I would just like to thank all students and staff for the tremendously positive atmosphere at our annual sports day. Several people have said it was the best sports day ever! Each house supported their athletes and other house competitors in their own unique styles. Aer house even marched to their positions with a drummer leading the way. A fantastic day, well done to all involved.

Year 10 Parents Evening was very well attended and it was a pleasure to meet so many parents who were genuinely concerned with their youngster's progress. Indeed it was refreshing to note that everybody wanted to work together to get the best possible outcomes for our pupils. A fine example of "succeeding together for excellence in learning".

We are looking forward to the school's Eisteddfod next Friday and I know lots of pupils will be taking part in various activities across the curriculum and I cannot wait to see all their talents on display.

Following the storm on Tuesday evening our telephone system was affected and has been out of order for two days. Everything is now working again and we apologise for any inconvenience this may have caused.

Simeon Molloy
Headteacher

Library News
The winners of the Midsummer Quiz were as follows;
Year 9
1st  - Emma Pottle 9HG           Runner Up -  Ashley Weller 9HG

Year 8
1st  - Charlotte Hill 8LP       Runner Up - Sharman Collins 8KS

Year 7
1st Charlotte Brockley JKe, Michaela White JKe

Runners Up - Bradley Mitchell 7PSm, Ethan Brooks 7PSm, Jessica Day JKe, Louise Darlington 7PSm, Laura Robinson 7PSm 
Well done to all winners and runners up!

Eisteddfod Quiz - Thursday 9th July at Lunchtime
Come along to the Eisteddfod quiz on Thursday in the Library! Earn some house points and you may win a prize for yourself! Prizes for the winners of each Year Group.

URGENT
Please send in your H.S.A raffle ticket stubs and money ASAP. The draw will take place next week!

Congratulations... to the year 7 and 8 athletics competitors who took part in the Deeside athletics schools competition. Well done to all those who participated, there were some great performances throughout the day. I am sure everyone enjoyed the opportunity to take on new experiences. Well done to Molly Peers who got through to the finals in 200m and came 2nd. Also, well done to Jacob Hayden coming 3rd in boys shot and to Sophie Davies who came 1st in the girls shot and to Fern Davies who won the Year 8 girls 75m hurdles. The year 8 girls had an outstanding performance winning their relay heat, but unfortunately missed out by 3 seconds overall. The year 8 boys relay team came 3rd in their heat. A huge thank you to everyone who took part, and hope we do just as well next year. We don't know which position we came in overall but we will soon find out.

Strawberry Prom
The Strawberry Prom will be held on Thursday July 16th at 7.00pm.
Tickets will be available from Monday 6th July in reception
£5 adults, £4 concessions.

Eisteddfod Argoed 2009
The school Eisteddfod will take place next Friday - gwych! Years 7 and 8 will be competing as well as being the audience for the day. Some year 9 and 10 pupils will also be competing and helping out on the day.
If you are competing please ensure that you know when and where your prelims are and that you are there on time. House Captains and year 10 pupils with responsibility should also ensure that they have a list of all those competing and that they ensure that pupils know of their prelims.
Please be prompt, costumes etc ready.
Also ensure that homework competitions deadlines are kept to.
All information will be displayed on the notice board in the Dining Room.
Pob lwc i bawb!!

OLIVER!
Congratulations to the cast and crew of Oliver! The performances have been superb - a result of excellent teamwork.
Many thanks to the pupils and staff who have given freely of their own time to ensure that the production was a success. Thanks too, to the parents who have ferried the students to and from rehearsals. Tonight is the last night - break a leg!

Eisteddfod
English recitation - ‘On the Ning Nang Nong' by Spike Milligan.
Please see Mrs Payne for a copy of the poem. Prelims will be held at 12.35 on Wednesday July 8th in the Drama Studio.

Chairing of the Bard
Entries for the poetry competition should be given to your English teacher no later than 3.10 on Wednesday July 8th.
Theme: "I have a dream ...." OR a poem with the title ‘Imagine'.
Any form of poetry is acceptable, haiku, sonnet, rap, free verse etc.

 Sports Day Wednesday 1st July

Please ensure your child brings sun cream, a hat and
plenty to drink to school on Wednesday 1st July for Sports Day.
We will be out on the school field for most of the day and with high temperatures forecast, they will need ample protection.

Dear Parents and Friends,

The Young Enterprise Team "Performance" went to the National Finals in Cardiff this week. They were up against some excellent teams (all of which were made up of sixth form students), however in true Argoed style they came away with the prize for best stand. It took the judges some time to separate the top teams, however we were just pipped at the post by Pontypridd High School. Thank you to all the staff and pupils who have gone beyond the call of duty to ensure the team performed at the highest possible level.

Next week we are carrying out a trial of our proposed change of PM registration. PM registration will be taken during Period 4. It is absolutely vital that you are prompt to Period 4 to ensure you are registered as present. This trial will enable us to identify any potential issues and address them if necessary.

I look forward to meeting our Year 10 parents at parents evening on Tuesday. This is an important evening as it can help pupils and parents prepare for next year and their final exams.

Simeon Molloy
Headteacher

Congratulations....
To the Year 9 Rounders Team who won the Flintshire Play Night this week. They worked really hard and well
deserved the win!
The squad were; Hannah Rowley-Limb, Lauren Davies,
Lucy Byrne, Jade Kelly, Hannah Jewell, Hannah Cripps,
Katy Edwards, Bethan Aitken, Megan Bennett.
WELL DONE!

Oliver!

Final opportunity to buy tickets for Oliver!
Adults £5 Children £4
Wednesday 1st July, Thursday 2nd July, Friday 3rd July
All performances start at 7.30pm
NB. Only 8 tickets available for Wednesday,
1 for Thursday, 1 for Friday.

