School news from across Wrexham and Flintshire classrooms

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Ysgol yr Hafod, Johnstown

THE multimillion-pound renovation of the Wrexham primary school has been hailed as an "incredible" transformation.

Clwyd South MS Ken Skates visited Ysgol yr Hafod, to see the results of the major revamp, which was part of the Welsh Government's 21st Century Schools programme.

MS Ken Skates (left) with headteacher Alison Heale and chair of governors Cllr David A Bithell.

He said: "The transformation has been incredible, I was blown away.

"I visited the school around 12 months ago when the work was taking shape and was excited to see the final result but it was even better than I was expecting. It looks amazing."

The makeover has brought together 350 infant and junior school pupils on one site for the first time and funding also allowed the purchase of a neighbouring two-story home which has been converted to expand the school premises. The work was carried out by North Wales firm Wynne Construction.

Mr Skates was given a tour by headteacher Alison Heale and chair of governors Cllr David Bithell.

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He said: "The new-look Ysgol yr Hafod is an exemplar, and undoubtedly one of the best school renovation projects I've seen. That's in no small part down to Alison and her team's involvement in the design process and the detailed discussions and planning that went into their vision of how they wanted their school to be. It's a real testament to their hard work and passion."

Cllr Bithell added: "Ken has taken a keen interest in the school from its early days. The visit was welcomed by the staff, who were keen to show the fantastic learning environment we have at Ysgol Yr Hafod. All governors and staff have worked extremely hard with our education department and Welsh Government to secure funding for our new school."

St Ethelwold’s VA Primary School, Shotton

Serving tea and drinks at the school's social event.

Pupils at the Deeside school hosted a fundraiser, with cake and coffee. The social event was to help raise funds for the school to purchase outdoor equipment. Parents and members of the local community were invited along for the afternoon.

Ysgol Rhiwabon, Wrexham

The Northern Lights over Ysgol Rhiwabon. Photo courtesy of @AllyOwen on Twitter.

Flint High School

ALMOST 80 students from the Flintshire high school have returned buzzing after a trip of a lifetime to Disneyland Paris.

For many of the Year 8, 9, and sixth form students, it was their first time abroad. As well as taking in the amazing sights, sounds and pure wonder of Disneyland, the exciting trip presented a host of new life experiences from using Euros to staying away from home.

A group of girls get ready to explore the sights.

Travelling by coach, the group stayed for three nights at the Explorers Hotel. As part of celebrating Disney's 100th anniversary, the students got to see extra special fireworks displays and other exciting surprises, and enjoyed a day touring the Disney Studios.

The school has run this popular trip for many years, and this was the second time post covid. After receiving such a huge response to the 50 places initially on offer this year, the school decided to put on a second coach.

Dara Craig, Year 9, and Imogen Beck, Year 8, with their Disney souvenirs.

Sam Harbour, associate headteacher, was responsible for organising the trips. She said: "We couldn't believe how much demand there was for the trip this year so it was fantastic that we could secure an extra coach and take so many more students.

"It's great to see the popularity of trips returning after the covid years, and to be able to give students these invaluable life experiences outside of school. We had an excellent group of students on the trip, they all had a brilliant time; their behaviour was a credit to the school, themselves, and their families.

"We look forward to a repeat of this hugely successful trip next year."

Some of the students with Mickey Mouse.

Hawarden High School

A TEAM from the Flintshire high school are finalists in UK science and engineering competition.

A portable pollution monitor, a robodog, smart food storage containers and a blueprint for a renewable theme park model using wind, solar and kinetic energy, are just some of the diverse and impressive projects being showcased by UK secondary school pupils selected as national finalists in this year's Big Bang UK Young Scientists & Engineers Competition.

Imogen Lemon, Kefira Pitchford and Carys Jones.

One of the Wales finalists is a sixth form trio from Hawarden High School, featuring students Imogen Lemon, Kefira Pitchford and Carys Jones.

Head of physics at the school, Matthew Lewis, said: "Our project was a water purification shelter designed to help a community in Peru.

"The design featured SODIS technologies, sand filters and filtration systems. As well as filtering water, the design operated as a stall-like structure, leaving options to be used as many ways in the community.

"The project itself, was a good experience and the whole team worked very hard and learnt a lot during the process. As a team, we're honoured to be one of the finalists for Wales and are excited for such a brilliant opportunity.

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"Today was their final presentation to the judges and the awards are handed out on June 19, so the team are now waiting for the judges' final decision."

Winners of the Big Bang Competition, which takes place at the Big Bang Fair at the NEC in Birmingham June 19-21, have the opportunity to win a range of prizes and could be crowned Big Bang UK Young Engineer and UK Young Scientist. This year, a new award, UK Young Technologist of the Year is being introduced and is being supported by Siemens. Each of these categories is awarded a prize of £1,000.

The aim of the annual Big Bang Fair is to inspire young people to consider careers in STEM through hands-on activities, career panel and incredible shows.

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Mark Wood, social sustainability lead, Siemens, UK and Ireland, added: "The Big Bang Competition is a great initiative to bring the brightest young minds together to solve the challenges of tomorrow. It is fantastic we now have the UK Young Technologist of the Year award alongside the UK Scientist and UK Engineer of the Year as this recognises the importance of digital skills and technology in all of our lives and our futures.

"Technology will help answer our current and future challenges and it is right we empower the next generation to take ownership and take us forward."

Phil McShane, associate director of the Big Bang programme, said: "This year we've had hundreds of young people enter more than 300 projects, and the standard of the projects has been really high. the Big Bang Competition judges were extremely impressed with the creativity and innovation shown to solve real-world challenges demonstrated by all the young people who participated."

• Visit the www.thebigbang.org.uk to stay up to date and to find out more.