On June 11th, forty-three Year 10 girls and five teachers met at the uncomfortably early hour of 6.00am to set off for a five-day tour of the First World War sites at Vimy Ridge, Ypres and the Somme. The itinerary was packed, and it was a great tribute to the girls’ stamina and interest that every place was visited, from the tunnels at Vimy Ridge to the muddy trenches at Sanctuary Wood in Ypres to the Newfoundland Memorial Park on the Somme.
Mrs H Davies

25th June 2007

India in Year 1 has received a letter from Buckingham Palace thanking her for the bouquet of flowers she presented for the Queen on her recent visit to Cardiff.

India said, "I was excited to get a letter from Buckingham Palace. I am very happy that the Queen liked the flowers I gave her and I am pleased that her Lady-in-Waiting wrote to me to thank me for them. As well as the letter I was also sent lots of leaflets about the Royal Family. I hope to see the Queen again so I can give her some more flowers."

Click here to see full letter

20th June

The girls in Years 5 & 6 are now in final rehearsals for this year's production. They have chosen to perform Bugsy Malone and are really looking forward to the experience.
They are performing the production over three nights from Tuesday 26th to Thursday 28th June.
The special staging and rig have now been erected in the Great Hall and the girls are excited about the full dress rehearsal on Friday afternoon. Good luck with the performances on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday!

There are a few remaining tickets available. For more information please contact Mrs Bethan Thomas on 02920562019 ext 2

20th June

On the expedition we will be staying near the coast at a campsite for several days and then spending two days at a remote mountain hut. The hikes include climbing a challenging mountain peak and another steep climb to some caves. For three of the days we will be kayaking down the beautiful clear Krupa river amid fantastic scenery, with a number of waterfalls.

Each of the girls will have a chance to lead and organise her team for that day and will be responsible for all the meals, finances and general organisation. The trip promises to be a very worthwhile experience which will challenge the girls mentally and physically and help them to become more independent.

Our Creativity Day was truly a day of inspiration, imagination, collaboration and productivity. The girls were organised into mixed age groups and were presented with a copy of Wassily Kandinsky's Composition X, which they were invited to interpret and respond to in any way they wished. Every group responded to the open-ended challenge with enthusiasm; their commitment and absorbtion were clear and the range of responses created was wonderful. The girls produced music, drama, art, collage, dance, puppets, film, a party and even a cake! We all thoroughly enjoyed sharing our array of talents and ideas in a very special assembly at the end of the day, and all agreed that this child-led project was a tremendous success.

Miss Anna Sandford
13th June

Cilt Cymru (the Welsh branch of The National Languages Centre) and British Council Wales have run an annual Getting to know your Foreign Language Assistant competition for the past couple of years. There are categories for entries from Key Stage 2 to Key Stage 5 and projects can be submitted in any format.

College Viewing of CILT DVD

Daisy and Louise talking about their DVD

Students of German in our Year 13 rose to the challenge of finding out ‘How our Foreign Language Assistant feels about ……!’ They interviewed our Austrian assistant, Frau Mayr, during their oral lessons in the autumn term on the topic of the environment and elicited her views on how Wales compares with Austria. During Opportunities Week in January 2007, the students put together their projects for submission. We were thrilled to learn that Louise and Daisy had been awarded first prize for their innovative DVD presentation. Louise and Daisy created a mock-up of an Austrian TV news bulletin, in which they reported from ‘the studio’ on the main environmental issues facing Wales and Austria and how these are being dealt with. Their report was interspersed with ‘on location’ interviews with Frau Mayr and included a humorous portrayal of Frau Mayr as a green ‘superwoman’. Louise and Daisy have won a bi-lingual dictionary, book token and certificate. Well done!

Year 1 were very excited when they went to the National Museum of Wales to see the Queen. The class had a very clear view of the Queen, the Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall, Camilla.

The girls had made special flags with the Union Jack on one side and the Welsh flag on the other, which they waved, and shouted out "Welcome to Cardiff" to our royal visitors.

Some of the girls were televised by the BBC and were shown on the News - a very exciting day. India brought flowers for the Queen which were passed on to her by the security officials.

5th June

Mrs. Gosney was delighted to accept this post and is excited at the new opportunities working at Howell’s will bring. She is looking forward to working with the staff and meeting pupils and parents. Mrs. Gosney has already joined Heads of Departments and the Senior Leadership Team for three days to work on plans for the next school year. She said she was made very welcome and already felt part of the Howell’s community.
4th June

A group of year 8 and 9 pupils travelled to Carmarthen on a wet Wednesday morning during the half-term holiday to compete in the final round of the Urdd National Eisteddfod. Having won the county round in two competitions, it was time to face ten other competitors from different parts of Wales.

Katie James from year 9 competed first in the individual recitation for Welsh learners. Her poem was called Yr Anrheg or The Gift and there was stiff competition from others.She made it through to the staged final with two other competitors and won for the second year running.

