We were extremely grateful to receive a visit from representatives of the Cariad charity yesterday. This charity focuses its work on ensuring that defibrillators are placed in schools and sports venues, and yesterday they kindly donated a defibrillator to Bishop Vaughan. The work of this charity is supported by the family of Mitchell Joseph, a former pupil of the school. Mitchell was just 33 when he tragically passed away while playing for Swansea Senior League side St Joseph’s, after suffering a cardiac arrest during a game. Mitchell’s sister, Joanne, also a former pupil, visited the school to donate the defibrillator, along with a plaque in Mitchell’s memory which will be displayed alongside the machine that the charity has provided.
Cariad also provides training for the use of its defibrillators, and this will supplement the St. John’s Ambulance training provided at the start of the academic year, which has ensured that every pupil has been trained in manual CPR. While we very much hope, as Joanne herself expressed, that the machine will never be needed, the knowledge that it is there, with its potential to save lives, is tremendously important and we thank Joanne, her family and all in the charity for their determination to support schools and sports venues in this way.
It has been a busy fortnight, as ever, and a particular highlight the High Sheriff Award Ceremony last Saturday at Sketty Hall, to which a group of pupils were invited. The awards recognise the voluntary work that is carried out by individuals and organisations throughout the Local Authority, and this year our pupil volunteers were recognised. This remarkable group of students have focused on the national issue of bullying and put in place an initiative called T.E.N. (‘This Ends Now’), which focuses on raising awareness of bullying issues and helping to tackle them. We are very proud of each and every one of them!
May I take this opportunity to remind parents of our Year 11 pupils that the informal Year 11 Revision Readiness session will be held in the Main Hall next Thursday, 11th April, at 4.00pm. There will be coffee and cake arrival and a free revision gift pack will be given to each Year 11 pupil. Both parents and pupils are welcomed to this session and we look forward to seeing as many of you as possible!
Mrs Pole