THREE new members of staff at a Flintshire high school are settling in well to their roles, thanks to the warm welcome they have received.

Rebecca Liggett has joined Ysgol Treffynnon as a geography teacher, Rebekah Rae has been appointed as a teacher of modern foreign languages (Welsh and French) and Christine Wineyard has taken up the position of assistant additional needs co-ordinator (ANCO).

After graduating from Bangor University with a BSc Geography degree, Rebecca worked as a teaching assistant at a school in Chester for students with additional learning needs - it was while in this role that she decided to gain her teaching qualification.

She studied for her PGCE in geography at the University of Chester and had placements with schools in Runcorn and Chester.

In her new role at Ysgol Treffynnon, Rebecca will be teaching both Key Stage 3 and GCSE geography, with the aim of encouraging the students to take the subject further.

She said: "I have been made to feel so welcome since starting at the school, everyone has been so supportive and friendly.

"I was inspired to pursue geography through both the encouragement and support from my teachers and the opportunities I had to travel to places such as Iceland, where I was able to visit glaciers, volcanoes and geysers. This year I am looking forward to bringing some of that to Ysgol Treffynnon and inspiring more students to take an interest in geography."

A love of languages developed early on for Rebekah Rae, who went to school in France after moving there with her family.

At the school she attended in Besançon, she relished the challenge of being taught German and Latin through the medium of French. After returning to the UK, she studied a degree in Business Law at Wrexham Glyndŵr University.

She worked in the business sector as a credit analyst for a while before her passion for languages led her to retrain as a teacher three years ago. Prior to joining Ysgol Treffynnon she worked at Darland High School as a teacher of French.

Rebekah said: "While growing up in France, I loved experiencing the culture and learning the language. Sharing an enthusiasm for languages and inspiring students to speak them as well as possible is now my passion.

"Watching their faces light up as they understand and progress to forming their own sentences is a delight to me. As well as a passion for languages, I believe I bring a wealth of experience which I can draw upon to inspire students to forge their own path into the future.

"I have received a very warm welcome here, Ysgol Treffynnon has demonstrated a caring community which I am very happy to join."

Christine's experience, both within mainstream schools and specialist provisions, for improving the outcomes for students with special educational needs, is extensive.

In 1993, Christine graduated from Cheltenham and Gloucester College of Higher Education, gaining a BEd Honours Degree in Secondary Education. More recently she has gained the National Award for Special Educational Needs Coordination from the University of Chester.

Over the last 20 years, she was the teacher-in-charge of a specialist provision at the Alun School in Mold before moving on to become the manager of several centres within Flintshire's Portfolio Pupil Referral Unit. Prior to that she taught in schools in Cheshire.

Christine said: "I am very excited to be joining Ysgol Treffynnon at such an important time for all ALN students, with the introduction of the new Additional Learning Needs Code."

Headteacher John Weir said: "I am delighted to welcome our new staff to Ysgol Treffynnon. Their broad range of expertise and experience will ensure our students receive a high standard of learning to enable them to realise their full potential."