News

‘We are living in a constant state of fear’, says Haverfordwest High teacher

Published

7 years ago

January 12, 2019

SCHOOLS in the county of Pembrokeshire are currently in crisis, according to a serving secondary school teacher.

The member of staff at Haverfordwest High VC School has spoken to The Herald under condition of anonymity to expose the scale of the problem.

The morale of teachers in some schools locally is “at an all time low”, this newspaper has been told.

In a brutally honest interview, in which the school is described as a ‘hell hole’, our source said that it is the view of many local teachers that the awful state of our education needs to be addressed urgently.

What our source said will shock parents across the county: “Our local schools are in a crisis right now. As a teacher I’ve never felt more fear in walking the corridors. We are literally paralysed to do anything about it. We are told all the time that it is our fault, teachers are living in a constant state of fear!”

Our teacher told us: “I can honestly say that I have wished that I would be in a car crash just to not go into work,” adding “It’s a crisis which stems from teachers being left to deal with everything with no back up at all.”

“I honestly think that Pembrokeshire County Council are failing our education system so badly. Look at what happened in Milford School on Friday (Jan 11), it’s happening all over but we are glossing over it!”

We asked if there were other teachers who felt the same, and we were told “Literally all of us”.

“Milford Haven School is in a crisis at the moment but Haverfordwest High VC School is not far behind – I do not know a single teacher who is happy.”

Welsh champion beatboxer, Mr Phormula, came to inspire Haverfordwest High School pupils in December (Pic: School)

Police called to Milford School

The comments come on the same day that police were called to Milford Haven School after a student was attacked by four others while many others stood by cheering the attackers on.

Hundreds of people are involved in debates on social media about the incident, and the initial report on The Herald website was shared over 600 times in just an hour.

The Council have confirmed that staff members called in the police. A video circulating on social media seems to show four male pupils attacking one boy, and stamping on him and kicking him.

The clip, which is nearly a minute long, appears to show a large number of pupils gathering around watching the boy being attacked.

Pembrokeshire County Council have confirmed that staff members called in the police at Milford Haven School this afternoon (Jan 11) following a disturbance.

A video circulating on social media seems to show four male pupils attacking one boy, and stamping on him and kicking him.

The clip, which is nearly a minute long, appears to show a large number of pupils gathering around watching the boy being attacked.

At around 44 seconds into the video teachers can be heard arriving on the scene.

A worried Mum, thought to be the mother of the boy who was attacked, said on Facebook: “This video shows at least four of the boys jumping and stamping on him in school. After being assured they were being dealt with… Gangs aren’t hard – one-on-one we will see how hard they think they are. Silly boys.”

A spokesman for Pembrokeshire County Council told The Pembrokeshire Herald: “The Council can confirm that police were called to Milford School today in order to minimise disruption to the learning of other pupils.”

Milford Haven School: Police were called to disturbance on Friday (Jan 11)

A troubled recent history

The council was placed in special measures following an inspection in October 2012 by the education watchdog Estyn into education services for children and young people.
In June 2014 it had been taken out of special measures after education watchdog Estyn said “significant progress” had been made.

The Estyn report said at the time: “The Chief Executive, Leader and senior officers took difficult and sensitive decisions to remove barriers to progress in order to bring about the necessary improvement.
“These decisions were implemented carefully and have resulted in a complete restructure within the Pembrokeshire Children and Schools Service. A new management team is working closely together as a cohesive group to embed change.
“The Authority now engages well with the regional consortium. Joint working arrangements with regional partners have strengthened the Authority’s capacity to challenge and support its schools.
“There is a significant change in culture within the Authority demonstrated through greater openness and transparency. The Authority’s vision and expectation for its education services are communicated clearly to schools and other partners.
“Officers and elected members have shown a willingness to work constructively with inspection, audit and regulatory bodies to identify and address shortcomings. They demonstrate a firm commitment to implement change and have an appetite for further improvement.”

