Amazing produce from the garden ready to be cooked by Anti Sian and Anti Tracy! Stuart and Eleni from ICL came to see the school garden. ICL is the company behind the potato growing campaign at home. They were delighted with the produce on show in the school garden in the company of Mike, Alwyn and Medwyn Williams. Eleni had traveled all the way from Greece! Many thanks to everyone above for their support in an initiative that has ignited the children's interest in growing vegetables!

Garddio a mwy (S4C):

The school garden in all its glory on S4C. The children are so fortunate to work with Mike and Louise each week.

International athlete Osian Jones

All pupils had a great day in the company of the international hammer thrower Osian Jones. They all took part in a fitness session with Amy and Josie from Welsh Athletics. And they also took part in a cooking workshop with Elwen and Laura from Hybu Cig Cymru. They have learned about the life of an athlete and how he prepares for a competition through careful diet and training. Thanks to everyone!

See all of the Osian Jones pictures

Nursery class September 2023

It was wonderful to welcome the Nursery Class 2023-2024 children for their taster sessions this week. A lovely group of children! Looking forward to welcoming them in September.

Seven a side football tournament

Congratulations to Ysgol Henblas' 7 a side football team on being runners up in the Ieuan Wyn Jones Shield tournament. The heavy rain was not enough to dampen their spirits! They played magnificently as a team in the group games. That was followed with an epic semi-final game - winning on penalties after extra time. Then another epic in the final losing to the only goal (and it was a fabulous goal) of the game against Ysgol Bodedern after extra time. It was difficult to choose one star from the squad - Osian received that award for his performances and clinical finishing in front of goal. A huge thank you to Barry Edwards today and throughout the year for giving so much of his time to train the children.

Looking back and to the future!

Ygsol Henblas evaluation and school development - Looking back to the future

2022-23 HIGHLIGHTS

“Congratulations to you all on an absolutely brilliant sports day. The effort the staff at the school put in was superb, with a lot of thought organisingthe event having clearly been put in (shade shelters, water drinks etc.) which made the afternoon a total success. It was brilliant to see so many active and happy children enjoying sport with their friends. I was shocked to see how many parents were there, needing three races for the “father’s egg and spoon race” says it all. It felt a real community event which was a real credit to the school. Again, congratulations to all the staff and children, absolutely brilliant. Keep up the work!” CouncillorDoug Fowlie

To read more of the Ygsol Henblas evaluation and school development click here

Raft Race 2023

Huge congratulations once again to the Ysgol Henblas raft team for winning the Menai raft race 2023. This is the third time in a row that the team has won the race! Thank you to everyone for raising £564 towards the school!

Banner design

The orange class was very busy planning and creating a flag for the Ysgol Henblas raft team. They had to ensure that all letters were the same height and width before proceeding to sawing and nailing the letters in place. Lots of great collaboration!

Foel Farm Visit

The youngest children had a wonderful day in the sun over at Foel Farm. They loved being able to pet animals, help feed them and have a tour around the farm on a tractor and quad bike. They have been busy learning about farm life in class, so the opportunity to see a live farm was a special one for them!

Anglesey tag rugby tournament

The year 3 and 4 tag rugby team played brilliantly in the group games before losing in extra time in the semi-final of the Anglesey tag rugby tournament. Thanks to Mike and Chris for training them to a great standard!

Glan-llyn

35 pupils went to Glanllyn to spend a weekend full of adventure on the lake, in the woods and many more exciting activities. They were so good all weekend and thanks to the adults for giving their time to ensure that such an experience was possible. Memories for a lifetime!

See all of the photos from Glan-llyn

Swimsafe!

The blue class had fun in Trearddur Bay on the beach and in the water venturing into surfing activities! Thanks to Môn Actif for organizing.

See all of the Swimsafe photos

Eco Group

Ysgol Henblas Eco Group has been successful in applying for the Tesco Community Grants Scheme. We hope to use the grant money to install an irrigation system for seedlings, in order to grow them effectively in the 'red classroom' before moving them to the school's lovely garden. Please tell your family, friends, colleagues, and neighbours! Hopefully with enough support we will succeed in receiving the maximum amount of grant money. It will be possible to support at Tesco Bethesda and Bangor!

