A Dog's Trail
Excitement grows as St. Martin’s prepare to participate in ‘A Dog’s Trail’ with Snoopy!
Meet our Snoopy - a celebration of St. Martin’s diverse and inclusive school community, of which we are very proud.
All of our pupils deserve to feel safe, heard, and supported within our school community. Through inclusion, we strive to mitigate poor mental health, isolation and poor self esteem; and show every pupil that they are valued and appreciated. Only then can our children begin to be educated and inspired, and it was through this concept that our ‘Design a Snoopy’ competition took hold.
Our Year 7 pupils, in welcoming them to our school, and allowing them to come together regardless of background, were tasked to create a piece of artwork that they themselves, and our school, could be proud of, while engaging in the important topic of ‘Inclusivity’ - and they did not disappoint!
Our first place was awarded to Megan Phillips, who created a creative, effective design of inclusivity using the recognisable LGBQT+ community colours, to bring our message to life. We are now thrilled to be partaking in the forthcoming ‘A Dog’s Trail’, which over the space of 10 weeks during Spring, will be a free, spectacular public art trail winding through the streets of Cardiff, Cardiff Bay; and the wider communities, allowing everyone to enjoy the imaginatively decorated Snoopy sculptures designed by school pupils, national artists, designers and illustrators.
Alongside the delights that this will bring on both a social and cultural level, in partaking and going on ‘A Dog’s Trail’ to spot the many creations around South Wales, will help to raise awareness and finances for both the Cardiff and Bridgend centres of ‘Dog’s Trust’ - a fantastic charity that continues to do everything possible to rehome our real-life dogs and give them a chance of happiness and a healthy life.
After much anticipation, this spectacular, free public art trail is finally set to hit the streets of Cardiff, Cardiff Bay, Caerphilly and Porthcawl - and we for one cannot wait! The trail will be available to follow for an amazing 8 weeks, from 8th April - 5th of June, so what’s stopping you?
The trail allows you to have the opportunity to see a huge array of brightly decorated, and amazingly creative Snoopy sculptures; each designed by a range of local, regional and national artists, designers and illustrators - both well known favourites and newly emerging artists - one of which is our very own Megan Phillips, Year 7, who won our ‘design-a-snoopy’ competition and created our spectacular ‘Every Child Matters’ Snoopy around the importance of inclusivity. See him for yourself, as he will be taking pride of place in the prestigious St David’s Hall, Cardiff.
Dogs Trust are urging us all to be a part of this unique event with the world’s most iconic dog, and help them not only raise vital funds for Dogs Trust, so that their excellent work can continue, but also be a part of an event that will bring significant economic, social and cultural benefits to the city. Here, at St Martin’s we are trying to raise £750 to help support this worthy cause, so if you could spare any monies, however small, your donation would be greatly appreciated, by both ourselves and Dogs Trust. Donation is easy, just access our Just Giving page on https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/st-martins-snoopy
So there is only one thing left to do, get planning your ‘A Dog's Trail’ route & find them all! The official Trail Map is now available to view & download thanks to the Dogs Trust Website. Access here for the English version https://bit.ly/3Nav6BI Or here to view in Welsh https://bit.ly/3L3nGi2.
See you there!
If you wish to help us raise funds for this amazing charity, then please kindly support us via www.justgiving.com/St-Martins-Snoopy
Snoopy, and all his friends at St. Martin's, thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your generosity.
Big Bocs Bwyd
St Martin's School's 'pay as you can' shop has opened its doors to the community. The Big Bocs Bwyd is a Wales-wide initiative which aims to support low-income families, reduce food waste and provide authentic learning experiences for pupils.
Based in a refurbished shipping container, the shop offers families food and toiletries at for as little as £3 a bag. Some of the stock is donated by local businesses but most of the stock comes from FareShare, a charity which aims to reduce food poverty by re-distributing quality surplus food produced by the food industry. Since its opening, the Bocs has stocked with fresh food such as yoghurts, fruit and vegetables, along with cupboard staples like pasta, rice, sauces crisps and cereals.
Our shop is open to anyone in the community, regardless of income so pop along between 3pm-5pm every Tuesday to pick up a bargain and help stop food going to waste. We're not a foodbank, but we can be if that's what you need. All are welcome.
Shakespeare Schools
Our year 8 pupils have been working tremendously hard during rehearsals for their upcoming production of Romeo and Juliet! This is going to be performed in the Riverfront Theatre on the 29th of March as part of the annual Shakespeare Schools Festival. However, the pupils are adapting their performance with a very modern twist... Both Miss. Gooding and Miss. Owen are so impressed with their commitment and passion so far! Da iawn pawb!
DofE First Expedition Walk
First expedition training walk of the year completed for the Bronze and Silver 2022 groups - Da iawn Pawb!!
Nothing like a bit of adverse weather to add to the challenge of reaching the summit of Caerphilly Mountain! Fantastic preparation for the final expedition which will take place over the course of 2 days for the Bronze award, and 3 days for the Silver award in July.
Fingers crossed the sun comes out to play for the next training trek which will be longer in duration and include stopping for lunch where pupils will be required to cook their own meals.
