'Teacher Trumps' win Celtic Enterprise Crown
'Celtic Enterprises' is a major initiative organised by Career Wales West which aims to stimulate enterprise and entrepreneurial thinking amongst Year 9 and Year 10 students and their teachers in West Wales and South East Ireland. Celtic Enterprises aims to give students the opportunity and experience of running a business, in a 'hands- on' and 'fun' way. The competition began last year, with 150 teams entered from 25 schools across South West Wales. Seventy-five teams traded and presented business reports to be judged. There were 12 teams from Dyffryn Taf who traded in the run-up to Christmas. Three of these teams were then invited to the West Wales Final. They were among the 22 teams from 15 schools that were involved in the final held in Nantgaredig last week. The Dyffryn Taf team named 'West Wales Crafts' won the overall first prize and also received an additional certificate for the best presentation. They fought off some very tough opposition and their prize is a four-day trip to Ireland later this year where they will visit a school and several businesses. Their product, 'Teacher Trumps', is a card game based on the idea of 'Top Trumps', with all the cards based on real life teachers at Dyffryn Taf School. Christopher Seal and Jonathan Mason, who are behind the company, had to interview and test 30 members of staff who were included in the game and would compete against each other in the categories of age, height, teaching experience, intelligence, importance and strictness. The game was a huge success with fellow pupils at Dyffryn Taf, with 95 packs sold so far. Within five minutes of selling the first pack of cards, the game was being played in the library; word spread from there and the demand was great. Jonathan said: "The competition was a great experience as I would like to run my own business in the future. I have learned to expect the unexpected when you are in business." Christopher said: "Doing this project has made me realise all the different skills that are needed to run a successful business." Both Jonathan and Christopher are looking forward to their trip to Ireland and would like to thank everyone who supported their business. Gwynfor Price from Careers Wales West, one of the founders of the event, was very impressed with the winning team. "It is great to see young people being so enthusiastic about running their business," he said. "The main aim of the project is to encourage young people to consider opening a business as a realistic career option." The full display and 'Teacher Trumps' game created by 'West Wales Craft' will be on show at the International Youth Conference to be held at Stradey Park Hotel this week.
FOOTBALL TOURNAMENT
Students from Ysgol Dyffryn Taf, Whitland, have recently been involved in organising a football tournament as part of their A-Level leisure studies coursework. Throughout the last month, the pupils Tom Howells, Nikki Warlow, Stephen Thomas, Ben Hicks and Jamie Scourfield, have been holding the event in the school sports hall at lunchtimes. The tournament included two separate groups, which was Years 7, 8 and 9 and Years 10, 11, 12 and 13. In the first tournament, the Year 7 team, known as 'The Dragons', had a victorious win. The second tournament was Years 10, 11, 12 and 13, with the Year 10 team, calling themselves 'The Rent Boys', winning. Headmaster, Mr. Robert Newsome, said: "Dyffryn Taf is all about creating opportunities for students to express their varied skills. I am indebted to the Year 13 A-Level leisure studies group for their skills in organising two soccer tournaments for the school. Pupils have also asked me to thank the group for creating such opportunities in an outstanding fashion." The group would also like to give a great big thank you to Avery Electrics who sponsored the tournament giving a generous donation which made the event possible.
Maths Challenge
Last Wednesday, March 7, four pupils from Dyffryn Taf School, accompanied by Mr. Steve Earles, head of maths, attended the regional final of the UKMT (United Kingdom Mathematics Trust) Team Challenge held at Cardiff University. This event is an exciting and enjoyable national maths competition which gives pupils the opportunity to participate in a wide range of maths activities and compete against other pupils from schools in their region. It promotes team working and provides a stimulating challenge to eager young mathematicians. The pupils involved were Josephine Maidment and Harry Kind from Year 9 and Florence Bowen Rees and Stuart White from Year 8. The day's competition was split into four sections - group questions, cross number, number sequences, and a relay relay. The pupils enjoyed the day and the Year 8 pupils would like to take part again next year. Mr. Earles said: "The team worked very well together throughout the challenge and were placed eighth out of 30. This was a great achievement for the pupils who faced some very tough opposition from all over the South West region."