Katie's success certainly encouraged members of the group recitation in their performance later that morning. They recited a humorous poem by Mererid Hopwood called Y Deg Gorchymyn or The Ten Commandments - an older sister's advice to her younger sister on starting secondary school.The group performed very well and gained a place with Ysgol Dyffryn Aman and Ysgol Cwmtawe in the staged and televised final. After a last practice on the Eisteddfos field in the rain, the group gave an excellent, intelligent interpretation of the poem. They too were awarded first prize for the second year running and the two trophies return to Howell's. Congratulations!

A few lines from the new Head Students...

We were thrilled to have been elected as the head students for the academic year 2007-08 and would like to thank both staff and pupils for giving us this wonderful opportunity! As a team we hope to encourage an even healthier working environment for both staff and students by liaising between the two and implementing any new ideas or suggestions that may be put forward. We are also passionate about encouraging students to take all the opportunities offered them by the school and the GDST and using them to ensure that they maximise their potential and enjoyment!

25th May

On Tuesday 15th May the girls in Year 9, together with students from many other schools, spent the day at Margam Park at the invitation of the army. Although the ground was very muddy as a result of torrential rain during the preceding few days, fortunately the rain held off for the visit. The girls were able to see a range of military equipment, including armoured vehicles on to which some of them were able to climb. There was also engineering, communications and catering equipment as well as numerous stands with information about different careers and opportunities available in the army.

Probably the highlight for most girls was the opportunity to don helmets and safety harnesses with ropes attached, and to attempt to scale the climbing tower. Many of the girls also enjoyed tackling the bouncy assault course. Whether any of them were inspired to join the army as a result of the day remains to be seen, but there is no doubt that they and the accompanying staff appreciated the army’s hospitality and became more aware of the variety of careers available to them.

Welsh debating champions, Claire and David (Year 13 ) represented Wales at the International Schools Mace Debating (UK) final on Saturday, 12th May. They debated the motion with England that ‘This house believes that there should be a fully elected House of Lords’ and were judged along with teams from Ireland and Scotland. Scotland won the title.
For the first time the International Schools Final took place in the House of Lords.Claire had the honour of speaking first and made history. It was the first time (apart from during the war from 1941when the House of Lords was used by MPs after the Commons had been bombed) that anyone other than a peer has spoken in the House of Lords.

David and Claire were accompanied by several supporters as well as Mrs Gregory (Head of English), their coach. The quality of the debating was exceptional with the speakers responding effectively to interruptions and dealing with the points made by the audience in their summary statements.

Claire said "To speak in the House of Lords at any time would be an incredible honour. To be the first "commoner" ever debate there was both exhilarating and terrifying. It was an experience I will never forget." David added " It was an amazing experience and completely exhilarating. A fantastic setting for the debate, I loved every second"

(Claire and David have already won the CEWC Wales Championship and David will represent Wales in Seoul, South Korea for the World Debating Championships.)

14th May 2007

On 16th April, at the end of the Easter holidays, the Senior Choir, accompanied by Mrs Phillips, Mr Thomas, Miss Ballinger, Mrs Marusza and Dr Southern, were thrilled to go to the CBS studios in London to record a CD of some of the works they had performed at the Welsh Millennium Centre at the Christmas Presence concert. In addition, they sang a brand new piece called Christmas Day, which is an old-fashioned Broadway-style piece for choir and orchestra that has been specially written for the concert in 2007 by Leeds-based composer Benjamin Frost. With them in the studios were the producer, Gordon Lorenz, who had created a CD with the Hywelian Charlotte Church, Brian Willetts, who has organised all the Christmas Presence concerts, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Benjamin Frost, the composer of two of the songs on the programme, A Perfect Child and Christmas Day, and the conductor Andrew Greenwood.

The choir had a wonderful time staying in the luxury of the Hilton Hotel at Watford, where they were privileged to be joined by all four distinguished gentlemen. The next day they practised and recorded their songs until everyone was very happy with the standard, and they appreciated the constant encouragement they received. They all returned to school happy and exhilarated. We look forward to hearing the CD, proceeds from the sale of which are going to Unicef and the Howell’s bursary fund.

Raffaella Fulgoni, a choir member, reports, “The atmosphere inside the studio, was never dull and the Christmas spirit that filled the air, even though it was April, was exhilarating. We felt true excitement and happiness as a result of being part of such a respected and talented team of musicians in the recording studios. The adrenaline rush when Mr Lorenz finally told us we were finished was incredible and the whole choir could not help but smile, despite our tired voices. We had never felt such a sense of achievement and we were immensely proud of the work which we had created.”

19th April 2007

All 310 girls at Howell’s Junior school linked hands at an event at the school on April 24 to mark this year’s Global Campaign for Education.