It’s still not too late to sign up for the Bronze DofE for students Yr9 +.
Please contact Miss Williams-Wadley if you are looking for further information.
Year 9 are Dementia Friends!
This term, Year 9 took part in a stand down day which followed a scheme of work on dementia. The resources and lesson plans developed by Alzheimer’s Society helped raise awareness amongst our young people and have hopefully created a dementia-friendly generation. We learnt about the effects of dementia on those who have it, their families and the wider community. We learnt how we can help support those who have dementia. Finally, we designed postcards and wrote letters to our local care home residents as a way of reaching out to our community.
As a school, we feel it is important to provide lessons on dementia for our young people as there are currently 850,000 people living with dementia in the UK, with a prediction that this will rise to 2 million by 2051. The lessons develop learners’ knowledge and understanding of dementia, but also provide them with valuable life skills in order to be able to help and support people in their family/community who may be living with dementia.
Dementia is a sensitive topic and we appreciate that some learners may know/ have known someone affected by dementia, which could potentially cause them to feel upset. All learners taking part in the lessons were reminded that they can speak to a member of the wellbeing team for additional support, and parents/guardians are also advised to speak to their child if you feel this is something they would benefit from.
We hope we have enabled our young people to become more aware of the issues connected with an aging population and the ways in which they can become more active and responsible citizens. For more information, please visit alzheimers.org.uk/youngpeople.
Period Dignity
St. Martin's hosted a day of workshops on period dignity and intimate hygiene at the start of February. These sessions were provided by Caerphilly County Borough Council's Healthy Schools team and will help us address any stigma surrounding periods, by promoting respect and understanding, as well as enabling open discussions about what young people may experience when menstruating. St. Martin's is committed to ending period poverty, which generally refers to poor menstrual knowledge and/or access to period products. There are stocks of free period products for students to use. These are available from the toilets, though we can also help longer term if anyone is struggling. Please see an adult you trust if you wish to get some help.
Construction
The first cohort of year 11 students taking Construction at St. Martin's are working towards their practical submission having completed the first exam, this only leaves one element of project work to go leaving all the students (And Mr. Shergold) confident of success come the summer. Pictured is Alex starting out marking and cutting material before she moves onto drywall, plaster and wallpaper!
From September ‘22 St. Martin's will be offering an A Level in construction (the built environment) which will see students gain the skills they need to take a career in construction to the next level. The course builds students' understanding of the built environment, including the professional and technical roles within it and the range of buildings, assets and structures that comprise it. We will also be looking at a range of practical skills delivered by both St. Martin's staff and professionals from within the construction industry alongside visiting various sites to really get a feel for what life is like on the other side of the safety barrier. Discover why employers value the AS/A level Built Environment course (WJEC video).
If you have any questions regarding the course please email Mr. Shergold directly on shergoldj@stmartins.caerphilly.sch.uk.
Greenpower Challenge
St. Martin's are going racing! Having invested in a new kit car manufactured by Greenpower we are looking to enter our first event at Castle Coombe in September, this gives the team of Yr 7-9 students 5 months to build the car and organise everything that a successful race team needs to be competitive and challenge the top teams in the country.
If you feel that you or maybe the company you work for may be able to offer any support to the team, sponsorship, kit or equipment then please contact Mr. Shergold directly on shergoldj@stmartins.caerphilly.sch.uk or through the schools main channels.
Logo drawn by Freya in year 8.
Students tackle Alaskan fish
Students at St. Martin’s School, Caerphilly are the lucky recipients of Alaska salmon to upskill their fish cookery.
In a national first, cookery and nutrition students at St. Martin’s School will be the lucky recipients of wild Alaska pink salmon to use in their classrooms, in a bid to improve their fish cookery skills.
The initiative is part of The Fish In Schools Hero programme which is run by the Food Teachers Centre, in partnership with the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute. Together they will deliver an unprecedented 20,000 filets of wild Alaska salmon to schools for cookery students to prepare up and down the country.
The programme aims to ensure that every child gets a chance to prepare, cook and eat fish before they leave school.
Students at St. Martin’s School will be learning about sustainability and nutrition as well as developing delicious dishes with the Alaska salmon in their practical classes.
Hospitality & Catering teacher Mrs. Shopland said, ‘We are thrilled that we have been selected to receive the wild salmon from Alaska. It means that our students can not only learn about wild fisheries and the different tastes, textures and usages, but also cook with the fish themselves.’
To support teachers, Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute and Food Teachers Centre have also developed sample lesson plans, a training workshop and video recipes by chef and former Masterchef winner Dhruv Baker.
Both teachers and students are completing the online Alaska seafood training course which is a deep dive into the Alaskan fishing industry and the different species available from Alaska; www.alaskaseafooduniversity.co.uk
Rebecca Wilson, Trade Director for Alaska Seafood in Northern Europe commented, “We are delighted to partner with the Food Teachers Centre for their Fish in Schools Hero Programme. We have been working with the Fish In Schools Hero programme for over a year to get the Alaska salmon into students’ hands and we are pleased that students will finally get the opportunity to cook with it.”