But by July 2014, only weeks later, inspectors decided to take action at Tasker Milward Voluntary Controlled School in Haverfordwest after raising concerns on a visit

The previous year, education inspections body Estyn ranked the school as “adequate” and called for improvements.

A monitoring team on a follow-up visit found performance had decreased in some areas.

The 2014 visit highlighted poor performance, particularly in Key Stage 4 at the school which had around 1,100 pupils aged 11-18.

Estyn fully acknowledged the positive improvements over the two month period but they considered that there had been insufficient improvement over the preceding 12 months

In July 2016 Sir Thomas Picton School was placed in special measures by Estyn following a monitoring visit which concluded insufficient progress had been made against recommendations made in January the previous year.

The supervision by the Welsh Government lasted until April 2018.

As the special measures were lifted, the Council’s Cabinet Member for Education and Lifelong Learning, David Lloyd, said: “This is the news we have been waiting for.
“It confirms that the bespoke support provided by the local authority and the regional consortium has been effective.
“I would also like to acknowledge the strong leadership provided by the governing body and the Acting Headteacher to bring about this success.”

The news was also welcomed by the Authority’s Director for Children and Schools, Kate Evan-Hughes.

She added: “I am delighted to see the progress made by all staff governors and pupils at the school. I would like to thank everyone for their commitment and look forward to this continuing into Haverfordwest VC High School.”

But the question is, has it?

Head of Year off with stress

Our teacher at Haverfordwest High VC School went onto explain to us that parents very often blame the teachers, and that management do so too.

Our source added: “When teachers strike about how they are being treated the Council blame them! It’s unfair; we have no say in education at all but get blamed for all its failings.

We had a group of Year 9 pupils, who surrounded a Head of Year (who has been teaching for 30 odd years) in his car, swearing and demanding he given them back a phone he had confiscated. When the parents were brought in to discuss what happened their response was ‘Well he shouldn’t have taken the phone in the first place!’

“It’s unbelievable and he got no backing from School Leadership Team – so the Head of Year was then off for about a month due to the stress it caused.

“We’ve already lost two dedicated members of staff (who had been at Tasker Milward for years) in the first term. They left at Christmas because they hated the new school so much.

“I honestly think if you asked for staff members from all schools in Pembrokeshire to message you their stories and can promise that it will be anonymous you’d be inundated!”

Chris Keates, General Secretary of the NASUWT, told The Pembrokeshire Herald: “The NASUWT is being inundated with teachers that are reporting assaults happening to them on a daily basis.

“No teacher or other worker should go to work with an expectation that they should tolerate violence and abuse.

“Where violence occurs, employers should adopt a zero tolerance approach and send a strong message to parents, pupils and the community that violence against school staff is completely unacceptable.””

Haverfordwest High VC School was created by the merging of Tasker Milward and Sir Thomas Picton Schools (Pic PCC)

Charity

Vincent Davies raises £13,682 for air ambulance charity

Published

9 hours ago

February 2, 2026

Tom Sinclair

Independent Haverfordwest store backs lifesaving crews with year of community fundraising

A WEST WALES department store has raised more than thirteen thousand pounds for a lifesaving emergency service after a packed year of community fundraising.

Staff at Vincent Davies Department Store collected £13,682 for the Wales Air Ambulance Charity, after voting the organisation their Charity of the Year for 2025.

The independent retailer organised events throughout the year, including an Easter bingo, bake sales, quizzes, raffles, staff sales, Christmas jumper days and a festive wreath-making workshop. Charity jam jars placed in Café Vincent also helped gather steady donations from customers.

One of the most popular attractions was the store’s charity singing penguin trio, which drew smiles from shoppers of all ages and boosted collections.

Sarah John, Joint Managing Director at Vincent Davies, said: “Raising £13,682 for the Wales Air Ambulance Charity is something we are extremely proud of at Vincent Davies Department Store. As a director, it’s wonderful to see our community come together to support a charity that makes such a lifesaving difference.”

