Dear Parents/Carers,

Firstly, can I express my thanks for the continuous support throughout this year, it has truly been a privilege to work as your Head of School. As we come to the end of this academic year, it is a time to reflect and celebrate the wonderful achievements of our pupils. This year, as always, has had some challenging times, but we have come through it together. The pupils have had to deal with huge amounts of change throughout this year but have demonstrated remarkable adaptability and perseverance, and we are so proud of each one of them.

As we bid farewell to this academic year, we also say our final goodbyes to Pontypridd High School. Whilst this is an emotional time, we must honour the memories and ensure Pontypridd High School’s legacy lives on. However, it is time for change. September 2024 will see the opening of Ysgol Bro Taf. The whole school community is incredibly excited. We have benefited from a huge financial investment which will mean state-of-the-art facilities throughout our school, which will benefit our whole school community.

Please can I take this opportunity to thank all staff, pupils, parents/carers, governors and our whole community for the support and commitment to Pontypridd High School, not only over the last year but for many previous years. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank the staff that are leaving us today and wish them all the very best of luck in their new adventures.

Our final Pontypridd High School Awards Ceremony took place on Tuesday 9^th July where a packed audience were able to enjoy a fantastic celebration of our students’ academic, sporting and extracurricular achievements. There were many awards to present, including prizes for each subject, a student of the year from each year group and transition awards for our year 7 students, alongside international sporting honours.

It was wonderful to welcome back our previous headteacher, Mr Huw Cripps, as a guest speaker who shared some lovely memories from his time at PHS. We were also joined by our executive headteacher, Mr Mark Thomas, who is the Headteacher of Ysgol Bro Taf. From myself and Mr Thomas, well done to all pupils who won an award, in particular Nathan Osazuwa-Imade (Rhys Morgan Outstanding Achievement Award), Manu Gopi (Endeavour Award) and Emilie Doxsey (Pupil of the Year).

Over the past few weeks, we have had 65 pupils from Pontypridd High School and 11 from Cilfynydd performing in ‘Matilda’. We are extremely proud of how our final school production went. It went exceptionally well. Well done to all involved.

Mrs Enos would like to congratulate the year 10 pupils who have successfully completed their Individual Speaking exams in the last two weeks. A lot of hard work and preparation has gone into these exams - well done, year 10.

Gracie Price won an award for her leadership role with Rugby Works. She has also been shortlisted for the Rugby Words awards ceremony - Good luck Gracie.

As always, we value the partnership between school and parents/carers, and thank you for the continued support. Have a great summer.

Many thanks,

Mrs Kayleigh Oliver

Head of School