Simon Gray, Senior Associate at the Food Teachers Centre said, “94% of our teachers surveyed in 2020 wanted their pupils to use different fish and not to be scared of trying something new, but less than half of them used fresh or frozen fish. This unique opportunity overcomes the obstacles teachers face with regards to cost, sourcing fresh fish, and cooking skills in schools to introduce students to wild, sustainable, healthy and delicious fish. We’ve created training to build teachers’ confidence, recipes to make their lesson run smoothly and delivered high quality fish that schools will love to try. We are excited to see the difference this will make to young people in the future.”
School Summer Production
Rehearsals are underway for our school musical, Legally Blonde. The Expressive Arts team are so excited and the students have been putting their all into rehearsals. Legally Blonde tells the story of Elle Woods, a rich sorority leader in Malibu who longs to find love. After getting into Harvard Law to win back her ex-boyfriend, she soon realises that there is much more to life than having a man. This musical involves singing, dance, and acting (and a lot of pink).
The show will be performed on the 12th, 13th, 14th and 15th of July 2022. Tickets will be on sale soon.
We can't wait to see you there!
PE Department Match Report: Lewis Boys 2-3 St. Martin's
A brilliant team effort saw St. Martin's open up the new Caerphilly League with a Win to go Top of the League.
After a first half that saw both teams miss good chances it was Lewis Boys that went ahead before almost instantly brilliant link up play before a excellent ball through from Tom Edwards to St. Martin's Captain Josh Webb who calmly dinked the ball over the Lewis Boys Goalkeeper.
Lewis Boys then retook the lead after a goal on the break before St. Martin's pressure appeared to be too much for the Lewis defense with Josh Morkot being brought down in the penalty box with Jack Darby calmly putting the ball into the back of the net from the spot. St. Martin's managed to get a 68th minute winner from Owen Cuddy, who one on one with the Goalkeeper, tucked the ball into the Lewis net to get St. Martin's off to a winning start in the new League. Manager Mr. Faulds gave MOTM to Year 11 Jack Facey for his superb performance.
Next Up for St. Martin's is a home encounter with Bryntirion in the Last 16 of the Welsh Cup.
Global Communication News: Twisted Tales Writing Competition
By Mrs. Rachel Jones
How much does a story change if we change the point of view? What would the villain say if they could share their story? Are the bad guys evil? Misguided? Misunderstood? Twisted Tales was a competition by the Young Writers organisation, giving our students the opportunity to flip the script and explore another side of the story. Many of our KS3 students submitted entries and, because of the superb quality of the ideas and work, a large number were chosen to be published in a book! Some wrote about classic villains, whilst others chose to think outside of the box, choosing to write from the perspective of Winter, or even Death! Congratulations and well done to all the winning entries!
Restaurant Event
Year 13 Hospitality & Catering student's are running a European Evening in our restaurant 'Class' on Wednesday 27th April at 6pm. Tickets cost £15 and are available through stmartinsshop
You will be able to enjoy a 3 course European meal!!!
St. Martin's Sixth Form
Korean Club
안녕하세요! The Korean Club started this term, where students can learn how to read, write and speak Korean. We’ve had a lot of fun, and anyone who wants to come along is welcome to join us!
‘I wanted to learn Korean because I love the culture and I would love to visit the country some day. Learning Korean is different for everybody, but I’ve found adapting to the alphabet quite easy because it’s phonetic. When I read something, and I know I’ve got it right, I feel so happy.’ -Melody Y8
WW2 Research
The History Archive Club has spent the last half term researching all the names on the St. Martin’s war memorial, located in the Old Hall. So far, we have been able to identify many of the ‘Old Boys’ who lost their lives in WW2 through the Commonwealth War Graves Commission database. Some have been more tricky to identify, so we’ve been searching through the old school records. Looking through the lists of entrance exams from the 1930s, we have found many gems, such as several students named Victory, and one named after the Battle of Verdun, to commemorate the Great War. We’ve managed to uncover some amazing stories of our ex-students and their valiant service, which we look forward to sharing with everyone soon.
School Hire
Afternoon Tea
On Saturday 26th March Year 10 Hospitality & Catering student's hosted an afternoon tea for 45 guests in our on site restaurant 'Class'. The event was a fundraising event to help the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine. The student's prepared and cooked all of the foods and then served it to a packed restaurant. Well done to all involved we are hoping to have raised about £300 for the charities.
Ukraine Fundraising
St. Martin's School have been busy raising funds for Ukraine and preparing the School House ready for the arrival of a Ukrainian family.
THANK YOU TO PUPILS, PARENTS, STAFF AND THE COMMUNITY FOR YOUR SUPPORT AND GENEROSITY
Your generosity includes the following donations:
A cooker and hob - Currys Caerphilly
A bed and pillows - Dreams
Toiletries, blankets and socks and other items - The H Jones family
Upstairs carpet - Carpetright Caerphilly
Toiletries, 3x single bedding - Tesco
Housing for oven - B&Q
Microwave, dishwasher, kitchen items - Catering Department
Kettle & toaster - Gym Stash
New Salon
PTFA Tuck Shop