St Illtyd’s continue to broaden minds

Students at St Illtyd’s Catholic High School are continuing to benefit from the many activities in the school that broaden their minds and help them fulfil their potential.

Cardiff and Vale College Aero Challenge

Back in July, two Year 10 teams from St Illtyd’s took part in the Cardiff and Vale College Aeronautical Challenge at the International Centre for Aerospace Training. This is the sixth time we have taken part in this event.

The event is hugely beneficial to pupils in showing them the different careers available within STEM and in particular, Aeronautical Engineering. The event gives pupils the opportunity to try exciting activities such as using a flight simulator, programming a drone, and jacking an aircraft. No other educational visit provides such amazing opportunities.

Our pupils once again thoroughly enjoyed this year's event and every activity they took part in. They worked fantastically as a team, communicating with each other and supporting each other at every step of the way. We are delighted to announce that one of our teams won "School of the Day"- hugely deserved after a perfect drone landing!

I would like to thank Jo Tanner, Martin Smith and all of the team at CAVC ICAT (International Centre for Aerospace Training) for a fantastic, very well-organised event and for making us feel so welcome every year. We look forward to seeing you again at next year's competition.

Luisa May, Community Focused School's Co-ordinator

Year 9 Careers Day

At the end of November, we ran our annual careers day and GCSE options day for Year 9 pupils. This year, the event was run as a speed networking event, enabling pupils to speak to many employers to find out about future careers in these industries.

We would like to thank all the employers for being part of the event - Screen Alliance Wales, South Wales Police, Atkins Realis, the Royal College of Nursing, Balfour Beatty, Principality Building Society, and ISA Training from Educ8 Wales.

We would also like to extend huge thanks to Adrian Cole, Business Engagement Adviser at Careers Wales, for organising the event. Well done to Adam Fleet, Head of Faculty Progress and Wellbeing and Nick Sparrow, Careers Wales Careers Adviser, for coordinating the running of the day.

Girls into Construction

Myself and six of our Year 11 girls attended a “Building your Skills” programme run by Wales and West Housing. All six are considering a career in construction or engineering so this was the ideal opportunity to find out more about the industry and why it’s important that women should consider this sector as a career.

The two days allowed them to try their hand at plumbing, electrics, tiling, and carpentry and its fair to say that the skills they demonstrated impressed the tradesmen and women prompting one of them to tell me they are better than his current apprentices!

The afternoon saw us take part in an engineering task and in pairs the group was tasked with building a bridge to exact specifications, costs and a timescale, before they pitched the design to the director who then tested each one for strength.

The two days were summed up perfectly when the girls were told they “All have a future in construction and are a credit to their parents and school”.

Great Point Seren Film Studios in Cardiff

The Year 10 Textiles group were invited to Seren Film Studios to get an insight to how important costume and wardrobe are to the making of a film or Netflix programme.

After a tour of the studios the group were tasked with transforming a pair of jeans and T-shirt into their own story. They got creative mixing fake blood and ripping holes before using the outside space to distress the clothes. The stories were gruesome ranging from a bear attack to a mysterious fall down a mountain - all reflected in the appearance of the clothes.

Our Headteacher Mr Thomas listened to each story and was very impressed at how well the clothes reflected the back story. The visit improved our knowledge of the film and TV industry and of how many opportunities to work in this sector there are on our doorstep.

Cardiff and Vale College Transition Visits

Jo Tanner, Student Recruitment Officer at Cardiff and Vale College, has continued to walk and talk us around the city centre campus on Dumballs Road, helping prepare Year 11 pupils for what to expect if they choose CAVC for post 16 learning.

The size of the college is always a shock when pupils first visit, however, this quickly wears off and turns into excitement when they realise how different the learning environment is from school. This is the third year of these visits and plays a really important part of the guidance process in school.

Nick Sparrow, Careers Wales Careers Adviser

Visit to the Senedd

In the last week of the summer term, a small group of pupils were invited by Vaughan Gething, Minister for the Economy of Wales, to visit the Senedd. Pupils enjoyed a tour of the Senedd and had a question-and-answer session with Vaughan. We would like to thank Vaughan Gething for this kind invitation. We would also like to thank Joel for a very informative tour.

Luisa May, Community Focused Schools Co-ordinator

Shwmae Day 2023

On Friday 13th October, our Welsh department celebrated “Shwmae Day” by running activities with our Year 7 pupils.

Everybody’s Talking About Jamie Theatre Trip

On 26th October, the GCSE drama classes were lucky enough to go and watch Everybody’s Talking About Jamie in the Wales Millennium Centre.

The musical was full of uplifting songs, flamboyant dancing and hilarious jokes. There were also some important messages that came out of the play about ensuring you always be yourself, whether that is studying for medical school or performing on stage. It also taught us not to fall for teenage peer pressure.

We all left smiling and would definitely see it again. It was a fantastic production, and we would recommend it to anyone who loves a dance, a song and lots of glitter!

- Lucy Curtin, Teacher of English and Drama

Tree Maths Day at the Museum

This term, 14 of our More Able and Talented in maths Year 7 pupils attended a “Tree Maths Day” run by the National Museum Cardiff in partnership with Central South Consortium. Pupils measured trees and calculated the amount of carbon each tree can store, measured specimens in the Natural Science galleries and solved mathematical problems including how Leonardo da Vinci used maths to draw the perfect trees. The day offered the chance to apply key mathematical skills outside of the classroom in a unique way.

Our pupils thoroughly enjoyed the day. We would like to thank Heather Jackson and all the Learning Team at the National Museum Wales, Central South Consortium and the Garfield Weston Foundation, part of the Urban Nature project, for this wonderful opportunity.