Drama workshops

Year 6 pupils had a great day of drama workshop in the company of actors Rhian Cadwaladr and Gwion Williams. Their friends from year 6 Ysgol Bodffordd also joined and there was plenty of energy, fun, buzz and creativity in the hall. Many thanks to Rhian and Gwion for their enthusiasm and encouragement.

See all of the photos from the Drama Workshop

Gardening

It is worth seeing the growth in Ysgol Henblas' garden once again this year. The vegetables were sold in mid-June and a good crop was available. Cwmni Da came over to the school to film for the program Garddio a Mwy on S4C and questioned the children and Mike Allen. Thanks also to Louise for all her work. The programme will be broadcast soon!

See all of the Gardening photos

Theatr Pontio - Jemima

54 of the school's oldest pupils went to Theatr Pontio to watch a play about the life of Jemima Nicholas from Pembrokeshire at the end of the eighteenth century. This was a special live theatre experience for the pupils watching a production by Theatr Arad Goch company.

Health and fitness week

It was a very busy week in mid June! Thanks to everyone who contributed and gave the children exciting experiences! Thanks also to Lidl, Total Produce (Gaerwen) and Iceland for donating fruit and water bottles.
● Fitness with Mel's Fitness
● Karate with Karate Wales
● Ball skills with a Gift from Urdd Gobaith Cymru
● Zumba with Emily Bratherton
● Yoga
● Mental health talk
● Scooter skills
● Rugby
● Cricket
● Dodgeball
● Create kebabs
● Ball games
● Foot golf
● Tennis
● Various games organized by the children
● A walk to Cwt Llefrith
● Mindfulness
● Sports

See all of the photos from the Health & Fitness week

School Sports Day 2023

There was a special day of keen competition in the sports in the scorching heat of June. After a close competition between the two, Seiriol took her in the end!

See all of the photos from the School Sports Day

Summer Fair

Following the sports we held our summer fair - and we managed to raise close to £800 which is an incredible amount. Thank you to everyone for supporting and to the fantastic team from the Parent Teacher Association for organizing!

Comet Chasers

The Blue class pupils had a special session with Cai Stoddart Jones learning about the universe with several investigative and exciting tasks. Thank you, Cai, for inspiring the next generation!

See all of the Comet Chasers photos

Cycling

Year 6 pupils were able to receive a level 1 and 2 certificate in the cycling training at the end of June. Well done and thanks to Ceri and Julie for training them.

Farm Visit

The green class visited a local dairy farm Fferm y Llan as part of the theme work. The children really enjoyed being able to discuss how they milk on the farm and look after the calves with the owners Lois and Sion. Everyone had the opportunity to give milk to the calves and watch the cows being milked. The children were amazed to learn how many litres the milk tank held daily and of course enjoyed tasting a strawberry milkshake before going home from the farm!

Story time in the garden!

The children of the green class enjoyed a reading session in their new garden on a nice Spring day. While listening to the story, it was nice to hear the birds singing and see tadpoles swimming in the pool

New friends - the little lambs!

The yellow class have been able to look after two little lambs as part of their 'Farm' theme this month. Several activities were completed with the lambs including measuring their height, feeding them, taking a live picture, and reading them a story.

Blue Planet

Pupils in the orange class had a wonderful day at the Blue Planet Aquarium learning about sea creatures and sea pollution. It was the idea of one of the children to visit the location and they were all delighted to stare and marvel at the colours of the various fish!

Rygbi tag

The school's rugby teams had a great day in the catchment tag rugby tournament. Three teams took part and the standard of rugby was exceptional - full of excitement from one end of the field to the other.

Congratulations to the year 3 and 4 team for coming second in their age group - it was fantastic to see the young group immerse themselves in the rugby! Congratulations to the year 5 and 6 team who managed to reach the semi final before losing in extra time in a great game. And another very exciting game when losing in the third place game! Congratulations to another year 5 and 6 team for showing the ability to work together as a team very well - and everyone gave 100%.

Huge credit to Mike and Chris for their meticulous coaching!

Selog

Selog the dragon came to sing with the youngest children of the school and the children of the nursery school - talk about fun bing bong bonging in the open air!

Composting

Many great posters were created teaching us about what needs to be put in the compost bin. These are the posters that came out on top!

Hockey

The school's hockey teams enjoyed themselves at the Anglesey hockey festival! There were exciting games, and it's good to see that hockey has a prominent place in the sports calendar of primary schools on Anglesey.

