Upcoming Rotary Competition - Young Musicians

The Rotary Club runs a number of Youth Events and Competitions. The first up this year is the Young Musician competition. Show off your vocal or instrumental skills, classical or modern in this fantastic Rotary competition.

The first heat is in Colwyn Bay on the 24th November 2016. Please email Gemma for an entry form.

Past competition winners can be seen here:

https://www.gllm.ac.uk/news/2147484953/

Plas Menai CAS Trip 2016

The annual CAS trip this year took place at Plas Menai, allowing students to gain valuable activity hours as well as team building and improving communication skills.

The first 'challenge' was Gorge Walking. It was at this point one student realised she had left her nails on...Thankfully it was the last of the mild autumnal days and Afon Ddu Gorge was spectacular in all its autumn finery. Cai Evans and the Plas Menai leaders Matt and Glyn led the gorge walk reaching the waterfall by mid afternoon. Gemma Campbell with Ava and Alex followed their progress on the gorge's path, taking photographs and exploring the local area on foot, keeping nice and dry (and all importantly warm!)

Upon the return to the centre, students jumped in the shower to warm up before meeting in the dining hall for tea. After debrief a number of students opted to go to the climbing wall  - one of the oldest in Wales! A quick warm up with fun bouldering began the evening's activities before students harnessed up and spent a good couple of hours on the wall led by Glyn, the Plas Menai instructor.
Those who didn't take part were in the Recreation room where Gemma engaged in a close match of table tennis with Alex and Honor snoozed in her room.

After the wall, all students gathered in the bar area to take part in the Board Games Challenge. Cai and Alex had warmed up with a game of Yes and No before all undertook the Harry Potter Trivial Pursuits quiz. It was a nail biting finish with Daisy and Alex reaching a tie break with 6 cards apiece. Alex finally won with his quick buzzing and the giving of the correct answer.

Next up the group split in to two teams - Cai led one team and Gemma the other. Here students and staff pitted themselves against the timer in an attempt to describe the word on the card in Articulate. Amusing examples shall be kept between staff and students to save blushes! Although I do believe stickers may well be the future in positive management! [WORD: Retirement - example: What do you get when you finish working? Guess: stickers!]



The next morning, aching and tired after the previous day's activities, the students made it to breakfast but not all were as willing to take part in the water sports activities lined up. Andy, one of the Plas Menai instructors kindly offered to take one group off to do the Ropes course whilst Keziah, Daisy, Luke and Cai decided to brave the elements and enjoy the morning kayaking on the Straits. Other options were sailing or wind-surfing. Alex continued to photograph and film throughout the morning, documenting the other students' mastery of their respective activities. The photos and films will be made available to students next week.



Finally lunchtime dawned and the students wearily returned to college after their multi-activity residential. The nails were thankfully pretty much intact, with the loss of only one being attributed to the wearing of a wet suit on the first morning! Gemma kindly gave the permission to return home early - to warm up and sleep!

 Although tired, all students thoroughly enjoyed their time, pushed the boundaries of their own limits, scaled new heights and in the process made firm friendships (and laughed a lot!) Huge thanks must go to Cai Evans for gamely getting involved in the cold and wet activities and bringing the evening's board games. Matt, Glyn and Andy, the Plas Menai instructors for making the activities fun and enjoyable and all off the students for participating in the outdoor activities in the (mild) November weather!

Digital Storytelling with the Poppies at Caernarfon Castle

Coleg Llandrillo students

On Tuesday 11^th October, 20 IB & A Level Media Studies students took part in a digital storytelling workshop exploring the emotional impact of WW1 through the ceramic poppies installation “Weeping Window” at Caernarfon Castle.

 Coleg Llandrillo students worked in conjunction with Wales for Peace and 14-18 Now to record and document, explore and question, film and photograph the poppies themselves, the artist Paul Cummins, Lady Sainsbury, Tom Piper and those first few visitors to the castle to discover, in the 100 years following World War 1, how we remember and how Wales has and continues to search for peace.

"Weeping Window" at Caernarfon Castle

The initial concept came from artist Paul Cummins and designer Tom Piper’s installation ‘Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red’ at the Tower of London in Autumn 2014. Caernarfon Castle is the first venue to host the sculpture in Wales and our students were one of the first visitors to experience this, thanks to the WCIA who manage the Wales for Peace project.

