A MESSAGE FROM MR KENNEDY
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The Spring Term has been extremely busy as ever. I would like to put on record my thanks to all members of the school community for their hard work and support in all activities.
Trips and visits have taken centre stage. The ever-popular Welsh trip to Disneyland Paris to mark St. David’s Day went smoothly, whilst the ski trip to Andorra will cap the term over the Easter holiday. Either side of the Welsh trip, our students of GCSE Spanish visited our partner school in Cadiz, El Centro Ingles. At the time of writing, we are glad to be hosting their young people in return. Diolch to all concerned.
The annual musical theatre production was a joy and played to full houses across the week, including the traditional visit by our partner primaries’ Year 6 classes. Having never seen Little Shop Of Horrors before, I was blown away, helped massively by the range and depth of talent on display, from singing to dancing, the orchestra and backstage and technical teams. When we talk of having joy as a part of our vision for the school, here it was in spades, even allowing for a plant that lived on human flesh!
Alongside, we have hosted and entered competitions in mathematics, public speaking and the usual strong sporting offer. Llongyfarchiadau pawb.
May I also thank you all for your support as we move towards the new uniform arrangements which will be fully in place by September 2026. Families will be able to choose between the traditional Olchfa uniform or the PE kit, with branded items kept to a minimum. In that spirit, we are promoting our expectation that, if pupils choose not to wear Olchfa PE shorts or trousers, we expect plain, all black attire. Similarly, trainers or shoes are to be all black. The pupils have responded very positively to us reinforcing these messages, reflecting the strong partnerships we have with you as families. Thank you.
All that remains is to wish you a lovely holiday. Eid Mubarak, Happy Easter and Chag Pesach Sameach to those marking religious festivals and may everyone have a peaceful and restful break.
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This term, the pupils in our STF have been exploring the topic ‘All Around the World’. They have developed their geographical knowledge by identifying the continents and oceans, while also building their descriptive language skills through studying Japanese samurai armour. As part of their learning about Mexico, pupils took part in a vocabulary-building activity where they generated key words linked to Mexico before expanding their ideas by identifying further associated words.
It has been wonderful to see the pupils' curiosity and confidence grow as they have learnt more about the world around them.
Mr James
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New Parent Governors
I am pleased to inform you that, following the recent ballot count, Mrs Karen Gallagher and Dr Juman Dujaili were elected to the Governing Body and we look forward to welcoming them to their first meeting which was held on 18 March.
Cllr Mary Jones
Chair of Governors
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UK Maths Trust Intermediate Challenge
On Wednesday 28 January 2026, 60 pupils in Year 9, 60 pupils in Year 10 and 50 pupils in Year 11 participated in the Intermediate Maths Challenge, a 60-minute, 25-question multiple-choice challenge designed to encourage mathematical reasoning, precision of thought and fluency. This challenge promotes careful thinking and problem-solving, and our pupils’ performance was excellent: in Year 11, 3 Gold awards, 12 Silver awards and 16 Bronze awards; in Year 10, 4 Gold awards, 8 Silver awards and 15 Bronze awards; and in Year 9, 3 Gold awards, 6 Silver awards and 11 Bronze awards.
Well done to all the pupils who participated! Special congratulations to Tabby in Year 11, as well as Isaiah and James in Year 10, who have qualified for the Pink Kangaroo, and to Sunho, Lucas and Hannah, who have qualified to participate in the Grey Kangaroo.
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Senior Team Maths Challenge National Final
On Monday February 9th, Jerry, Kevin, Sophie and Josh represented the school in the National Final of the Senior Team Maths Challenge at the Kimpton Clocktower hotel in Manchester. Their poster exploring Voronoi diagrams was shortlisted, which was a fantastic achievement at such a high level of competition. Although they did not come away with the top prize, they performed exceptionally well and demonstrated real resilience throughout the process. Most importantly, they clearly enjoyed engaging deeply with mathematics, and their teamwork, commitment and enthusiasm made the school incredibly proud.
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On Friday 13 March, Olchfa School hosted the Team Maths Challenge, a competition that promotes mathematical dexterity, teamwork and communication skills. We welcomed Year 8 and Year 9 pupils from 14 schools across South Wales and enjoyed a day of mathematics and problem-solving. We are very proud of our team, who displayed excellent mathematical skills and demonstrated resilience and determination throughout the competition
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Thank you for your generous contributions to the Ty Olwen Easter Egg drive. The donations will be delivered to Ty Olwen next week by the School Advisory Board. Thank you for your continued support.
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School Production - Little Shop of Horrors!
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Thank you to all the pupils, staff and volunteers who contributed to the success of our recent school production of Little Shop of Horrors! The show ran for five days, most of which were sold out!
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Swansea’s Holocaust Memorial Day Event
Rebecca Page and Anne Ruggieri worked with a group of pupils from the SAB who represented Olchfa at Swansea’s Holocaust Memorial Day event on 27th January. Their thoughtful and moving poem demonstrated a deep understanding of the significance of this commemoration, reflecting on the tragedies of genocide and the importance of remembrance. This was supported by KS3 and KS4 lessons on antisemitism and the Holocaust, ensuring all pupils at Olchfa engage with this vital history.
