Community

As a school Trinity Fields is involved with the local community of Ystrad Mynach and the wider community of Caerphilly. Pupils access the local community on a regular basis for the following learning experiences:

• leisure activities, as well as keeping fit and healthy activities at local leisure centres and parks;
• developing independence through shopping at supermarkets and other local shops;
• developing social skills through visits to local cafes and restaurants;
• developing their spiritual and moral understanding through visits and services at the local church;
• developing inclusion links through participation in community events such as singing at the local Christmas Fayre, entertaining shoppers at local supermarkets etc.

In addition to the above we have developed a satellite class at Cwm Ifor Primary School. Our pupils at Cwm Ifor are working and playing alongside their mainstream peers and developing a range of skills to support all aspects of their development.

Both governors at Cwm Ifor and Trinity Fields are very proud of this development and acknowledge the very close partnerships between both schools and the local authority. Estyn commented very favourably on our partnership working when Cwm Ifor were inspected in January 2017. They said,

"A notable partnership exists between a local special school and Cwm Ifor. This partnership is in its third year and has had a positive impact on pupils, parents and staff. Pupil involvement in peer-to-peer support has helped to improve pupil behaviour and has raised pupils’ levels of self-esteem. Collaboration between teaching and support staff provides formal and informal professional learning opportunities. Joint working has enabled the headteachers and senior leaders of both schools to learn from one another by establishing partnership protocols and expectations, developing agreed policies and sharing resources".

In September 2016 we established a secondary satellite at our main school site. Pupils and staff will move to their new base at St. Cenydd Community School in the autumn term; we are very proud to be working in partnership with senior leaders, governors and staff at St. Cenydd and we thank the Local Authority for providing financial support for this exciting development.

For more information about our satellite classes please contact: Ian Elliott MBE (Headteacher) or Tracey McGuirk (Deputy Headteacher).

The school's specialist facilities are also used by community groups as well as by pupils with additional learning needs in the authority's specialist resource bases. Currently the school is accessed by:

• a specialist swimming group for people with spondylitis (Thursday evenings);
• 2 Waterbabies groups (Wednesday and Friday evenings).

For more information about these groups please contact: Deborah Keenor (Admin and Finance Manager)

In addition to our use of the community to support pupils' academic and social/life skills the local community are also involved in our school. This is largely through their support of Caffi Oren, our front of school café and through our annual community events such as art exhibition (usually held in March) and our Christmas Fayre (usually held towards the end of November). 

We are also very grateful to the community groups who regularly donate money to the school to help support our on going and exciting developments. Currently we are working with the PTA to purchase 2 new minibuses, as well as updating play resources on the Foundation Phase and Key Stage 2 playgrounds.

Pupils, staff and governors really appreciate your on going support and generosity.

Caffi Oren

In partnership with the local authority and our friends at Orangebox (a local company who raised over £18K to help us develop the café by cycling from their showroom in London to their offices in Hengoed) we have developed a café at the front of school. The café provides valuable opportunities for pupils to learn about the world of work in real life setting. Pupils working in the café are all taking Agored Cymru courses in catering and hospitality and food hygiene.

Caffi Oren is registered as a business and currently has a hygiene rating of 5. The café is open to the public and sells a range of hot and cold drinks, sandwiches, wraps, confectionary, as well as a weekly hot special which includes: soup, jacket potatoes and pasta dishes, depending on the time of the year.

The current opening times for Caffi Oren are:

Wednesday: 10.30 - 1.00

Thursday: 10.30 - 1.30

Friday: 10.30 - 1.00

For further details about Caffi Oren please contact Angela Macaulay (Specialist Teaching Assistant) on the main school telephone number: 01443 866000