Cameron Doherty (Rhyl), an A Level Media Student said of the experience “It has been great to put in to practice, aspects that we have only previously studied from textbooks.” The Media students worked closely with Tash, Sam and Mark from C1 Media on using DSLR cameras, soundkit and editing software.

 Media Studies and IB students during the editing process

The IB students chose to explore both the artistic approach utilising filmic captures combined with the audio recording of the bilingual poem taken from the 2014 Urdd ‘Wonder/Tybed’ as well as the documentary approach exploring the history and the message of the exhibition and Cymru Dros Heddwch Project. IB student Keziah Lewin (Craig y Don) engaged wholeheartedly with the brief; suggesting a stream of abstract considerations, angles and images to use in support of IB student Morgan Hogan's (Dwygyfylchi) bilingual recording of the Urdd 2014 poem. Keziah stated " I enjoyed learning about the different photography techniques and learning how to use iMovie effectively, to put the shots we had taken, together."

IB students meeting wth Tom Piper and Lady Sainsbury

These videos will form part of a national memorial video commemorating the centenary of WWI. The students developed the ideas, shot the video and edited them all in the space of four hours - a fantastic achievement. The organisers were very complimentary - this was the first College group they had worked with and they were impressed by their attitude, enthusiasm and engagement, especially given how little preparation they had had.

Rob Hughes, the Gen Ed Programme Area Manager, so impressed with the work undertaken, has secured an exhibition of photographs and film outtakes of the day to be used in a college exhibition hosted at the Rhos on Sea campus in November. Dafydd Evans, CEO also passes on his thanks to the students for their commitment and hard work.

For more information on the exhibition please visit: http://www.wcia.org.uk/wfp/Poppies.html

2016 Debating Championships

Once again, this year two of the 2016/17 IB Diploma from Coleg Llandrillo students entered the Wales Schools Debating Championships, sponsored by Julian Hodge Bank. Debating can help learners of all ages and abilities to develop a number of important skills. These include the ability to work as a team, to reason logically, to understand both sides of an argument, and to speak engagingly and convincingly.

Keziah Lewin and Morgan Hogan attended the Masterclass hosted at Bangor University to hone their debating skills before receiving their proposition debate topic: This House does not believe in zero hour contracts. Over the course of a week they researched and prepared themselves for the North Wales debate being hosted in Bangor.

On October 6^th they arrived at Ysgol Tryfan in Bangor ready to face their opposition Ysgol Eirias. Opening was Morgan, who confidently outlined the problems and concerns of zero hour contracts. The adjudicators commended her for her ‘outstanding debating’ skills and her composed rebuttals of Points of Interest and competent knowledge from Forbes etc, as evidence in support of her argument. Keziah followed up, articulating effectively the dangers posed by these contracts and querying why the opposition would choose to focus on big businesses rather than those individuals who suffered at the hands of these corporations. In summation Morgan asked the judges, the audience and the chairperson to consider the human rights infringements that zero hour contracts posed as well as the effects on mental health.

Both Keziah and Morgan were commended for their contribution to the North West Wales Heat and now have the opportunity to apply for a place in the Worlds Debating Team.

We hope in the not so distant future, we will also see the inaugural Inter-College Debate in preparation for future CEWC Debates.

 

The new term has begun and the new IB students 16/17 have begun the process of enrolling on the programme. The Year 2 IB students have also returned, refreshed and energised, ready for their final year!

To start the year off, we have the Welsh Debating Championship Training at Bangor University on Monday 12th September. If you’re new to the competition, don’t worry! The Debate Training Day  helps students understand what is required. They include the following elements:

• Demonstration debate with question-and-answer session

• Workshops on Style, Content and Strategy (the three categories of assessment at the Wales Championships)

• Guidance on effective preparation for debates

• Short practice debates with feedback from experienced debaters
• 
  

If you want to find out more contact Gemma Campbell: campbe2g@gllm.ac.uk

End of Year Summary

To round off the year 2015/16 there were a number of events from the Midsummer Quiz, Intermediate Biology Olympiad and the Group 4 Science Project.

Students have worked hard throughout the year, taking part in Debates, conferences, residential trips as well as hosting charity events, Open Events and the annual IB Picnic.

The IB Lecturers would like to commend the students for all their hard work, commitment and enthusiasm throughout the year and whilst the Summer break sees many working on their Extended Essay research and finishing IA and Coursework, we hope the many festivals, holidays and days out planned are enjoyed and after an enjoyable and restful summer, they are re energised and ready for the year ahead.

