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

A team of pupils from Ysgol Gyfun Emlyn in Carmarthenshire made it to the semi finals of the Young Consumers of the Year Competition. They represented Carmarthenshire at the Welsh regional competition this week at Cardiff City Stadium but did not make it through to the finals. They represented Carmarthenshire and got to the semi final alongside teams from Bridgend, Torfaen, Powys, Monmouthshire, Ynys Mon, Flintshire, and Caerphilly. The team of four, Mark Ramsey, Liam Webb, Andrew Lemmon and Jack Davies, went with business studies teacher Dylan Williams, Carmarthenshire County Council executive board member for public protection Cllr Jim Jones, Lead Trading Standards Officer Huw Lloyd and Trading Standards Officer Kayleigh Phillips. The team enjoyed a tour of Cardiff City Stadium before the competition. The competition is organised nationally by the Trading Standards Institute and locally by the Carmarthenshire Trading Standards Services section. The council’s executive board memb...

Research is to be carried out to discover if it is feasible to provide an Astroturf pitch at Ysgol Gyfun Emlyn in Newcastle Emlyn. Innovative Communities, part of RDP Sir Gâr’s Innovative Hubs project, has awarded a grant to Emlyn Astro Turf Pitch to conduct a feasibility study into the option of an all-weather artificial turf pitch at the school. Innovative Communities has been funded through the Rural Development Plan for Wales 2007-2013 which is funded by Welsh Government and the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development. Innovative Communities supports the trialling of new ideas that could benefit community life and has locally-based Development Officers on hand to support community groups to develop new solutions to tackle the everyday issues they face. Up to 100 per cent funding is available to help community groups get their ideas off the ground. These could include: implementing pilot schemes, transport and rural health initiatives, innovative childcare, time banki...

Pupils in Ysgol Gyfun Emlyn have been learning about recycling batteries and small electrical items during Recycle Week. Although most people know about recycling their old newspapers and tin cans – they don’t realise batteries and old, broken electricals such as kettles and hairdryers can be recycled too. The council’s waste awareness team went along to Ysgol Gyfun Emlyn in Newcastle Emlyn during Recycle Week to talk to the pupils. Officers gave a short presentation on the importance of battery recycling and also showed a DVD on waste electrical items. An interactive workshop was also held with pupils from years 8 and 9 looking at the life of a mobile phone - from making the phone, through to purchasing, then recycling it, and what to do with the packaging of a new phone. Council sustainability officer Tina Brice said: “The feedback we had from both teachers and children is that it has made them think twice about putting batteries and broken electrical items in black bags. They ...

Pupils in Newcastle Emlyn have won iPods for their efforts to keep their school clean. Ysgol Gyfun Emlyn took part in a ‘green day’ with Carmarthenshire County Council back in June as part of Wales Sustainability Week. The aim was to encourage pupils to put their litter in the bin and recycle as much of their waste as possible. The day began with a special assembly and a short film on climate change followed by litter-related activities in lessons throughout the day. For example, pupils designed litter posters in art and designed and created a new type of recycling bin for the school in design and technology.. Council officers also went into the classroom to speak to pupils about litter and its consequences and litter-picks were held within the school grounds. As part of the ‘green day’, pupils were asked to come up with ideas on how best to tackle litter at the school - with all suggestions entered into a prize draw to win an iPod. The winners have now been presented with their priz...

A team of pupils from Ysgol Gyfun Emlyn in Carmarthenshire have been crowned runners-up at the National Finals of the Young Consumers of the Year Competition. The unique competition involves hundreds of schools across England, Scotland and Wales which rise to the challenge of becoming the nation’s top young consumers. Having beaten off competition from four local teams in the Carmarthenshire heat of the competition in January and a further 12 teams to become runners-up of the Welsh Finals in Llandrindod in March, the team of four pupils - Jack Pulman-Slater, Megan Barnard, Finn O’Connor and Katie Barnby – were through to the National Finals. They had to show off their knowledge on a range of subjects including Consumer Law, Health and Social Responsibility, Food, Safety, Environment, Legal Matters, Money and Finance and Europe. In a hotly contested final held during the Trading Standards Institute Annual Conference in Edinburgh, Ysgol Gyfun Emlyn competed against seven other teams repr...

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...