Visit to Allotment

We have recently visited our local allotment to purchase some produce for us to grow in school.

We met Mark, who was very helpful and gave us some growing tips. He also said we were welcome to visit the allotment again to speak to local members for their advice on planting and growing.  

Presenting to our Governors

We have recently done a presentation to our school governors reporting on what we have been doing since October.

Please take a look at our PowerPoint Presentation and read our script (until we can upload the video).

Sorting the Community Recycling

Mrs Davies and some eager volunteers in year 3/4 have been busy sorting some of the recycling we receive from our local community. 

        RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch 

On the weekend it was the RSPB's 'Big Garden Birdwatch'.

This was the world's biggest garden wildlife survey.

Last week some of our Eco Team visited classes to tell them all about the project and encourage people to take part.

The project involved counting the birds that land in your garden over the period of an hour. Only birds that land were counted, not those flying past.

There is still plenty of time to submit the results of your bird count. You have until 19th February. 

To download a useful birdwatch guide, please go to rspb.org.uk/birdwatch

Our Eco Team will soon be taking part in the Big Schools' Birdwatch, counting the different birds that land in our school grounds. An update and photos will follow soon.

Swifts in Schools Project

Yesterday we had a visit from Mr Kerry Rogers from the Swifts in Schools Project. He visited us to identify a suitable location in our school to put a bird box to encourage swifts to nest.

After a tour of the school grounds with Mrs Roberts and our Eco Team, a good location was found.

Swifts are very clean birds and their nesting box will be extremely high up, so it will not cause us any problems in the yard.

The number of swifts has declined in Rhondda Cynon Taf so this project will hopefully see a rise in the number of swifts nesting in our area.

Road Safety Wales Competition

In September 2023 the speed limit on roads where people live, or regularly walk and cycle, is going to change. A new 20mph speed limit will come in.

This new speed limit will help reduce collisions on our roads, make our streets nicer places to be and encourage more people to walk and cycle.

Road Safety Wales and the Welsh Government are asking school children to design a 20mph sign that can be used outside schools, to remind drivers of the importance of driving within the 20mph speed limit, helping reduce the danger to everyone. 

The Eco Team have visited the Year 5/6 classes to tell them about the competition and let classes know the rules. The winning design will be chosen after the closing date at the end of January 2023, with the winner receiving £250!!!! 

Here are just a few of the entries.

Presenting to the Governors

This week we made a video to show our school governors what we have been doing since May 2022. This video was then shown to the governors in their meeting.

Please take a look.    

Environmental Review

Our Eco Team have been carrying out an Environmental Review. 

They have been working in pairs or threes to do research around the school and to answer environmental questions.

From this review targets will be made to help improve our school environment and our schools impact on the planet. 

Healthy Eating Assembly

Last week we did an assembly in the top block to encourage everyone to make healthy choices for their breaktime snack and their packed lunch.

We made our own PowerPoint and decided what we were going to say.

This week we did an assembly for the younger children in the middle block. Then they sang their healthy eating song 'Cauliflower's Fluffy'.

Seeds for Spring Planting

We have bought seeds from our local allotment ready for planting in our Eco Area next Spring.

We will be planting some flowers to attract bees and we will be planting some vegetables. We will be donating these to Pontypridd Foodbank like we did last summer. 

Community Champion Recycler

Very well done to Evie Morgan in Year Six for all her hard work in our local community. For many months she has been collecting recycling from family, friends and neighbours and at the end of term she brought it all in to school. 

This extra recycling has helped us achieve the weight we need to send materials to Terracycle. 

Well done Evie!

More Planting in our Eco Area

After harvesting our potatoes and onions, we thought our Eco Area looked a bit bare. So today we planted a few more flowers to make the area look more attractive and also to attract more pollinators. 

Sorting our Recycling for Terracycle

We receive lots of items for recycling from the local community. 

These need sorting into separate bags and boxes before being sent to Terracycle.

This takes a long time.

It was quite tricky today because the wind kept blowing the wrappers everywhere. 

Pontypridd Foodbank

After harvesting our vegetables we decided to donate them to the Pontypridd Foodbank. We took them to the Riverside Foodbank on the Broadway where the organisers were delighted with our fresh produce. 

Harvesting our vegetables in our Eco Area

This week Mrs Davies and the Eco Team harvested the potatoes and spring onions that were planted in our eco area in the spring. 

Maes-y-Coed Walk, Cycle or Scoot to School Week

It is fantastic to see Rea Reynolds from Y1 walking to school today.

Well done Rea!

It is brilliant to see Lottie Loring Y3, Priya Jacob Y3 and Ava Jacob Y1/2 riding their scooters to school. Well done girls!

Super to see Leo Ahearne in Y3 walking to school today. Well done Leo!

It is fantastic to see Tommy Parfitt from Y3 cycling safely to school this morning. Well done Tommy!

It is great to see Frankie Mellor in Y3 riding her scooter to school today. Well done Frankie. It's also great to see Tilly Mellor walking to school. Well done Tilly. 

It is wonderful to see Mia Vaughan from Y3 riding her scooter to school this morning, just like her sister did yesterday. Well done Mia. 

It is great to see Libby Vaughan from Reception class enjoying taking part in our walk, cycle or scoot to school week. Well done Libby! 

It is fantastic to see Phoebe Angus in Y1/2 walking and riding her scooter to school this morning, along with her sister Lexi Angus in Y5/6. Well done to both of you!

It's fantastic to see Dillon Harvey in Y4 on her way home from school on her scooter. Well done Dillon!

Easter Egg Recycle Challenge

For the last few weeks the Eco Team have been visiting classrooms to collect all of the Easter Egg packaging sent in from home. This was for the 'R.C.T. Easter Egg Recycle Challenge' where prizes are given for the schools that collect the most recycling per pupil. 

On Friday two ladies from R.C.T came to look at what we had collected and allowed some of the Eco Team to help with the weighing and recording of results. 

We will have to wait a few weeks to get the final result, but we would like to say a huge thank you to everyone who has helped us by sending in their recycling. We think an awful lot of Eggs were eaten in Maes-y-Coed!!

Please have a look at our photos below.   

                   Our Recycling Area

Our journey with Terracycle so far....

With all the support we have received from parents, grandparents and the wider community, we have sent over 98kg of recycling to Terracycle. This has so far raised enough money for us to purchase plant pots to create an ECO area in our junior yard. We are also supporting other community groups with recycling with items we don't send to Terracyle due to them being our local drop off points.

The hard to recycle items are broken down and recycled into furniture and used in parks etc.

Live Outdoor Lesson

Back in October, Year 3 took part in a Live Outdoor Lesson run by Keep Wales Tidy.

It was on the theme of litter, one of the Eco Team's targets. 

They went out into the community on a litter pick.

Back in the classroom they sorted the litter and created graphs using j2Data on Hwb. Some of these were sent to Keep Wales Tidy who mentioned Maes-y-Coed Primary in the second part of the lesson later in the day.   

Eco Team Autumn Term 2021

Back in the Autumn Term we used one of our Eco Team meetings to look through a seed catalogue from our local allotment. We made a list of flowers and fruit and vegatables we would like to grow in the school yard as well as the allotment.

We tried to choose things that would be easier to grow and would not need a greenhouse. 

Mrs King then placed our order with the allotment committee. 

Presenting to the Governors

This term we had to do a presentation for the governors.

We had to talk about things we have done in the last few months.

Please take a look.