DIGITAL SAFETY DEN – FFAU DIOGELWCH DIGIDOL
Well done to our Digital Den teams
Team One, Guardians of the Web (Gwarcheidwaid y We), Rosemary Agg, Micah Bain, Iwan Bennett-Wilson, Florence Court, Elsie Haynes-Griffiths, Emilia Preston and Jakub Stasinowski.
Team Two Click Safe (Cliciwch y Ddiogel), Freya Davis, Oliver Foster, Atticus Hannon, Seth Kershaw and Rosie Pritchard.
Both teams were invited to The Senedd and the winners, Click Safe, presented their idea. The Click Safe booklet has now been trialled with Year 7 form groups.
Well done everyone! Da iawn pawb.
INTO THE WOODS
FROM WELSHPOOL TO THE WINTER OLYMPICS
CELEBRATING THE SUCCESS OF PAST PUPIL ADELE NICOLL
Welshpool High School is incredibly proud to be celebrating the outstanding achievements of former pupil Adele Nicoll, who has recently been selected to represent Great Britain at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milano Cortina.
Adele, who attended Welshpool High School between 2008 and 2013, will compete in two events: the two-woman bobsleigh and the monobob. In doing so, she will make history as the first ever British woman to compete in the monobob event at the Winter Olympics — an extraordinary milestone in British sport.
Adele’s journey to the Olympics has been anything but straightforward. She discovered her passion for sport at a young age and began competing in athletics with Birchfield Harriers, specialising in shot put and discus. Alongside her sporting career, Adele demonstrated exceptional academic commitment, studying Clinical Neuroscience at Cardiff Metropolitan University and later achieving a Doctorate in Clinical Psychology in 2023 — all while training and competing at an elite level.
Like many high-performing athletes, Adele faced setbacks along the way. Despite already reaching finals of major events, including the World Youth Championships in 2013 she narrowly missed selection for the Commonwealth Games in 2014 and 2018, describing the transition from junior to senior sport as one of the most challenging periods of her career. However, her resilience paid off when she was selected to represent Wales at the 2022 Commonwealth Games, finishing eighth in the shot put final.
In 2020, Adele’s sporting journey took an unexpected turn when a video of her sprinting was spotted on social media, leading to an invitation to try bobsleigh. Starting as a brakewoman before making the bold decision to retrain as a pilot, Adele quickly made her mark, winning a World Cup silver medal and becoming the first British woman in 13 years to medal at a Bobsleigh World Cup. She narrowly missed out on competing at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics, travelling as a reserve, this disappointment only strengthened her determination.
To celebrate Adele’s remarkable achievements and to inspire our current pupils, Welshpool High School has spent this week hosting our very own Winter Olympics celebrations. During form time, pupils learned about Adele’s journey and the values it represents — resilience, adaptability, ambition and belief.
As part of the celebrations, forms across the school took part in a Winter Olympics Challenge, transforming classrooms into lively “curling arenas” for a Speed Curling competition. Working in house teams, pupils competed with enthusiasm, teamwork and plenty of good humour, while staff also joined in.
SKI TRIP (SESTRIERE, ITALY)
JANUARY 2026
On Sunday, 25th January, a group of fifty Welshpool High School pupils, along with five members of staff, gathered in the school bus park, ready to embark on an unforgettable week in the Italian alps.
The Welshpool High School Ski Trip 2026 proved to be an unforgettable experience for all pupils and staff involved. Across the week, pupils embraced every aspect of mountain life, developing new skills, building confidence, and enjoying a wide range of activities both on and off the slopes.
Each day consisted of four hours of high quality ski instruction, delivered by experienced instructors who quickly recognised the determination and positive attitude of our pupils. Every group made impressive progress throughout the week. By the end of the trip many pupils were confidently skiing red slopes and a number even progressed to tackling black runs, showing outstanding resilience and rapid development. Their progress was matched by their behaviour as the staff received numerous compliments from the ski instructors regarding the pupils’ excellent conduct, enthusiasm and teamwork.
We were fortunate to enjoy a variety of alpine weather conditions that only enhanced the skiing experience; several days of beautiful blue skies, offering perfect visibility and stunning mountain views and a significant dump of fresh snow on Wednesday, which transformed the slopes and created ideal skiing conditions for the final part of the week.
The combination of sunshine and fresh powder helped make the 2026 trip particularly memorable. Each day, pupils enjoyed a hot lunch at the base of the slopes – always welcomed after an energetic morning session. Popular favourites included: pizza, burger and chips and lasagne, which kept everyone fuelled and ready for the afternoon of skiing.
The fun didn’t stop when the boots came off. Pupils took part in a varied and exciting programme of evening activities, including:
- Winter sports adventures which involved a snowmobile ride, a snow scooter competition, which were followed by a warm hot chocolate to end a chilly day.
- Relaxed, social evenings which included a pizza night, a quiz night and an opportunity to enjoy the hotel swimming pool
These activities helped foster strong friendships across year groups and added to the overall sense of adventure.
Throughout the entire week, pupils represented Welshpool High School with pride. Their excellent behaviour, respect for staff and instructors, and willingness to challenge themselves made the trip an outstanding success.
The Welshpool High School Ski Trip 2026 was a fantastic week filled with achievement, laughter, personal growth, and unforgettable alpine experiences. All pupils should be commended for their effort, behaviour, and positive attitude.
We look forward to building on this success for the 2028 trip.
FIRST KING CHARLES POST BOX IN WALES
