The new calendar year has brought a clutch of new pupils to Golden Grove School-Ysgol Gelli Aur in Pembroke.

Nine new pupils have started at the school and are placed in Green and Purple Classes. The children are quickly getting used to the routines of the school. The school values the support of the parents at this time whilst the children settle in.

There have been a number of other changes in the school. Pupils from Year 5 were invited to join in The ASK (Acquiring Skills and Knowledge) Club on Monday after school and an Apple Club on Tuesdays after school.

Following a meeting with the pupils, a schedule of activities has been drawn up.

The ASK Club's first four-week session will involve learning about food and food preparation.

At their first meeting on Monday they learned the skills to prepare fresh strawberries for making a smoothie.

Their enthusiastic efforts were rewarded with a freshly prepared smoothie to have just before heading off home.

Tuesday's Apple Club saw members getting to grips with Apple Macs and getting their photos ready for putting on a giant apple tree display in the school library.

Tuesday also saw the restart of the highly successful Green Links Project.

Six new members have joined the group which has increased in size to cater for demand. Work was carried out to further prepare the woodland area ahead of laying a new access bridge over a wet and boggy part of the path through the woods.

Pupils from Years 3 to 6 will be taking part in a photographic competition and a writing competition which is being hosted by Rotary International of Britain and Ireland.

Pupils from Year 4 are working to promote an event to be hosted by the school in February. It is likely to be a very popular event and more details will be published in a few weeks time.

With school attendance being actively promoted, it was pleasing to see Green Class achieve a 99.3 per cent attendance in the first week of term; they were proud to receive the trophy which is awarded on a weekly basis to the class with the best attendance rate.

All in all it has been a busy start to the term. The school has, as always, been a hive of activity, with a wide range of activities taking place, giving pupils great opportunities to discover, learn and achieve.