Montgomery School students have been doing regular coding sessions with Barclays Digital Eagles, writes year 6 student Lacey Evans.

In their meeting we each have a laptop and a live video will be on the screen. We all log onto Scratch, following their tutorial carefully.

Barclays talks though the scratch project and if you get stuck then he will slow down and let you catch up.

Everybody in the class really enjoys when we get to do coding with Barclays. We have learned both complex and simple coding strings on Scratch, from using the pen function to making fun games.

The coding course is on live, or you can catch up on their website.

It is also great to do Barclays coding projects with many other schools around the country, especially the design a playground project for Internet Safety Day 2022.

Jenny from Year 6 said, “The Barclays tutorials are simple to follow with outstanding results. They also help children develop good ICT skills.”

Connor from Year 5 said, “It was fun and interesting and I learnt lots of coding skills.”

Made in Monty’s permanent home at town institute

After popping up in the institute on Arthur Street in the run-up to Christmas, Made in Monty was pleased to announce that the shop will open permanently at that same location from Monday, April 11.

Val Padbury and artist husband Richard, who was a scenic artist at Royal Shakespeare Theatre for over 30 years, both make jewellery items and create original artwork and crafts.

Val makes a wide variety of unusual items including Christmas decorations and decorative hessian bags.

Val said: “We are so excited. We will be selling our own original artwork, sheep-themed decorative items, eco-friendly hessian shoppers with fun designs, along with jewellery made by us. In addition we have leather goods, scarves and gift ideas from other selected suppliers.

“During lockdown we developed new jewellery designs, along with additional designs in our hessian bag selection, adding a fish and rabbits along with others.

“We have enjoyed our pop-up shops at the Old Bell Gallery over the years, and at the institute more recently, and are so pleased to be making a permanent home for our shop in Montgomery. We are looking forward to it very much.”

The shop will be open Monday to Saturday 9.30am to 4.30pm and Sunday 11am to 3pm.

Montgomery Library is due to re-open in the institute building in the coming weeks, having been relocated to what was the old reading room, and retaining a similar amount of shelf space.

With Cloverlands Car Museum having moved to Llanfair Caereinion, and once the current refurbishment is complete, the institute will have another room available for community events.

Easter Egg Trail offers family fun

An Easter Egg Trail for children and families will take place in Montgomery from April 8-26.

Pick up a map for £2 from Bunners on Arthurs Street, or Spar in Broad Street, and follow the trail around the town to find the letters and make an Easter word.

Once you complete the trail and word, you can collect a chocolate reward from Bunners or Spar.

Children must be accompanied by an adult while following and completing the trail.

All proceeds from the Easter Egg Trail will go to Friends of Montgomery School, which is currently raising funds to support the school and its learners including with IT equipment, food technology equipment and forest school resources.

Friends of the School would like to thank individuals and businesses, including Tesco community champions, for their kind donations.

Explore Monty with new trails guide launched

With the spring weather arriving and Easter holidays approaching, why not make the most of it by going for a walk or cycle ride around our beautiful Montgomery town and countryside with Montgomery Trails?

With five circular walk trails, four cycle trails, and two town quiz trails, the whole family can enjoy some fresh air and sunshine.

Trail leaflets are available in various outlets in the town or you can download them from www.montgomery-trails.co.uk.

Walkers are Welcome Montgomery, in association with Tanat Valley bus company, Welsh Government and PAVO, have introduced ‘bus out, walk back’ walks which you can find at www.montgomery-waw.org.uk/walkers/walks/