LLANRHIDIAN PRIMARY SCHOOL
Inspiring our learners to be the best they can be!
School Blog Friday 11th September 2026
Dear Parents and Carers,
We have had a wonderful first week back at school! The pupils have settled brilliantly and are absolutely loving their new topic, "Attenborough's Animals".
Monday's STEM event was a huge success. It was fantastic to see pupils and parents working together to create such imaginative land, sea and air creatures. Some of the materials that mysteriously appeared from parents' pockets certainly helped to enhance the models! 😊 Thank you to everyone who joined us and made the event so memorable.
This week, we also welcomed a visitor from the Local Authority. She was highly impressed by the pupils' positive attitudes towards learning and, in particular, the independence demonstrated across the school. It was wonderful to hear such positive feedback about our learners.
Our ongoing focus on developing lifelong learning skills is clearly paying off. We are seeing growing resilience, thoughtful reflection and increasing confidence in learning right across the school. We are incredibly proud of the progress our pupils are making and look forward to an exciting term ahead.
MCAS Attendance and Absence Reporting
Thank you to everyone who has signed up to MCAS. We are delighted to see so many families using the app to stay connected with school.
Through MCAS, you can now view your child's attendance record and report your child as sick, notify us of an absence, or request an authorised absence for a holiday. This has now replaced our previous online absence and holiday forms.
Please note that when you submit an absence request through MCAS, you may receive a notification within the app confirming that your request has been approved for processing. This does not mean that the absence has been authorised. Absence requests are still reviewed by the school, and a separate email will be sent confirming whether the absence has been authorised or unauthorised.
As a school, we place great importance on attendance, as regular attendance plays a key role in children's learning and wellbeing. Holiday absences will only be authorised in exceptional circumstances and where a pupil's attendance is above 95%. When requesting a holiday absence, please include your destination in the reason for absence section.
As MCAS is a new service for both parents and staff, please bear with us while we continue to learn and develop our use of the system. We appreciate your patience and support during this transition.
Thank you for your continued support in helping us ensure the best possible attendance for all pupils.
School Events
To make sure you don't miss anything, keep up to date with upcoming events by clicking the link to our school calendar and subscribing. Once subscribed, any updates and new events will automatically appear in your calendar, helping you stay informed throughout the year.
Pod Pili-Pala Updates
The Pili-Pala children have been planning what they want to learn about this term. You can read some of these ideas in our Pod Project Overview by clicking on the link below.
Pod Pengwin Updates
Please can children not bring their own toys to school as they are losing parts or whole toys in class and are getting upset. We have lots of toys in school for them to play with. We are, however, missing a lot of our cars and would happily accept any donations of cars.
Amazon wishlist this term:
The Pengwin children have been planning what they want to learn about this term. You can read some of these ideas in our Pod Project Overview by clicking on the link below.
Pod Pysgodyn Updates
🐟 A Few Things to Know in Pysgodyn
📚 Reading Books
Please bring reading books to school every day. Our designated reading days are Tuesday and Friday, but having books in school means we can hear children read at other points during the week too. We also have our lovely visits from Hallie the reading dog! Keeping books in bags helps us make sure nobody misses out if a busy day gets away from us.
🌿 Outdoor Learning – Tuesday Afternoon
Our designated outdoor learning session is Tuesday afternoon, but we hope to make the most of our outdoor spaces throughout the week. If your child does not already have suitable footwear in school, please consider leaving a pair of wellies with us.
🏃 PE – Friday Afternoon
Our designated PE session is on Friday afternoon. Please make sure your child has their PE kit in school ready for the session.
💰 Savings Bank – Thursday
Our school savings bank is on Thursday. Children who take part can bring their savings into school on this day.
📸 Seesaw
Seesaw will mainly be used to share finished, share-ready pieces of learning. We will also occasionally share photographs and snippets from authentic learning experiences so that you can see and talk about your child’s learning journey together.
♻️ Cardboard Donations – Can You Help?
Pysgodyn have got off to a flying start in our new Design & Technology area! We would be very grateful for any clean craft materials you can spare, particularly small cardboard boxes, cereal boxes and kitchen-roll tubes. These will help our young designers bring their ideas to life.
🌊 We’re Becoming Gower Explorers!
We are excited to make even more use of our wonderful local area and become Gower Explorers this year. We have created an Amazon Wish List with a few resources that would help us with our outdoor adventures and authentic learning experiences. There is absolutely no expectation to purchase anything, but we are very grateful for any support.
Pod Pry Cop Updates
📱 Seesaw
Pupils will be sharing their "Share Ready" work on Seesaw, and we will also use it to share photographs from trips and special activities throughout the year. If you have not yet signed up, please use the following link: https://app.seesaw.me/s/281-233-043
🏃 P.E.
P.E. T-shirts are needed every Friday.
🌳 Outdoor Learning
From next week, pupils will need suitable outdoor learning clothing every Friday. Please make sure they are clearly labelled with their name!
🎭 School Trip
As part of developing our topic, we will be visiting the Dylan Thomas Theatre to watch the production It Will All Be Over by Christmas. This is a fantastic play by production company Theatre Na Nog, exploring a child's experience of WWII.
- 📅 Date: Tuesday 22nd September
- 💷 Cost: £15.00
- ✅ Consent: Dylan Thomas Trip. – Fill in form
🏡Home Learning
-
More information about home learning tasks will be shared next week.
📖Reading Books
Please make sure children bring their reading books and records to school every day. We will listen to every child across the week and, as these days may change depending on our timetable, by having their books in school, l it means they will not miss out on this. If your child does read with a member of staff, this will be signed and dated in their reading records.
Photographs
We are currently reviewing permissions for photograph use within Pod Pry Cop.
Please can all parents complete the following form for each child in Pry Cop.
Pupil Question: If you could be any animal what would it be and why?
Pod Pili-Pala: 'A Giraffe because I want a long neck'.
Pod Pengwin:' A meerkat so I can eat lettuce'
Pod Pysgodyn:' I would be something that could fly, like an eagle'.
Pod Pry Cop: ' Cats are cool as they have 9 lives and always land on their feet'.
Attendance Matters
Improving attendance is one of our key priorities this year. Our current whole-school attendance remains below the Local Authority target of 95%, and we know that being in school every day gives children the best opportunity to learn, make progress and build friendships.
To support this work, our Education Welfare Officer (EWO) from the Local Authority will be working alongside us to help improve attendance across the school. If you are experiencing difficulties that are affecting your child's attendance, please get in touch. We can arrange support and appointments with the EWO to help identify barriers and find positive solutions.
We would also like to remind families about the importance of punctuality. Arriving late means children miss important learning and can disrupt the start of the day for both themselves and their class.
Thank you for your support. By working together, we can help ensure every child is in school, on time and ready to make the most of every learning opportunity. 🌟
School Essentials Grant Now Open
As we look ahead to the new school year, many families will be thinking about the cost of school uniforms and equipment.
The School Essentials Grant is now open and may be able to help eligible families with children from Reception to Year 11 with the cost of uniforms, shoes, PE kit and other school essentials.
Even if your child receives Universal Primary Free School Meals, you will still need to check your eligibility and apply separately for the grant.
Find out more and apply here:
School Essentials Grant – GOV.WALES
We encourage all families who may be eligible to take a look and access the support available for September. 🎒📚
