Charitable cycling tots

Mar 26 2003 By Owen Hughes, Bangor And Anglesey Mail

PUPILS at a Bangor school exercised pedal power to raise funds to buy books and toys for a new nursery on the site.

Youngsters from Ysgol y Garnedd took part in a sponsored bike ride that raised more than £400 to help kit out new mobile classrooms.

The extra facilities will now help the Penrhos Road school offer parents all-day child care.

Headteacher Elfed Williams said: "We bought the classrooms with a grant from the Welsh Assembly but they were literally just four walls. The money raised by the children will help provide books and toys for the rooms. The actual day was wet and miserable but the kids still really enjoyed themselves on their bikes."

Mr Williams now believes the extra facilities at the site will help the school offer a better bilingual service for nursery children.

He said: "Between the school, the Clwb y Garnedd nursery and the new Cylch Meithrin nursery we can have children on site for a full day. It will help children settle into a bilingual education more quickly, especially those who come from English-speaking parents. It will help us in getting children studying in a Welsh environment.

"Some people still have a misconception that we only offer a Welsh education, when in fact it is bilingual. Children here learn two languages and even French as well."