More than 500 people came to the event which is a record for the Flintshire school and an excellent indication that everyone is keen to see all that the school has to offer for the first time since the last open evening in 2019.

Paul Smith, headteacher, said: "It was brilliant to meet so many families and to see the excitement on the faces of children who will be starting their high school life with us next year.

"I would like to thank all our staff for putting on an extensive variety of immersive activities for children throughout the event, and to our own amazing students who did such a fantastic job of helping visitors find their way around the school and assisting in the different subject areas.

Having fun in science with a chemistry experiment.

"It is a very exciting time for us as we prepare to move into our high-quality, state of the art school which will accommodate 700 students. With excellent facilities and outdoor sports areas alongside the primary school for 600 children, and a nursery and specialist speech and language unit, we are so lucky to have this investment into us and the community.

"Our school ethos will carry through to our new school environment; we have high expectations of our learners, and our central aim is to enable each individual to succeed. We want them to be happy, healthy, aim high and be independent learners with an appreciation for lifelong learning. Everyone is valued for his or her own personal qualities and talents. Our motto is 'learning together, working together, succeeding together' and this is what runs through everything we do."

A multi lingual welcome awaits in the languages department.

Three student leaders spoke about how taking part in the school shows had built their confidence, how they felt cared for, and were able to make excellent progress in all subject areas. Ellie spoke about how she is looking forward to the New York school trip and Amy, a member of the winning public speaking team, talked about the competition and going to the UK final in Cambridge last year. Two Year 7 students spoke about their favourite subjects and clubs and how they had already settled in and made friends.

Student helpers from Years 7 to 11 were on hand in each department, as well as 25 prefects who took families on tours around the school.

An Argoed High School student gets creative with a design technology demonstration.

The PE department put on gymnastics displays and offered fitness tests, a rehearsal of the upcoming Matilda production took place in the drama studio, and in art visitors could see some of the set work created by students.

In English, staff showed the children how to use Canva on Chromebooks to create poetry and fact-files. There were games on Blooket in the Spanish classroom, more speaking games and quizzes in Welsh, Horrible Histories-Stupid Deaths in history and Geoguesser on Chromebooks in geography. Coding activities and website animation proved popular in the ICT department, in science there were dissections and chemistry experiments, and mathematics staff engaged children with activities including 'Numeracy Ninjas' and 'Mathswatch.'

Islay, the wellbeing dog, and Harry Topley, Year 11, with Lily Meeke-Smith and Henri Meeke Smith.

Parents could also drop into the Additional Learning Needs (ALN) HUB for an informal chat, and the student support area offered Lego therapy, mindfulness and cookie decorating sessions. Islay, the school's new wellbeing dog, made an appearance to meet students.

Paul Clark, a former student, visiting with children Grace and George, said: "We are having a lovely evening, the student helpers are confident and well spoken, they have made my children feel part of the school already. As a previous student it is lovely to reminisce and see it is still a fantastic school."

Alycia Leach visiting the school with her mum said: "My favourite activities were drama and science, actually all of it. There are so many really fun activities to take part in, I can't wait to start high school."

Anyone unable to attend is invited to the school's Open Days on the October 6-7. Tours of the school can be pre-arranged by emailing: contact@argoedhs.co.uk.