A True Teen Hero

Congratulations of the highest order to Year 10 pupil Lily Rice, who recently became one of three young individuals awarded a Radio 1 Teen Hero Award for their recognised contribution towards helping others.

Lily, who has spastic paraplegia and uses a wheelchair, has become a much respected and inspirational member of our school community in the past couple of years for her courage and determination in the world of Wheelchair Motocross, or WCMX, culminating in her becoming the second female in the world - and the first in Europe - to perform a wheelchair back flip.  The record-breaking moment, which was captured on camera during a training session at Rampworld in Cardiff, went viral and deservedly caught the attention of the media.  In the wake of this, her story formed the focus of a high profile music video for McFly lead vocalist Tom Fletcher’s 2017 Christmas release Afraid of Heights.  She then competed at the World Wheelchair Motocross Championship in California, and will soon be seen in a commercial for a high profile company.

These well-deserved accomplishments have made Lily a shining role model to other children with similar conditions, inspiring them to access her sport and forge a similarly spectacular path of their own in a way that only a true teen hero can!

As part of her award experience, Lily travelled to London to meet one of her own heroes, Phillip Schofield, before receiving video messages from the bands ‘Panic at The Disco’ and ‘Fall Out Boy’, but the excitement didn’t end there - She later travelled to Kensington Palace to receive her award from none other than the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, William and Kate!

 The award ceremony, which was aired by BBC 2 on Sunday, featured performances by Little Mix, 5 Seconds of Summer and Liam Payne, alongside appearances by celebrity award winners and presenters.

Science Club

This year, Ms. Scale, of the Science Department has formed a Science Club for Year 9 students. Each term they will be following a theme, which will include an educational trip. This term, the theme is Astronomy, and students have been making a variety of rockets and landing pods. After Half Term, they will be visiting the Planetarium at Techniquest and Tim Peak’s landing module at Cardiff Museum. The club is geared towards promoting independent thinking and scientific enquiry.

Restart a Heart Day

Last Tuesday, Greenhill’s Network Manager - and award winning Welsh Ambulance First responder - Ben James, in partnership with fellow First Responder Tony Wall and local PCSO Stephanie Rayner, trained over 165 of our pupils as part of the St. John Ambulance Service’s Restart a Heart Day. During their allocated time slot, each class was taught how to check a casualty for vital signs, manoeuvre an unconscious individual into the recovery position, perform CPR and use a defibrillator. Upon completion of said instruction, each individual then had a chance to put what they had learned into practice. It was an enlightening experience for each and every potential life-saver who attended.

A Great iDEA

Ysgol Greenhill School have signed up to support and deliver the Inspiring Digital Enterprise Award (iDEA) to pupils, staff and parents. iDEA is an international programme which helps to develop digital, enterprise and employability skills for free and is endorsed by the Duke of York. Through a series of online challenges, users can earn badges, unlock new opportunities and, ultimately, gain industry recognised awards.

It is the digital and enterprise equivalent of The Duke of Edinburgh Award - Bronze is beginner, Silver intermediate and Gold advanced. The iDEA Bronze Award and iDEA Silver Award are available now, with Gold slated for release in 2019. 

The school is looking to encourage all pupils, staff and parents to sign up to the programme and further develop their Digital skills. Once registered, you can become part of the Greenhill network by adding the Organiser Code GREENHI115 to your profile. More information can be found on YouTube.

iDEA is currently in the process of being trialled with a number of classes, alongside several pupils who are taking part in their own time. The award is a collection of lessons/badges that take anything from two to 20 minutes to complete, and all are saved to your profile. The feedback from these groups has, so far, been incredibly positive. 

Please take a look and give it a go. The whole short challenge and badge progress structure of the award is particularly appealing. 

County Rugby

On Friday, two of Ysgol Greenhill School’s Year 10 pupils, Oscar Roberts and Cian Rogers, represented Pembrokeshire Schools Rugby Under 15s in a tough match against Newport Schools at Heywood Lane, Tenby. It was a very physical game, however the two boys played well and did their school proud with plenty of effort and determination. Da iawn!

School Rugby Report

It has been another busy week for Ysgol Greenhill School’s Rugby teams, with several matches being played. Last Wednesday saw another impressive win for the First XV rugby team at home against Ysgol Dyffryn Taf. The boys won 56 – 26, scoring 10 tries through 9 individual try scorers. A total of 26 players were used from across Years 11, 12 and 13, and an amazing effort was put in by all. The boys are now 4 from 4 and top of the Pembrokeshire Schools league. Da iawn boys!

Also facing the boys from Ysgol Dyffryn Taf on Wednesday was the Year 10 Rugby team. It was a closely fought contest, with the final score of 34 – 26 to Dyffryn Taf. The try scorers for Ysgol Greenhill were Charlie Gregory (two tries) and Dylan Morgan (two tries), with both scoring a try from within their own half. Three of the tries were expertly converted by Archie Smith. A special mention must go to the Year 9 boys who stepped up an age group to play on the day, and a huge thank you to Tenby RFC for the use of their Clicketts pitch.

The week culminated with nearly 50 boys travelling to St David’s to take on Ysgol Penrhyn Dewi. It was a wonderful day of Rugby in the glorious Autumn sun, with both teams winning their matches!

Successful Cross Country Meet

It was a successful day out for Ysgol Greenhill School’s Cross Country squad last Tuesday when they travelled to Milford Haven School to compete in the 2nd Pembrokeshire Schools meet.

Everyone had an excellent day out, with many placing in the top 10 of their age categories. Top 10 finishers were Carys Wood (3rd) and Nia Nash (6th) in the Year 7 Girls Race; Mila Blackwell (6th) in the Year 9 Girls Race, James Arden (9th) in the Year 7 Boys Race, Fletcher Broadhurst (5th) in the Year 9 Boys Race, and Dylan Morgan of Year 10 (6th) in the Senior Boys Race. Well done to all!

Busy Week for Netball Teams

It was a fantastic day of sport last?Wednesday when three of the Ysgol Greenhill School Netball teams took on the girls from Ysgol Penrhyn Dewi. The Year 8 Netball team put in a great show of effort and grit on a tough, windy evening to come away with a draw of 6 -6. MVP for the match was Kelsey Cornick.

The Year 9 girls also played a very good Ysgol Penrhyn Dewi team. The lead was changing throughout the match with the end result being a draw of 8 – 8. MVP was Molly Rossiter who was outstanding, controlling the game from the centre.

The third encounter of the day was the Under 16s Netball team who beat Ysgol Penrhyn Dewi by 11 goals to 9 and then by 7 goals to 6. The girls dug deep and played with great determination, competitiveness and composure. MVP was Rosie Chandler.

Two days later, the Under 16s were in action again in the County Tournament. The girls came second in their pool, having lost out narrowly to Haverfordwest High, then coming back to beat both Pembroke and Preseli.

The girls met St David’s in the semi-final, which they knew would be a hard fought match. With great effort, composure and competitiveness, the girls were victorious by two goals. They then had to face Haverfordwest High for a second time in the final.

It was a close game, with the teams drawing at half time, however, Haverfordwest High ended the victors, winning by 10 goals to 7. Well done to all the girls who competed, you have done us all proud!