Congratulations

Edmund Robinson, Biology Olympiad: Bronze Award

Megan Rose, Intermediate Biology Olympiad: Commended

IB Learner of the Year Award, Lynnette Mutisya

End of Term

Group 4 Project: Daisy, Sophia, Hannah

Mind CAS Volunteers: Evan, Adam, Hannah, Sophia, Emily and Daisy

IB Midsummer Quiz:

Meg, Emily, Josh, Evan, Daisy, Luke, Maria

IB Midsummer Quiz

Annual IB Midsummer Quiz

As ever, the IB Midsummer Quiz was a roaring success with over 7 teams competing to win the coveted prize of the Strawberry topped Chocolate Extravaganza Cake as well as raising money for the IB 2015/16 chosen charity: Hope Restored.

From marketing, through to hosting, the IB students were involved in every step of the process. Not only was this a great way to round off a hectic year, but it squeezed in a few more hours for their CAS.

Students and staff from the college came together to spend the afternoon testing both their subject specific skills as well as their general knowledge with topics as wide ranging as Art, Science and Literature to News from 2016 and Musical knowledge.

Whilst it was a close run affair, the staff team of Cai (Psychology)  Arwel (Maths) Gemma (IB1 Programme Leader) Justin (English) were the overall winners.

Endometriosis

Llinos states, It's no secret that I have endometriosis and that I've just had surgery, for the third time in 7 years, because of it! It affects one in ten women (as many as diabetes or asthma).

This is a fantastic documentary about the disease which is being shown world-wide.It was premiered in the States and, to my knowledge, is being screened across the US, Canada, Australia and the UK. This will be only the second screening in Wales. There will be two endometriosis specialist surgeons attending the screening, including the one who did my surgery a couple of weeks ago, as well as an endometriosis nurse.

 I'm part of a group campaigning for women to be able to access the gold-standard treatment for endo, which I have just had, and not have to endure years of misdiagnosis and 'treatments' which do more harm than good. 

You need to book your place by following the information on the invite below.

Young Critics programme

Through expert guidance, students are be able to explore the role of the art critic, and discover different ways to respond to theatre and live art including face book, Vimeo and Twitter.

Our Young Critics programme is now recruiting for new members aged between 16 and 25.

If you want to learn the skills of theatre criticism come and join us at Venue Cymru/Theatr Colwyn, where you'll watch a range of performances, have a mentor to guide you with your work and benefit from workshops with writers.

Young Critics reviews are published on our dedicated blog site and on social media. The scheme, supported by Arts Council of Wales, is the first of its kind in North Wales.

There will be opportunities to visit performances at other venues and to attend writing workshops at Ty Newydd National Writers Centre of Wales.

To find out more about how to apply to become a Young Critic contact joann.rae@conwy.gov.uk. 

Or visit: https://www.venuecymru.co.uk/young-critics.html

Civil Rights Talk

Devery Anderson, US author and historian came to Coleg Llandrillo to talk about his new book, "The Murder that shocked the World and Propelled the Civil Rights Movement" to IB students and those studying on the PSP degree as well as selected staff and members of the public.

The death of Emmett Till is widely regarded as a central moment in the civil rights movement. The 1955 kidnapping, brutal torture, and murder of the 14-year-old Chicagoan, targeted by two white men for allegedly whistling at a white woman in Money, Mississippi, marked a turning point and was the catalyst for the growing awareness of racial discrimination in America.

As well as talking about the 1955 case, subsequent FBI investigations in 2004/5 and the wider implications, Anderson also gave an insight in to how research is undertaken and the legacy left by this shocking murder. 
Answering questions from Evan Brockbank and Sophia Dallimore, Anderson explored both a personal interest as well as a 20 year crusade to write about the truth and hold some of those responsible to account in his book.

Afterwards, Anderson gave away a signed copy of his book.

To find out more about the book, the case and the author visit his website http://www.emmetttillmurder.com/

IB Applications

Applications for Coleg Llandrillo IB programme are now open! There are only 20 places available and interviews have begun in earnest for these coveted places on one of the most academically diverse programmes.

To find out more about what the IB programme can offer you, pop along to one of our Open Day/Evening events at Rhos campus or email one of the programme leaders.

