Robert Lloyd - a Sir Gar Blog of random news . . . and some Clecs!

A team from Amman Valley School, Ammanford has won this year’s Carmarthenshire Young Consumers of the Year competition, run by Carmarthenshire Trading Standards Services. The national competition is organised by the Trading Standards Institute (T.S.I.), the national body representing trading standards officers in the UK and aims to increase consumer awareness amongst young people. The competition took the form of a quiz between teams of four, all between the ages of 14 and 17, from schools and colleges. The subjects covered included consumer law, money, credit and finance, environmental issues, and food and safety. This year the Carmarthenshire final, which was sponsored by Brecon Carreg, was contested between three qualifying teams, Amman Valley School, Ysgol Gyfun Emlyn and Ysgol Tre-Gib on Friday January 27, in the Carwyn James Suite, Parc Y Scarlets. The winning Amman Valley School team consisted of Aidan Ware, Daniel Matthews, James Leonard, Kieran Lloyd-Jones, and reserve ...

Plans for new playing fields and sports pitches at Amman Valley Comprehensive School have been given the go ahead. Carmarthenshire county council planning committee approved an application for full planning permission for the facilities to be developed at the site in Margaret Street, Ammanford. The committee was told that the council has recently secured financial assistance from the Welsh Government for the improvement of the schools within the county, and Amman Valley Comprehensive School has been identified for upgrade.

Pupils at Amman Valley Comprehensive School have been learning about reducing, reusing and recycling their waste. The school organised a range of activities during Recycle Week including a litter pick and ‘Love Food, Hate Waste’ cookery classes, supported by Carmarthenshire County Council. Children from years seven and eight took part in a clean-up of the school grounds, in partnership with Tidy Towns, and collected 28 bags of recyclable waste and another 12 bags of general waste. Council officers also spoke to the pupils about the consequences of dropping litter – from its environmental impact to the cost of cleaning it up as well as the risk of prosecution and fines. Chef Lisa Fearn, who runs Pumpkin Patch cookery and gardening school near Carmarthen, took part in the food technology lessons for years seven and eight. The theme for this year’s Recycle Week was ‘Food for Thought’ and Lisa talked to the children about using leftovers to make meals and how to reduce food waste in genera...