We were honoured to receive a letter of thanks from the Lord Mayor of Swansea, who praised the pupils for their maturity, insight, and unique contributions to the event. Moments like these highlight the power of History in shaping responsible, informed citizens.
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On 12th February 2025, Mrs N Smart (trip leader) and Mrs Angelique Davies took 21 Olchfa Year 10 and 11 pupils on our annual exchange to El Puerto de Santa Maria, Cadiz, Spain. Pupils fully immersed themselves in the language, culture and family life for 7 days with an action-packed programme ranging from lessons in The English Centre, a Flamenco display with dancing lessons, padel tennis and day trips to Cadiz and Seville. Pupils enjoyed the warmer weather, the experience of life in a Spanish school and the experience of life in a Spanish family with typical food served for the evening meal.
ECI pupils returned to us on 15th March this year and were getting very involved in the day to day life of Olchfa, with bespoke lessons such as Welsh, a science practical alongside 'shadowing' their partners in normal timetabled lessons. The afternoons will be fun-packed with trips to Mumbles, Cardiff, Big Pitt, St Fagans, ice-skating and shopping, culminating in a basketball tournament on the last day of the trip. Life-long memories and friendships have been made during this two week experience. We very much look forward to our exchange 2027.
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After winning the Swansea Final Seren Debate Competition in January, our Year 9 Debate Team went on to secure third place in the Seren Regional Debate Competition in February. Llongyfarchiadau to the team and diolch to Mrs Shankland and Ms Davies for their hard work and support with the team.
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Congratulations to David & Finley and their team, Pontardawe Academy U15s, on becoming Welsh National Champions, beating TNS 3-1 yesterday in the National Final. Well done!
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Congratulations to our Year 8 basketball team who won 4/4 games in the Mid and West Wales regional tournament at the end of February. They have now qualified for the national finals in Cardiff next month!
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Well done to Year 9 girls who had a fantastic day at the Afan Nedd Tawe netball tournament at the beginning of March. They came away with 3 excellent wins but unfortunately were defeated in their final game against Bishopston. Well done to everyone involved.
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Izzy in Yr 9 was selected to represent Wales in Belgium in judo the Inglemunster International Open. Izzy is currently the Welsh and British Champion in her category and this was her first selection to represent Wales internationally. Izzy performed superbly winning a fantastic silver medal after 3 bouts winning 2 by maximum scores. Well done Izzy!
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Congratulations to Isobel in Yr 11 and her partner who have won gold in the Welsh Acro Championships and will go on to represent Wales at the British Championships in May!
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Over the past few weeks Cedric in Yr 12 has been completing both in the UK and internationally.
Cedric won bronze medals in the under 18s and under 21s English International open, winning 9 fights on the day!
Cedric was selected to represented Wales at the Inglemunster International Open in Belgium where he won a gold medal in the under 18s.
Cedric recently represented Olchfa in the British Schools Championship winning a bronze in the year 12/13 category.
Cedric will be travelling to Bremen in Germany, having been selected to represent Wales in the under 18s and under 21s at the prestigious Bremen International Masters. A tournament used by Great Britain for selection to the Youth Olympics. Well done Cedric!
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SCHOOL ADVISORY BOARD - UPDATE
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Our School Advisory Board members have been very active this term, with each subgroup overseeing a range of projects that support our school community, environment, and charitable causes.
The EDI group (equality, diversity and inclusion) took six EDI pupils, alongside staff, to the Holocaust Memorial Day commemoration on 27 January 2026. The pupils read a poem based on the theme of “togetherness” and represented the school with maturity and respect. In the days leading up to the event, they also delivered assemblies to share the importance of remembrance with other pupils. Alongside this, The Eid Menu Competition has now concluded, and the winners have been selected. Thank you to everyone who took part and shared their creative menu ideas to celebrate Eid. We can't wait to mark this special event by sampling these delicious dishes!
The community group once again coordinated the Christmas Jumper / Non-Uniform Day to raise money for four charities, including Save the Children. Thanks to the generosity of the school community, more than £500 was raised for each charity. Students also delivered stockings and gifts to Ty Olwen, helping bring festive cheer to those receiving care and support. This term they are once again hopping into the community spirit by launching the ever successful ‘ Easter Egg Appeal’. They have been busy bunnies!
The Eco group has been working hard to improve the school environment. Students:
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Delivered an assembly for Year 7 on litter awareness
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Conducted a litter audit around the school site
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Began exploring ways to reduce Olchfa’s energy waste, working alongside the Eco Schools initiative.
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Continued to maintain and rejuvenate the Memorial Garden
They are also delighted to announce that some members of the group will represent the school at Enterprise Day at Swansea Guildhall in June, where they have been allocated a stall. Save the date and your pennies as they are sure to be stocking some treats!
The communications group is excited to announce that the SAB suggestion boxes have now been installed in three locations around the school. These allow pupils to share ideas anonymously and voluntarily, helping ensure a wider range of opinions can be discussed at future Student Advisory Board meetings. There have been some excellent suggestions so far!
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CONTACT INFORMATION
Email - olchfa@olchfa.org.uk - all queries
Years 7-11 report an absence - pastoral@olchfa.org.uk
Sixth Form absence and general queries - sixthform@olchfa.org.uk
Telephone: 01792 534300
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