Once you have decided the IB is for you, click on the link to complete an online application. You will then receive a date for interview.

https://www.gllm.ac.uk/learner-information/how-to-apply/

Charity Cake Sale

The IB1 students sold £186 worth of cakes for their first charitable cake sale. All proceeds will go to the Hope Restored local charity, who provide help and support for the homeless and needy in and around Llandudno and Aberconwy.

Josh Roberts' family bakery in Beaumaris, kindly provided all cakes for the cake sale. 

The students took turns in selling the cakes and thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to talk with students and staff from the college, explaining why they were supporting the charity and what their future hopes were for charity events and their studies on the IB programme.

A huge thanks to everyone involved!

Theatre Trip

Doctor Faustus Trip, Wednesday 27^th April 2016

As part of the IB programme, we are studying the play ‘Doctor Faustus’ by Christopher Marlowe. We are fortunate to have the opportunity to watch a matinée performance of the play at the Swan Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon, produced by the Royal Shakespeare Company.

Students will need to be at college by 9 am on Wednesday 27^th April, ready to depart by minibus to Stratford-upon-Avon. We aim to return to Coleg Llandrillo Rhos by 8 pm. The cost of the trip is £28.00 and this covers the price of the ticket and transport.

 Students can bring additional money for refreshments and a programme. If you would to attend the production, please complete the reply slip and return to the Finance Office with payment as soon as possible. Tickets are limited

Guest Speaker: Civil Rights Talk

Hear the story about the murder of Emmett Till, a young black boy killed in fifties America and the start of the civil rights movementThe speaker is Devery Anderson, who has written a book: Emmett Till: the murder that shocked the world and propelled the civil rights movement.

The kidnapping and murder of Emmett Till is famous as a catalyst for the Civil Rights Movement. Emmett Till, a fourteen-year-old Black teenager from Chicago, was visiting family in a small town in Mississippi during the summer of 1955. Likely showing off to friends, Emmett allegedly whistled at a white woman. Three days later his brutally beaten body was found floating in the Tallahatchie River. The extreme violence of the crime put a national spotlight on the Jim Crow ways of the South, and many Americans-Black and white-were further outraged at the speedy trial of the white murderers.  Although the two white men were tried and acquitted by an all-white jury, they later bragged publicly about the crime. It was a galvanizing moment for Black leaders and ordinary citizens, including such activists as Rosa Parks.

Extended Essay ideas - Biology/ESS

Ysgol Y Mor’s Extended Essay courses provide students research opportunities in the unique littoral marine environment of North Wales’  Menai Straits.  Our Biology / Environmental Systems and Societies immerse students in the natural world. Experienced IB teachers support each student in formulating their individual research questions, while professional marine biologists are on hand to advise on data collection. Tutorial sessions provide each student with the tools required to draft an Extended Essay.

Ysgol Y Mor’s Extended Essay courses are based in the prestigious Welsh National Watersports Centre at Plas Menai.  The centre provides excellent classroom facilities and learning resources. Students will also have the opportunity to take part in various adventure sports activities provided by the world-recognized centre.

Students will return to school after their summer break with a near-final draft of their Extended Essay to present to their supervisor. Ysgol Y Mor will also provide the supervisor with a report on individual students’ engagement with the Extended Essay process along with a guarantee of the authenticity and originality of the student’s work. 

Genetics Roadshow

Wales Gene Park Schools’ Genetics Roadshow
School/College	Coleg Llandrillo Llandudno Rd, Rhos on Sea, Colwyn Bay LL28 4HZ 01492 546666
Date	Tuesday 2nd February
Time	10-12pm
Contact	Andy Esparon - esparo1a@gllm.ac.uk
Speakers	Dr Sue Assinder, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine The ABC of DNA
	Dr Claire Gibney, Centre for Genomic Research, University of Liverpool Next generation sequencing - advances and applications
	Dr Dan Hawcutt, University of Liverpool How genetics affects medicines given to children

Creative Writing Competition

Calling all budding writers. The Poetry Trials is open to students who are under the age of 18, who wish to explore one of the possible two themes prescribed, in poetry.

Emotions Vs Future

The poems can be on either of these two themes and must not exceed 30 lines. The work must be your own and only one entry per student!

If you want to know more or wish to take part, please contact Gemma Campbell or email your poem before February 12th to campbe2g@gllm.ac.uk. An entry form will also need to be submitted.

If your poem is selected for publication, further details of how to purchase will be made available after the closing date. The top 5 poets will be invited to turn their poem into a video and be in with a chance to win an awesome Apple bundle!