Fairtrade Bake-Off

Dyffryn Taf staff and students celebrated Fairtrade Fortnight 2013 with a 'Fairtrade Bake-Off'. Staff baked Fairtrade themed cakes and students took part in a design competition. The winner of the student competition was Rebecca Mitchell (pictured with her design). The event was very successful, with an auction of the cakes raising £225.12, which has been donated to Comic Relief.

Young Engineers for the future!

For the 20th year, a team of Year 12 students from Ysgol Dyffryn Taf, Whitland, competed in the Engineering Education Scheme Wales (EESW) competition. The team of five (pictured below) has worked with three Valero Refinery engineers from Pembroke on a project to develop water purity. The project included the need to understand the complexity of their water purifying system as well as research and development of a possible solution in the three months allocated.

The annual EESW event took place at the Celtic Manor Resort on Wednesday, March 20, where 69 teams from across south Wales brought their solutions to their own challenges. The team set up their display and, after listening to a speech by the Rt. Hon. Carwyn Jones AM, First Minister of Wales, they gave a 15-minute presentation to a group of judges.

They were nominated for two of the awards - for the 'Best Working Model or Prototype' and for the 'Most Effective Presentation of the Chosen Solution'.

They attained second place in the former, but were winners in the latter - receiving a £500 cheque as well as a place in the Award Winners' Reception after the event.

This fine performance resulted in their overall placing of fourth out of the 69 competitors.

Congratulations go to the team members: Alexandra Williams (leader), Blue Bishop, Christian Bishop, Ryan Orchard and Matthew Pilot, who certainly have their eye on a future career in engineering.

The school was one of four to receive a special presentation for their participation for 20 years in the competition.

The school would like to express their appreciation for the support and guidance given by Valero as well as the organisers of the EESW.

Spectroscopy

in a Suitcase

The Sixth Form chemistry students of Dyffryn Taf enjoyed an afternoon of high-tech chemical conundrums thanks to Dr. Dayna Mason and her team of post-graduate assistants from the School of Chemistry, Cardiff University.

The Spectroscopy in a Suitcase Project, which is funded by the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC), facilitates hands-on experience of several important laboratory techniques, including Infra-Red (IR) spectroscopy and Ultra-Violet-Visible (UV-Vis) spectroscopy. The students were able to analyse a number of mystery samples using the portable spectrometer and were then given expert tuition from Dr. Mason and her team on how to interpret the print-out from the machine.

The students found the experience extremely inspiring and especially appreciated the input of the post-graduate students.

Dr. Mason said she was impressed by the reasoning powers the students displayed during the session.

The school's Chemistry Department was equally delighted: "Our students have gained a great deal from this unique opportunity and they demonstrated astute reasoning skills throughout. In light of the success of the event, we are determined to make this an annual experience for our students. We are all are very grateful to Dr. Mason, her team and the RSC."