Emrys ap Iwan

                    THE SCHOOL DAY                    

The school day starts at 8:55am and ends at 3:10pm.  There are 5 lessons every day. Every school day starts with a 20 minute 'Personal Development' session, we call this PDP. During this time you will be with your form tutor. They will give you important information as well as completing a number of different activities during this time.

Once a week there is an assembly in the Prys Jones Theatre, Year 7 assemblies are on Fridays. You will go to your form class to register and then your form tutor will escort you to the assembly.

               WHAT ARE VIVO's               

Vivo is the name of the rewards system that we use at Ysgol Emrys ap Iwan.

It is designed to ensure that the learning behaviours we want in all our learners are encouraged and rewarded. To this end we award VIVO's for the following;

• Attendance and punctuality to school every day
• Good behaviour in lessons
• Excellent effort at the four tracking points throughout the year
• In years 7 and 8 Vivo points will also be awarded linked to Accelerated Reader (our reading programme)

You will build up weekly points which can be cashed in on a variety of gifts from a catalogue.

There is a mobile app called VIVO that you and your parents can log into and view your progress in achieving VIVO points.

                        WHAT TO EAT?                        

Ysgol Emrys ap Iwan is a Healthy School and learners are encouraged to make healthy choices.

School Meals are provided by Shire Catering who offer a wide range of high quality food for sale at breakfast, break and lunchtime.

Choices include a traditional counter (meat or vegetarian), a pasta bar, a salad bar, a deli bar, a selection of sandwiches.

During your first couple of weeks you will be escorted to the restaurant earlier than everyone else until you get used to it.  As of April 2021, school dinner prices are £2.80.

                           THE QUAD                           

The Quad is a Year 7 only area for use during break time and lunchtime. This is an area for you to hang out with your friends and to get to know others.

The Quad is staffed at all times so there is always a teacher around. There are a number of games and activities available for you to play with in the Quad (e.g, chess, badminton, softball).

                   SATCHEL ONE                  

Satchel One is a website and app that we use to set and record homework.

This is a really simple system to use. You can even send your teacher a message if you are unsure what to do.

You and your parents / guardians will be given a log-in to Satchel One during your first weeks at Ysgol Emrys ap Iwan.

                LEARNERS AS LEADERS               

We want you to develop your skills so you can become and ethically informed citizen who plays an active role in society.  There are a number of opportunities for you to be involved in, such as:

• School council
• Eco committee
• Student Ambassadors
• Sport Ambassadors

                  ACCESS OVERVIEW                   

Access offers support to learners with Additional Learning Needs, through a range of interventions for:

• Literacy
• Numeracy
• Dyslexia
• Social and Communication difficulties.
• Specific Learning Difficulties.

Interventions are delivered in small groups by a strong team of staff to meet the needs of learners. Access is a welcoming environment and we offer a flexible approach in the support we offer to learners.

We also work alongside a number of outside agencies, to enhance the provision available to our learners.  These include CAMHs, Speech and Language, Occupational Therapy, Physiotherapy and Educational Psychology.

In addition to interventions in Access, we have a dedicated team of Learning Support Assistants who work closely between the ALN department and their curriculum areas, to ensure the very best of support for learners in their lessons.

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At the start of the day, we offer Nurture, where learners are welcomed with breakfast and given that extra bit of support to ensure a positive day ahead. At lunchtime we have dedicated LSAs in the restaurant to help learners, should they need it. In addition, at break and lunchtime learners are welcome to Access to socialise in a safe space. Learners routinely play games and engage in a range of activities.

           ACCELERATED READER        

We want learners to appreciate how valuable and rewarding reading can be and dedicated time is built into our curriculum for independent reading.

Accelerated Reader is a computerised programme that has not only been specifically designed to improve children’s reading ability and continue to raise their reading age, but also to encourage and nurture a love of reading that will continue into adulthood.

The Accelerated Reader Program works by identifying a selection of books that will match your ability, but will also challenge you to develop your vocabulary. You will be able to choose books from the school library that fall within this range and when you have finished the book, you will take a short, electronic quiz that assesses your understanding of what you have read.

This enables us to closely monitor your reading progress and ensure that you are selecting books that are challenging enough. Remember you will also get VIVO points for every quiz you pass.

       EXTRA-CURRICULAR ACTIVITIES       

We believe that learning should be an exciting and enriching experience for all learners, and that learning continues beyond the classroom. We aim to create as many opportunities as possible for learners to extend their learning. Our programme of extra-curricular activities is called engage@emrys.

Learners benefit from having access to a wide range of after school clubs and classes. These include activities like rugby, trampolining, sailing, dance, reading café, computer programming and robotics. The range of clubs changes regularly and the emphasis is on giving as many learners as possible the opportunity to participate.

Some of you may have already been participating in some of the afterschool clubs as a taster of what there is in store. The timetable of clubs is updated every term, this will be displayed in all classrooms and on the engage@emrys section of the school website.

Can’t find a club you like? Ask your friends if they would like to join you and let us know, we will do what we can to put it together for you.