Cycling skills

Year 4 and 5 pupils had cycling training with our good friend – Debbie from Sustrans! Learning the right skills before venturing out on the bike on the main road is very important and it was good to see everyone respecting the training and its purpose. Safe cycling for all – and remember the helmet!

Rugby tournament

The older children had a good day at the Urdd rugby tournament on the Llangefni rugby club fields. The boys won two games in their tackling group. The girls won every match in their tag group before losing in the semi-final. Big thanks to Mike and Chris for training them!

Fourth through Wales!

Congratulations Ysgol Henblas!

We have come fourth in the Welsh Small Schools category in the Big Walk and Wheel campaign. Thanks to everyone for supporting! HURRAY!

Dairy farm

The yellow class visited the Fferam y Llan dairy farm (Cwt Llefrith) as part of their ‘Farm' theme. Thanks to Lois and the family for welcoming them and offering worthwhile experiences. The children had a wonderful day!

Football tournament

The football team took part in the 5-a-side football competition in memory of Mr Alun Wyn Mummery. There were good games and everyone tried their best. Well done everyone and thanks to Barry for training them!

County cross country

15 pupils went to represent the school in the Ynys Mon cross country final on the Ysgol Gyfun Llangefni fields. Well done to everyone for taking part - and especially to Morgan for coming third in the race for year 5 and 6 boys.

Private John Walsh

Many thanks to Helen Munro for talking about Private John Walsh’s service during the Second World War. Private Walsh was Donny's grandfather and Jacob and Harry's great grandfather. He was a soldier in France and in Africa and he returned to be part of the D-Day campaign. Helen had many interesting documents as well as John's medals to show. The children realised how important it is to remember the efforts of people like John

See all of the photos of the Private John Walsh

Gardening and the potato growing challenge

The children have been planting in the garden under the guidance of Mike and Louise - onions, lettuce and radish seeds as well as potatoes. We look forward to seeing the final product later in the year. The children were given a presentation by Stuart from ICL about growing vegetables. Stuart has set a potato growing challenge for the children between spring and June and there will be a prize for those who manage to grow the most potatoes and those who manage to grow the biggest potatoes!! Go for it kids!

See all of the photos of the Gardening and the potato growing challenge

Big Walk and Wheel Week/Bike mechanic

The children are grateful to Dr Beic for coming to the school to check that the pupils' bikes are suitable for traveling along local roads and paths. Attention was paid to the brakes, chain, seat, and tyres. Enjoy the safe cycling! Over the last two weeks of March, it was great to see the bikes, scooters, skateboards and walkers supporting the Big Walk and Wheel Week campaign! It is great that the children appreciate environmentally friendly means of travel. Heidi travelled 5 miles with her parents to get to school. A very special effort!

Cross Country

Congratulations to all pupils for taking part in the cross-country race. Everyone finished the course on a challenging day for running. Special congratulations to Morgan who came first in the year 5/6 race and to Gwilym who came third in the year 3/4 race. Fantastic!

See all of the photos of the Cross Country

Llangristiolus Hall

A huge thank you for the welcome the blue class received at Neuadd Llangristiolus this morning. The children had the opportunity to ask the residents about the Second World War and the responses about relatives who had lived through the period were extremely interesting e.g. the bombs that had fallen on Holland Arms and Gwalchmai, the shops that used to exist in Llangristiolus, learning about T.G.Walker, and the story of why evacuees had not stayed in Caergeiliog. A valuable morning of learning about a very difficult time

See all of the photos of the Llangristiolus Hall

Urdd eisteddfod

Congratulations to everyone who competed in the Urdd circle eisteddfodau. At the regional eisteddfod there was a further day of successes - special congratulations to Carwen on receiving the first prize in the cerdd dant solo year 3 and 4, to Sara on receiving the recitation third prize, to the choir on receiving the third prize, and to Beca for competing so well in the recitation year 3 and 4. We are very proud of you. Thank you to the children for all their efforts during rehearsals over the past few weeks and to those who trained and accompanied. Thanks also to those who stewarded on behalf of Ysgol Henblas. Good luck to Carwen in the national eisteddfod at the end of May.

Rownd a Rownd studios

Pupils in the orange class enjoyed visiting the Round and Round set in the Aria studio. We got a taste of the filming schedule where we learned how a series like this is created. The pupils are delighted with Rownd a Rownd and thank the company for the thrill of tasting the world of filming in the new studio.