Scarlet in year 4 said, "I think it was a good idea to link hands because by working together we can be strong."

The girls have sent photos of the event to Angela Merkel, the German Chancellor and chair of this year’s G8. With the photos they will write and ask leaders at this year’s G8 Summit to announce more aid to education.

The Global Week of Action for this year’s campaign runs this week until Sunday and will see young people in 120 countries join to campaign for the right for an education for all.

Emily, Katie and Sidi have won the UK final of the RIBI Youth Speaks Public Speaking Competition. They competed in 5 separate local and regional competitions during the last 6 months to get through to the GB & Northern Ireland final. Sidi was the Chairperson, Katie the Proposer and Emily the Opposer. The girls’ motion was that Honesty is the best policy – but should parents always tell the truth to their children? They gave an outstanding performance and deserved to win, especially following on from last year when they were the youngest competitors and they made it through to the finals. On winning Emily said "It was an incredible feeling to realise we had won the RIBI Youth Speaks Competition. We had achieved what we had been aiming for all year and our hard work certainly paid off." Congratulations to them and a big thank you to our dedicated coach - Mrs Gregory!

We warmly welcome our new Principal, Mrs Sally Davis (previously Deputy Principal) and wish her every success as she takes up her new appointment. The school looks forward to a seamless transition as Mrs Sally Davis has been an active contributor to the strategy and direction of the school. The staff and the dedicated Senior Management team will continue with the school development plans and our innovative approach to education. We look forward to maintaining and developing our links with the wider community - our parents, governors, people in the locality and our overseas connection with our partner school in Lesotho, as well as participating in the GDST's link with China.

Key events to which we look forward this term include the Parents' Association Ball, the UK Schools Mace in the House of Lords, the Senior School Concert, Sports Days, Challenges Week, the Middle School Concert and the College Play. Please check the calendar for details. Of course the older students will also be busy preparing for and taking GCSEs, AS and A2 exams while the younger ones continue with our dynamic curriculum.

On Friday 23rd March, the Year 12 Howell’s Engineering Team attended the Engineering Education Scheme Wales Annual Awards and Presentation Day at Celtic Manor Resort. Since October they have been working on a genuine problem set by our link company, Halcrow Group Ltd. Their main client is the Environment Agency.
The team was made up of Natalie, Oliver, Sophie, Huw, Alex, Amelia and Lauren.
The brief was to design additional features for the refurbishment of the weir at Felin-Y-Cwm, to aid the animals in the surrounding area. Some of the team made a visit to the area. The students then evaluated a number of possible solutions including the construction of a bat box and also a bridge across the river for dormice.
In December they attended a 3-day workshop at the Engineering Department at Cardiff University where they worked on a prototype of their solutions. They produced a report explaining their solutions and then presented their project on Friday. They were assessed by Mr Chris Meadows of IQE plc, Mr Denys Morgan from the South Wales Institute of Engineers and Mr Tony Gill who is a consultant.
During the day they were able to attend a Trade Exhibition where they could speak to engineering companies and representatives from local universities. There were also seminars by Autodesk Ltd, Airbus UK, Design Wales and the Technology Enhancement Programme. The opening address was given by Professor Garel Rhys CBE, from Cardiff Business School, on the Motor Industry and the Keynote Address was taken by John Baxter FREng CEng FIMechE FIEE, Group Director of Engineering, BP plc, IMechE President Elect. John Baxter also presented the certificates.
Well done to the team for their hard work and excellent presentation and many thanks to the engineering team at Halcrow Group Ltd for supporting the team.

The debates will take place in the House of Lords, no less, and hopefully they will be accompanied by several supporters as well as Mrs Gregory (Head of English), their coach.
(Claire Fitter and David have already won the CEWC Wales Championship and have won a trip to Seoul in Korea for the World Championships)

Mrs Sally Davis, currently Deputy Principal at Howell's, has been appointed as the new Principal. She will succeed Mrs Jane Fitz, who is retiring at the end of this term after 16 years at the school. Deputy at Howell's since 1992, Mrs Davis had previously been a member of the Senior Management Team at Harris City Technology College in London . In addition to her academic and pastoral duties at Howell's, she was very closely involved in the development of the innovative Sixth Form College with Mrs Fitz. Mrs Davis holds a BSc in Geology from Bedford College, University of London, and a PGCE from The College of St Mark and St John , together with the National Professional Qualification for Headteachers which she was awarded by the University of Cardiff . She is also a peer assessor for ESTYN, the inspection body for schools in Wales. Mrs Davis will take up her post at the start of the summer term. Mrs Davis said that she is thrilled to have been appointed and feels it is a privilege to lead such an outstanding school. She is looking forward to developing the school further, keeping it at the forefront of education. Mrs Davis is determined to ensure that all students emerge as active global citizens, having achieved their full potential in all areas, while preserving the best traditions of the school and maintaining its high academic standards.