Here is your Friday update, covering:
- Fond farewell to Gabalfa Primary School's long-serving and well-respected school caretaker
- Flat Holm island retrofitted with green technology
- Cultural exchange project supports School of Sanctuary bid
Fond farewell to Gabalfa Primary School's long-serving and well-respected school caretaker
Gabalfa Primary School will be saying farewell to long-serving caretaker, Mr Tony King who retires this month.
Tony has been taking care of the school site for more than 30 years and has supported the community through many changes including hosting Ysgol Glan Ceubal at the site and more recently, a new joint building and outdoor facilities for Gabalfa Primary and Ysgol Glan Ceubal.
Reflecting on his time at Gabalfa Primary School, Tony said, "Well, I can't believe it's been 30 years - where's the time gone?! I took on this role as a temporary one, never believing that I would remain here right through to retirement.
"In that time, I have had a son and I've been lucky enough to see him grow into a fantastic young man. I have worked with many wonderful people and the strangest thing of all is seeing the children I knew from years ago become parents themselves with their own children."
When asked about the children of the school Tony said, "I have obviously been more suited to working with children than I ever thought I would be, and some may say that my sense of humour is that likened to a child's! I love the banter with the children and I am even known as 'Tony the Toast' because the children and I always have a chat in the Breakfast Club."
Flat Holm island retrofitted with green technology
On an isolated island like Flat Holm, with no mains water, gas or electricity supply to connect to, simple things like boiling a kettle and staying warm in the colder months can be more complicated than they are back on the mainland - and also create more climate-damaging carbon emissions than they have to.
Now, the Cardiff Council owned nature reserve is going greener than ever before with the help of a new 14 panel solar array with battery storage, the installation of thermal-lined doors in the island farmhouse, and a new gravity-powered rainwater harvesting system.
The green technology is being installed as a result of £42,000 of capital funding as part of the local authority's One Planet Cardiff response to climate change.
In 2019/20, when Cardiff Council launched its One Planet Cardiff response to climate change, the local authority directly created 42,211 tonnes of CO2e. The latest available figures, for 2022/23 show that has been reduced by 11.7% to 37,284 tonnes of CO2e.
Cultural exchange project supports School of Sanctuary bid
Ysgol Pencae in Llandaff has taken a significant step in its bid to become a School of Sanctuary by participating in a cultural exchange project with ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) students from Cardiff and Vale College.
The project brought together Year 6 pupils from Ysgol Pencae and a group of refugee and asylum-seeking students for a unique linguistic and cultural exchange.
Through a series of video messages, the pupils and students shared insights into their languages and traditions, creating meaningful connections and fostering mutual understanding.
Ysgol Pencae pupils offered practical help by teaching Welsh phrases and sharing their experiences of speaking Welsh in school, at home, and within their community. In turn, the ESOL students introduced the children to aspects of their native cultures and languages, enriching the understanding of diversity within the Cardiff community.
The gathered insights became part of a collaborative project exploring the culture, history, and language of Wales, enabling both groups to deepen their appreciation of heritage and inclusivity.