St David’s Day parade

Pupils in the blue class joined their peers from the catchment area and enjoyed the St David's Day parade on the streets of Llangefni! The procession made its way towards the Plas Arthur leisure center where there was further entertainment to entertain them!

Pentre peryglon

Pupils in the orange and blue class had a campus visit to the Pentre Peryglon center learning about important methods of keeping safe at home and outside the home.

See all of the photos of the Pentre peryglon

World Book Day

The school's pupils enjoyed celebrating book day by dressing up as their favourite characters from a book. See below the children of the green class in their costumes - there were many interesting stories during the day!

Congratulations to the Netball Team

Huge congratulations to the netball team - runners up in the catchment area tournament. Fantastic performances and excellent teamwork. Well done all! We’re immensely proud of your achievement.

Team Wales Weightlifting

The orange class enjoyed a session with Hannah Powell and Christie Williams, Team Wales Weightlifting athletes learning about the preparation and necessary diet requirements when preparing for a competition.

Young Astronauts

The green class has transformed into a spaceship this term. The young astronauts went to the moon in their unique helmets to enjoy a picnic! Learning through experiences at its best!

The Very Hungry Caterpillar

Thank you to the Chartwells company for sharing the story of 'The Very Hungry Caterpillar' with the children of the yellow and green class and giving everyone the opportunity to taste healthy foods.

Farewell to Mrs Llio Tomos

A heartfelt thank you and farewell to Mrs Llio Tomos for her wonderful work at Ysgol Henblas over the past few months. It has been a pleasure working with Mrs Tomos and we will miss her here. All the best for the future and you will always be welcome here.

Outer Area

Huge thanks Premier developments Ltd company for ensuring safe and clean access to the gazebo throughout the year for the children.
In addition, there is now a new play frame on the yard which is hugely popular with all pupils! This is a new and exciting addition to the school and provides a new resource for the pupils during play times

See all of the photos of the Outer Area

Smoothies

The orange and blue class created delicious smoothies using a range of fruit and vegetables. The smoothies were blended not by the power of electricity but using pedal power on a bike! There was a chance for everyone to taste the unique smoothies!

See all of the photos of the Smoothies

Swimming Gala

The swimming squad went to the Plas Arthur swimming pool to take part in the swimming gala. Congratulations to everyone for performing so well!

See all of the photos of the Swimming Gala

Farewell Miss Manon Jones

We also thank Miss Manon Jones for her service with the blue class over the last two months. Miss Jones is a student who has enjoyed her time with the older pupils. Good luck to her on her next school experience.

Farewell Mrs Sian Herbert

At the end of the term, it was a strange day for us at Ysgol Henblas - saying goodbye to Mrs Sian Herbert who has been teaching the yellow class since April 2022. It has been a real pleasure to have Mrs Herbert as a member of staff at Ysgol Henblas - the children think the world of her. We wish her every happiness in her new position at Ysgol Waunfawr and she will always be warmly welcomed at Ysgol Henblas.

Instrumental concert

14 pupils have instrumental lessons and at the end of the term they performed in front of their friends in a concert. It's great to see them perform so confidently.

Entrepreneurship group

We congratulate the entrepreneurship group as they got involved with the latest initiative of creating and selling calendars for 2023. This raised £188 - we look forward to seeing more initiatives in 2023!

Christmas fair

Thank you very much to the fantastic committee of the Parents Teacher Association who have organized a successful Christmas Fair this year. It was only two weeks ago that the date of the fair was being arranged, but again in a very short period of time the committee has managed to organize a very special evening. The school was packed, and we managed to raise £825. Thanks to everyone for supporting once again.

Christmas Sweater Day

£115 was collected towards Save the Children as the children and staff dressed festively to support a very special charity.

Open the Book

Thank you to the ‘Agor y Llyfr’ crew for presenting the story of the birth to the whole school. It was great to welcome you back to the school after the pandemic. We look forward to seeing you again in 2023!

Christmas Do!

A group from the school went to Llangristiolus village hall to sing in the ‘Dw Dolig’ event on Saturday December 10th - this was a community event. The hall was packed and there was a wonderful atmosphere.

Urdd Carols Night

Thanks to the choir from Ysgol Henblas who sang 'Eira'n disgyn' in Capel Moreia in a wonderful evening of carol singing organized by the Urdd.

