Blog 5.2.21 - Milford Haven School

Da iawn pawb, again a huge thank you and well done to everyone for engaging so positively with online learning.
It has been a pleasure to celebrate so many of our wonderful pupils this week, with all departments selecting ‘Homeschool Heroes’ to acknowledge some of those pupils going above and beyond. I am sure it was a tough decision for staff given how hard all of our pupils are currentling working to continue their learning virtually, and I look forward to celebrating many more MHS pupils next week.

A special da iawn for the positive pupil engagement with the Google Meet Health and Well Being sessions- with 100% attendance achieved for the following house tutor groups:

P Wicks- Year 8

E Kedward/C Eynon- Year 11

M Owen- Year 11

Milford Community Action (MCA)

Milford Community Action (MCA) is a new and exciting project delivered jointly by Milford Haven School & Milford Youth Matters, with collaboration from a variety of local businesses/ groups. The initial funding has come from Gareth Edwards, Group Manager for Prevention and Early Intervention at Pembrokeshire County Council; there is already widespread engagement across the cluster, sharing a selection of resources to support families in need.

Last week, Week 1 of the Milford Community Action (MCA) project, 40 meal packs were given out. Packs contained all of the ingredients needed to ‘Feed the family for a fiver’, with a meal that was both nutritious and also possible on a budget.

Week 2 of the MCA project and we received an incredible donation of 30 slow cookers from Milford Haven Rotary Club! The slow cookers have already been distributed to local families engaging with the project, along with slow cooker cook books and ingredient packs. A huge thank you to Milford Haven Rotary Club for their continued support and generosity, it is wonderful to see what a big impact we can make in our community when we work together.

Also, a special thanks to the MHS cleaning team who helped to put together all of the meal packs yesterday, the MHS Engagement Team, TAF and again Milford Haven Rotary Club for assisting in delivering all of the resources. A true Milford team effort!

We look forward to sharing with you all what week 3 of the MCA project brings.

We can’t believe that we are making two announcements of this nature in as many weeks…

But we have again been blessed by another anonymous donation of £500!

On behalf of the pupils and staff of Milford Haven School we would like to extend our heartfelt thanks for this donation, the generosity of our community seems to know no bounds. We have already utilised this donation to purchase two much needed chrome books, equipment such as this is vital to enable us to stay connected with our students and support them during this period of home learning. Diolch yn fawr.

We all know that routines are important for our young people, they offer stability and security. Routines also help to give structure to the day, which is more vital than ever during this period of learning at home.

We wanted to share our top 5 tips on how young people can independently and positively manage their school days, and create a healthy balance in how they allocate and prioiritse their time.

Huge thanks to the staff who sent in photos to generate a fun visual guide!

1. Breakfast can be the most important meal of the day, set yourself up properly with a healthy meal in the morning and also make sure you hydrate.

2. Build in breaks, sometimes the best thing you can do is step away from your work for a short period and come back refreshed after supporting your wellbeing with a fun activity.

3. Exercise regularly, it will work wonders for your mental and physical health.

4. Keep your workspace clear and tidy. A tidy workspace is proven to greatly influences students’ productivity, performance and even their overall well-being.

5. Check in online and stay connected with our school family so we can make sure you are getting all the support we can offer.

Press release below from Action for Children on their new ‘Parent Talk’ support service:

Parent Talk offers free, down-to-earth information and advice for parents of children aged 0-19 from Action for Children. The confidential one-to-one online chat service connects parents directly with a parenting coach for judgement-free practical advice and emotional support whilst the website answers some of the most common parenting questions.

Bethan Watts is Action for Children’s programme team lead for Parent Talk in Wales and part of team who can respond in Welsh. She said: “This is such an important and innovative service for parents and families. The pandemic has created all sorts of extra pressure and demands that will only increase as we approach Christmas so to be able to provide this service in Welsh is very important. It will enable Welsh speaking parents express themselves more comfortably and accurately helping us to provide better outcomes for families.

“With so many mums and dads in desperate need of guidance, a service like Parent Talk is needed now more than ever. Our parent coaches are there for any questions parents have – big or small. Anyone who needs a bit of support in these tough times and want to do so in Welsh can go to parent-talk.org.uk/wales.”

Children’s Mental Health Week: This year’s theme is Express Yourself.

Expressing yourself is about finding ways to share feelings, thoughts, or ideas, through creativity. This could be through art, music, writing and poetry, dance and drama, photography and film, and doing activities that make you feel good.

It’s important to remember that being able to express yourself is not about being the best at something or putting on a performance for others. It is about finding a way to show who you are, and how you see the world, that can help you feel good about yourself.

For Children’s Mental Health Week 2021 everyone is encouraged to explore the different ways we can express ourselves, and the creative ways that we can share our feelings, our thoughts and our ideas.

A successful transition event was held virtually on February 3rd, where year 11 were invited to a live Q&A with Mrs Griffiths, Careers Wales and representatives from the Admissions Team at Pembrokeshire College. Over 20 learners joined the event and spent an hour asking key questions, based on their current applications. Year 11 learners are encouraged to continue joining live events across post-16 providers in Pembrokeshire, ensuring that they are fully equipped with the information needed to make those all important decisions.

Young person’s mental health toolkit from HWB.

Below is a link to the young person’s mental health toolkit from HWB, designed for 11 to 25-year-olds. Here you will find six playlists to direct you to a wide range of online resources to help you through the lockdown and beyond. In each of the playlists you’ll find self-help websites, apps, helplines, and more that are here to support your mental health and well-being.

Please remember: if you’re finding it difficult to cope, make sure you speak to someone you trust. Who this might be is different for everyone, but it might include family members or carers, a teacher, a helpline, or a doctor. How you feel is important and lots of people are here to help if you need them.

Link to toolkit: https://hwb.gov.wales/…/e53adf44-76cb-4635-b6c2…/en

CLICK HERE FOR OUR TEACHING TIMETABLE W/C 25.1.21

All parents and carers in all year groups have been issued login codes for our school app WEDUC, this is one of the easiest ways to keep in touch with us and stay up to date with school life.

Please contact us if you need any support getting started with the app, or have any trouble logging in, so we can help you get connected.