On November 7 and 8, 24 Sixth Form RE students and two staff visited the Baktivedanta Manor in Watford.

On Friday, the group was greeted by a Hindu priest who gave them a guided tour of the manor. Students were shown the shrine and also had a traditional vegan Hare Krishna meal!

They were also taken on a bull cart ride to a cow protection farm.

The students then took part in a mock Hindu wedding and also witnessed a Hindu wedding in the evening.

On November 8, the students visited the Shri Swaminarayan Temple, Neasden, London. They were given a guided tour and witnessed the Arti ceremony, as well as watching a video presentation and a visit to the on-site museum.

Hospital visit

On Tuesday, November 18, a party of Lower Sixth physics pupils - Nicholas Brookes, John Evans, Joshua Evans, Beverley Gill, Gemma Lavender, Chung Lee, Michael Martin, Rhys Morgan, Thomas Powell, Robert Stephenson, Lloyd Wells and Gwen Winship - visited the ECG, Radiology and Physiotherapy Departments at Withybush Hospital.

Part of the Salters-Horners Physics course involves 'The Visit' where it is intended for students to come into contact with 'real-life' examples of physics in use. The students are assessed on their ability to identify and explain the principles in use, to recognise the purpose for which they are being used and on their presentation of the information in a clear and logical manner.

The tour was thoroughly enjoyed by all and the party would like to convey their thanks and appreciation to Mr. Peter Davies, Mrs. Christine Griffiths and Mr. Ian Taylor, who gave up their time so willingly and expanded in great detail on the physics applications involved in the many instruments and demonstrations which made complicated processes very easy to understand.

Many thanks also to physics teachers Phil Davies and Mark Smith for organising the visit and Mrs. Sue Lawrence, the personnel officer at the hospital.

Year 7 form

tutor evening

A Year 7 form tutors evening was held on Thursday, November 6. This was to enable parents to meet the form tutors and discuss the first few months of secondary school for their son/daughter.

UN conference

On Tuesday, November 18, Dr. Malcolm Harper, president of the UN Association, presided over a UN youth conference organised by the Council for Education in World Citizenship.

He described how the UN had set its Millennium goals and the students debated two of these. Clean water and sanitation was the first. Eighty per cent of the world's diseases result from unclean water and poor sanitation. Over one billion people have no access to clean water; over two billion have no sanitation.

The second issue was the potential cancellation of Third World Debt, a complex issue, but an urgent one as many of the world's poorest countries are crippled by interest payments on debts they will never be able to repay.

Nine students from Dyffryn Taf Years 11 and 12 represented Mozambique (where life expectancy is 31 year), Vietnam (where water pollution is a major issue in a country still suffering the effects of war) and Oxfam, an organisation that has been highly active on both of these issues.

Debates and negotiations were highly active and all had an excellent experience. Our thanks go to CEWC and Carmarthenshire County Council for organising and facilitating this excellent event.

Youth Speaks competition

On Wednesday, November 12, six Dyffryn Taf Years 11 and 12 students and their parents were guests of the Narberth and Whitland Rotary Club for the first round of the Youth Speaks debating competition.

There were two excellent and lively debates, the first motion being 'This house believes that fireworks should be banned from public sale' and the second 'This house believes that all hunting with dogs should be banned'.

In a close competition, the Year 11 students scored a narrow victory. Jacob Sergeant, Jo Bishop and Poppy Lewis now look forward to the area final in February.

Our thanks go to the Narberth and Whitland Rotary Club for their sponsorship of this event, their generous hospitality and their valued encouragement.

Mock interviewS

With 80 students in Year 13 organising mock interviews, it has been a challenging prospect. Fortunately, the Narberth and Whitland Rotary Club once again responded to our needs, providing 12 experienced interviewers on Friday, November 7. Each student was individually interviewed and provided with thorough and constructive comments on their performance.

The school would like to thank the Rotary Club interviewers and in particular their organiser, Lynn Viggers, for this very valuable service.