Christmas dinner

Thanks to Auntie Sian and Auntie Tracy for an excellent Christmas dinner this year!

See all of the photos from the Christmas dinner

Father Christmas

A special visitor hovered in a helicopter overhead twice in mid-December - none other than Santa Claus himself with help from the coastguard and the RAF. The children were absolutely delighted! Ho ho ho!

Bike Bling

The school entrance was very festive on the morning of Friday December 16th. There were lots of bikes and scooters decorated with tinsel - thank you to everyone for supporting our healthy travel to school campaign.

See all of the photos from the Bike Bling

Reverse advent calendar

Rhun ap Iorwerth MP and Councillor Geraint Bebb came to collect all your donations towards the Ynys Mon food bank. Thank you for your generosity.

Christmas concerts

This past week has been a special one at Ysgol Henblas with excellent performances by the children presenting a Christmas service and show. Congratulations to all of them - they deserve huge credit.

See all of the photos from the Christmas concerts

Teams4U

Thank you to everyone for supporting the Christmas box appeal again this year. Your contributions are greatly appreciated.

Football 5 a side

This is the 5 a side football squad that competed in the catchment area tournament. Well done everyone for performing so well with a positive attitude.

School Council

The oldest members of the school council had a wonderful morning with their peers from the catchment area at Ysgol Gyfun Llangefni getting to know each other. This is the start of a specific work programme for the coming year.
In addition, all the members of the Ysgol Henblas Council had an interesting conversation with the members of the governing body discussing their work and their aspirations for the coming year.

Athletics

The senior athletics crew had a good day at Plas Arthur taking part in the regional athletics festival. Congratulations to everyone for performing so well.

Children in Need

Thank you to everyone for raising £192 towards the Children in Need 2022 charity.

Plas Newydd

The orange class had a lovely day at Plas Newydd planting over 800 daffodils. We look forward to seeing them flourishing in the new year.

The World Cup

There was a lot of excitement at Ysgol Henblas throughout November in preparation for the men’s football world cup 2022. The children joined schools all over Wales in the Urdd world cup jamboree. We are also very grateful to Dylan Griffiths who is the BBC Radio Cymru lead football commentator for sending updates from Qatar to the children of Ysgol Henblas. We are very proud of the success of the football team and all the excitement the tournament has brought.

Coding

The blue class pupils had a wonderful day of coding with Robin Williams. They experimented with Scratch, Microbit software and flew a drone around the class! Thanks to Robin for igniting every pupil's enthusiasm.

Urdd drumming session

Osian Rhys Roberts held an excellent drumming session with the Urdd club. Thank you Osian for igniting the pupils!

Girls’ football

Year 1,2 and 3 girls enjoyed a day full of fun at the UEFA Disney Playmaker. Thanks to Mon Actif for arranging.

Thanks to Merfyn Jones

The outside area for the youngest children has been transformed over the past few months. Recently we as a school had to thank Merfyn Jones for his special work in planning and re-creating the area. The children and staff love using the new facilities that are available all year round.

Melin Llynnon

The green class visited the round houses at Melin Llynnon. We had the opportunity to learn how houses were built over 2000 years ago. Everyone had a lot of fun learning facts about the round houses with Richard Holt.

Construction

The green class have had a great experience of being trained on how to build walls and use machines by Joey Taylor from Premier Development as part of 'The three little pigs' work. Everyone was excited to be builders for the day and really enjoyed the experience. We thank him very much for his time and Huws Gray for contributing materials for the session.

See all of the photos from Green Class' day of building

Local walk

The yellow class enjoyed a trip around the village looking for the signs of Autumn. The children loved hearing the sound of the leaves under their feet and singing 'autumn leaves' on the journey. Thanks to Louise Martin and Mike Allen for joining the trip and to Mike for showing the wildlife that lives in their pond! There was great excitement as everyone met the little frog!

A walk in the forest

The orange class had an enjoyable afternoon in the forest creating instruments with natural materials before singing a song about the forest. The children love taking advantage of the special environment that surrounds the school.

Orienteering

The blue class had a wonderful afternoon in Carreglwyd, Llanfaethlu developing their orienteering skills. After a picnic in the beautiful surroundings of Carreglwyd they were busy looking for the various targets along the fields and around the lake. Well done all!

See more photos from Blue Class' Orienteering day