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

The Court of Appeal has rejected an application for a Judicial Review of the decision to close two Carmarthenshire comprehensives and build a new school. The Ysgol Pantycelyn Action Group lost its move for a review of Carmarthenshire County Council’s plans to close Ysgol Pantycelyn in Llandovery and Ysgol Tre-gib, Ffairfach, Llandeilo, and build a new school. Council Chief Executive Mark James said: “The Court of Appeal rejected the application for a Judicial Review. “We shall now be pressing the Welsh Government to consider the proposal to discontinue the two schools, so we can form the new school and start building.” Council Leader Cllr Kevin Madge said: “Hopefully we can proceed to deliver this project. With the country in recession, these projects give us growth and I look forward to things moving at pace.” Executive board member for education Cllr Keith Davies said: “It is good news that we can finally move forward. “When the work starts it will create jobs in the development.” Di...

BBC News - Ysgol Pantycelyn, Llandovery, judicial review refused A judge has refused a legal challenge to plans to merge two secondary schools in Carmarthenshire, according to the county council. Campaigners fighting to keep Ysgol Pantycelyn in Llandovery had applied for a judicial review. There are plans to merge the school with Tregib near Llandeilo and build a new school on a new site. The Pantycelyn Action Group has asked for a hearing before a different judge to review the refusal. That will take place on 8 March.

Youngsters who have visited NASA were among pupils from Tregib Comprehensive, Llandeilo, to visit County Hall as guests of Carmarthenshire County Council Chairman Cllr Ivor Jackson. A party of pupils was entertained in the Chairman’s Room by Cllr Jackson and Chairman’s Consort Mrs Mary Jackson. The visit involved three groups of pupils, those who spent time at NASA and others who spent time in New York. The pupils who went to the United Space School Programme in Houston, Texas, were Christopher Grylls and Sam Adam-Day, both from Llandybie. Christopher was one of four pupils out of 37 on the NASA scheme to win an award for hard work and leadership and was presented with the American flag that flew from the Capitol Building on July 21, 2011, to mark the 42nd anniversary of the first man on the Moon and the flight of the USS Atlantis, the final launch of the US Shuttle Programme. Christopher said: “We stayed with host families while we were out there so we were thrown in at the deep end w...

Pupils at Tregib Comprehensive School have been getting active on their feet in two very different ways. The youngsters have been taking advantage of the good local surfing conditions and braving the sea to take part in extra curricular 5x60 activities. Nia Jones, a pupil from Tregib, has been taking part in surfing. She said: “It’s brilliant to have a chance to surf every week and I have managed to stand up on the board a few times now. Without 5x60 I wouldn’t have had this opportunity.” And as part of national School Sport Week there was a day of dancing as pupils from Llandeilo and Dyffryn Taf were given the opportunity to experience some top of the range dance mats being used in the county to get the youngsters active. Gwenno Davies, an Adistar Young Ambassador at Tregib School said: “It was crazy, we even had about 20 teachers at lunch time dancing behind the pupils and we must have had hundreds of pupils down here throughout the day.” 5x60 is a Sport Wales initiative, funded by ...

Young Carmarthenshire tycoons are among the best in Wales in the world of business. Students from the county have made it to the finals of the prestigious Young Enterprise contest. Pupils from Ysgol Tregib and Ysgol Gyfun Emlyn have beat off competition from across West Wales to secure a place in the Welsh finals. The students have set up their own companies and spent 13 weeks actively trading. They were given advice from business development officers at the County Council before going head-to-head to be named the best in the area. Company reports, trade stands, team programmes and presentations were all taken into account. The schools won the Carmarthenshire and West Wales regional finals, and will now go on to represent Wales in Cardiff next month. The work is part of a series of schemes by the county council to support young people. Council Business Development Officer Angharad Harding said: “The standard of entries was extremely high and we were very impressed by the quality of wor...

Young Carmarthenshire tycoons have been battling it out in the world of business. Students from across the county have been competing in the Carmarthenshire Young Enterprise contest. Pupils from six comprehensive schools set up their own companies and spent 13 weeks actively trading. They were given advice from business development officers at the County Council before going head-to-head to be named the best in the area. Company reports, trade stands, team programmes and presentations were all taken into account. The competition, which was held at Carmarthen’s Halliwell Centre, was part of a series of schemes by the county council to support young people. A team of students from Tregib Comprehensive won the event and will go forward to represent the county at the regional final in Q.E High School later this month. Council Business Development Officer Angharad Harding said: “The standard of entries for the Carmarthenshire Young Enterprise was extremely high and we were very impressed by...