It is made up of 14 pupils, 2 from each year group. To be included in the F.E.S.C group, children have to be nominated and a vote takes place. They meet regularly to discuss school issues.

In November the school were awarded their second Eco Flag and have also achieved Fairtrade status – the first primary school in Torfaen to have done so!

To gain Fairtrade status the F.E.S.C group organised a Big Brew event where they organised and ran a cafe for the local community in the school hall which was a free event aimed at raising the profile of Fairtrade. They also organised and ran a school Fairtrade Harvest assembly. Fairtrade is now an integral part of school life which was emphasised by their biggest achievement in writing to Torfaen Catering and persuading them to supply Fairtrade orange juice with the children's school lunches.

Gaining Fairtrade status was a contributing factor towards the second Green Flag. Other projects included the development of a global link with The Gambia where the school established links with a school in Kassa Kunda, Brikama. The children organised fund-raising activities to help the children in Kassa Kunda and have sent over basic stationery items, toys, books and have sent money to help provide a safe Well for a new school that is being built. Mrs Davey and Mrs Spooner visited the school in February, and hope to return in 2013 to develop this link further.

The children were actively involved in encouraging safer parking around their school grounds and the development of a school travel plan. They are now excited about a new venture as a meadow area is being proposed alongside the school, this would provide a wonderful opportunity for outside learning and the study of local plants and wildlife.

Mrs Davey, Assistant Head, has guided the F.E.S.C children and is very proud of the schools achievement.

The school has been supported throughout their Fairtrade journey by Martha and David Holman who have set up  www.ilovezimbabwe.co.uk

Mr James retired from his head teacher post in August 2011. He left the position having led the school to an 11% improvement on GCSE grades from 2010.
Upon receiving the honour he comments “I am obviously delighted at receiving this award, it has been a truly humbling experience. Whilst I am privileged to receive the MBE, I have worked alongside many wonderful people throughout my career who have been continuously supportive. I hope to continue my work within the sector with my role at New Directions”.

Gary Williams, Managing Director for New Directions Education Ltd adds “We were delighted to welcome Meredydd to the team. With his knowledge, passion and commitment to the education sector we knew he would add great value. The MBE is thoroughly deserved”.

The MBE award was established in 1917 by King George V. It acknowledges and recognises individuals work within their communities. Mr James has dedicated over 40 years of his career to the education sector.

Mr Roberts lead the children of Parc Lewis Primary School to victory after receiving their new strip  which was  originally a parting gift for the ex-head of the school, Elaine Williams, who has now moved onto the luxury of retirement.

Parc Lewis will be sporting their new kit as one of many schools that attend New Directions yearly South Wales football tournament where each school will compete for the winning Trophy.

Gerald Lyons, Chief Economist for Standard Chartered remarked “the UK has already slipped back into recession this quarter, and firms are thinking twice about making investments”.

In direct response to the report John Andrews, Group Director of Operations for New Directions Holdings Ltd says “As one of Wales recognised fastest growing companies, we continue to thrive despite the reported downturn. We acknowledge any change within the country’s economy cannot be ignored; so as we look to the future we try to develop new markets to keep Wales buoyant.”

New Directions Holdings Ltd continues to diversify into new markets. In recent years they have expanded into the rest of the UK with offices in Bristol, Liverpool, Manchester, Nottingham and London.

In addition to this another £5m has been allotted to fund the building on an additional WLM school somewhere RCT.  

This is a great testament to the standard of education provided by the existing WLM schools in the RCT area and reflects the growing demand for Welsh Medium Education within the valleys.

So far they have raised over £750 towards a new water filtration system, and they aim to raise another £750 to reach a grand total of £1500. The new filtration system will ensure that the village and school of Rukungiri have access to clean, pollution-free water; what a fantastic reason to raise money!

The school have held non-uniform days, cake stalls, various raffles and other great events to help raise the fantastic sum they have achieved so far. New Directions will be providing Deriview with 2 tickets to watch Cardiff City vs Middlesbrough on the 12th of December so get your wallets out everybody, it’s all for a good cause!

 Well done Deriview from all at New Directions.

Queens Hill Pupil Referral Unit in Newport will be the grateful recipients and all of the SEN team hope the children enjoy using them.

 This will include friends of the school selling hot dogs and raffling off prices!!  Also all the children will get the chance to visit Santa’s Grotto and receive goodies!

 All the money raised will go to the school to help provide more school trips and learning activites.

 Please join in the fun!

 This will be held on 24/11/11 16.30 – 20.00

There were other children from primary schools within Cardiff that also attended. The day consisted of attending presentations learning about the Amazon Rainforest, ecological issues, energy use and growing your own vegetables. Within the ‘Green Team’ this Christmas they would like save the trees by recycling old ones and suggesting to classes that instead of sending lots of cards to individuals then to send one card to the whole class. For the Christmas parties the school are going to provide the food and drink, this would mean less food waste and plastic bottles. This will cost £1 per child.

New Directions would like to commend their environmental good work!

 The event was a complete success with the children getting involved in the cooking of the goodies, but also the parents of pupils bringing in and buying cakes from the stalls and helping out all in aid of a fantastic cause.

 Well done Kymin View from everyone here at New Directions Education!