Tickets will NOT be sold on the door

Young Enterprise
Well done to ‘Performance', the Young Enterprise Company.
On Tuesday they won Best Trade Stand & Interview at the Welsh Finals in Cardiff.
The company were a real credit to themselves and the school having reached the finals out of 159 schools.
Thank you to Miss Shepherd, Mrs Elliott,
Miss Saby & Miss Matthews for all of your
hard work and support.
Well Done!

Strawberry Prom
The Summer Concert is on Thursday July 16th at 7.00pm.
Tickets will be available from Wednesday 6th July £5 adults, £4 concessions.

H.S.A Notices
H.S.A meeting on Monday 6th July at 6pm. All parents are welcome. We will be discussing/sorting out the raffle ticket prizes and organisation for the Strawberry Prom. If there are any Parents/Friends of the school who can help with the refreshments at any of the Oliver productions (July 1st, 2nd or 3rd) please contact Miss J. Grice or Mrs S. Sant.

Raffle Tickets
Please return the counterfoils as soon as possible. This is one of our main fund raising events so please support the school by buying the tickets. Prizes include £100 and a 12 mega pixel digital camera, a pair of Prada sunglasses.
Thank you.

Starlight Bike Ride
Last Sunday, we finally (delayed due to snow, holidays and sickness!) did our sponsored bike ride around Coed Llandegla. We did the 7.5 mile long blue trail. To end the day we enjoyed the official ‘Best Bacon Butty in Wales'. So far 8LP have raised £63 for the children's charity ‘Starlight'. Any further donations will be gratefully received.
Kieran Collings & Gavin Edwards 8TaLP

 Dear Parents and Friends,

It was a pleasure to meet so many parents of pupils who are starting in September at our New Intake Parents Evening on Tuesday. The turnout was tremendous and all the signs are that it will be another excellent year group. We look forward to meeting all the pupils on the 9th and 10th of July.

The Governing Body are sending a letter home today with pupils regarding a proposed change to school session times. Although this small change has no impact on the times of the start and end of the school day it does mean that lunch will start and end 5 minutes later. The proposal has been designed to maximise support for pupils' learning and to reduce unnecessary movement around the school. The Governors welcome any comments or observations on this that you may have on this change.

The H.S.A. will be sending out raffle tickets next week and would appreciate your support for this main fundraising event. Money raised from this raffle will enable the H.S.A. to support the school production of Oliver and provide additional resources for departments.

Simeon Molloy
Headteacher

Italian Masks - Culture Day
Pupils masks need to picked up from the Art Room during morning break on Tuesday.
Thank You
Ms Tong

Year 9 & 10 Cricket Match V Flint
On Tuesday Year 9 & 10 cricket team played Flint High School at home. With the pick of the bowlers, Matty Blunden taking 4 wickets in 3 overs, Jordan Sweeney bowling a double wicket maiden and Ryan Copeland taking 2 wickets. Flint only managed to score 45 for 9 off 16 overs. Argoed came in to bat and started off slow. Adam Cliffe scored 21 not out whilst others helped. Well done also to Jake Williams, Tom Lynch, George Baxter, Jack Collo, James Challinor and Chris Collins.
Matty Blunden & Adam Cliffe

Library News
A big thank you to all who attended the Book Sale in the Library on Wednesday! We sold lots of books! Our next event will be a raffle in aid of the Mahalpye Day Care Centre for children orphaned by AIDS. Tickets will be on sale from Monday at 20p each. Win yourself a TWILIGHT poster! You can buy tickets in the Library and from students from the Book Club. You've got to be in it to win it!

Our Midsummer Quiz will take place in the Library at Lunchtime on Monday 22nd June. Free entry! Prizes for the winners of every age group.

Book club continues after school on Mondays and Tuesdays 3.20 - 4.00pm.

Sports Captains
Thank you to all of those who applied. Mr Smith, Miss Gilsenan and Mr Connelly found it really hard to choose this year.
Daear : Sara Prytherch, Scott Chatterton
Aer : Natalie Bell, Ben Williams
Tan : Hayley Ellis, Tom Bonney
Dwr : Jemima Mainwaring, James Challenor

Wanted
Do you have any old or unwanted cookbooks or cookware/ dinner sets?
Mrs Roberts would be very grateful for any donations.
Thank you.

Rounders
Congratulations to all rounders teams this week. Although the Year 10
Tournament was cancelled we still managed to have a game v Elfed which ended in a 7-7 draw. Key Stage 3 teams all played Castell Alun @ home and the results were:
Year 7 Argoed 18.5 - 9.5 Castell Alun
Year 8 Argoed 14.5 - 12.5 Castell Alun
Year 9 Argoed 13.5 - 7.5 Castell Alun

Oliver!
Tickets are now for sale. Adults £5, children £4
Performances in the Drama Studio at 7.30pm on the following dates;
Wednesday 1st, Thursday 2nd, Friday 3rd.
If any parents have any of the following items which are needed as props and would be willing to lend them to the school, please contact Mrs C Batty.
Packing boxes/wooden crates x 2
Clay pipe (or similar)
A wooden barrel (any size)
A butchers apron
A wagon wheel
A wicker basket

List of whole cast rehearsals:
Friday 19th June, Sunday 21st 10.30 - 4.00pm, Wednesday 24th, Friday 26th, Sunday 28th 10.30 - 4.00pm, Monday 29th (all day dress rehearsal until 4.30), Tuesday 30th  (matinee for Yr 6).

Scene rehearsals will be published on the Drama Noticeboard.