The air ambulance is consultant-led, delivering hospital-level treatment directly at the scene of serious incidents and, when needed, transferring patients straight to the most appropriate specialist hospital.

Working in partnership with the NHS through the Emergency Medical Retrieval and Transfer Service, crews can provide advanced critical care including anaesthesia, blood transfusions and even minor surgical procedures before reaching hospital.

Operating across the whole of Wales, its teams travel the length and breadth of the country by helicopter and rapid response vehicle to reach patients quickly in both rural and urban areas.

This is not the first time the Haverfordwest store has backed the cause. In 2016, staff previously raised £5,831 when the charity was also chosen as their beneficiary.

Mike May, the charity’s West Wales Regional Fundraising Manager, said: “We are so grateful to Vincent Davies Department Store for raising an incredible amount for our charity. Throughout the year they put on a variety of different events and what a successful fundraising year it was.

“The charity needs to raise £13 million every year to keep our helicopters in the air and our rapid response vehicles on the road. By raising £13,682, the staff and customers have played an important part in saving lives across Wales.”

The store says it will announce its Charity of the Year for 2026 in the coming weeks.

Crime

Police assess complaints over Mandelson–Epstein links

Published

9 hours ago

February 2, 2026

Tom Sinclair

Met says allegations will be reviewed to see if criminal threshold is met following release of US court files

SCOTLAND YARD is reviewing a series of complaints alleging possible misconduct in public office after fresh claims emerged linking former UK ambassador Peter Mandelson to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

The Metropolitan Police Service confirmed it has received “a number of reports” following the publication of millions of pages of material by the United States Department of Justice, and will now decide whether any alleged conduct reaches the level required for a criminal investigation.

Commander Ella Marriott said the force would assess each report individually, stressing that a review does not automatically lead to formal proceedings.

The documents, widely referred to as the “Epstein files”, appear to show Mandelson corresponding with Epstein while serving as business secretary during the government of Gordon Brown at the height of the global financial crisis.

According to reports, Epstein was allegedly given insight into internal policy discussions, including proposals around banker bonus taxes in 2009 and details of a eurozone bailout package shortly before it was announced publicly.

Payments questioned

Bank records cited in the US disclosure reportedly show payments totalling 75,000 US dollars made to Mandelson between 2003 and 2004. It is also claimed Epstein paid for an osteopathy course for Mandelson’s husband.

Mandelson has denied any wrongdoing and said he has “no record or recollection” of the alleged transfers.

On Sunday he resigned his membership of the Labour Party, saying he did not want his continued association to cause further difficulty for the party.

In interviews, he dismissed suggestions that Epstein influenced his decisions as a minister and said nothing in the released files pointed to criminality or misconduct on his part.

Pressure mounts

The political fallout has intensified, with Downing Street confirming Keir Starmer has asked Cabinet Secretary Chris Wormald to carry out an urgent review into Mandelson’s historic contacts with Epstein while in office.

Brown has also called for an examination of whether any confidential or market-sensitive information was improperly shared during the financial crisis.

The case is the latest in a series of controversies linked to Epstein’s long-standing relationships with powerful figures on both sides of the Atlantic.

Police emphasised that no charges have been brought and that Mandelson is not currently under criminal investigation, but said the complaints process would be handled “thoroughly and impartially”.

Community

Councillor meets chief constable to address Monkton and Pembroke concerns

Published

10 hours ago

February 2, 2026

Tom Sinclair

COUNTY COUNCILLOR Jonathan Grimes has met with the new Chief Constable of Dyfed-Powys Police to discuss crime, antisocial behaviour and wider community issues affecting residents in Pembroke and Monkton.

Cllr Grimes, who represents Pembroke St Mary South and Monkton, said the meeting followed his invitation for senior police leaders to visit the area and hear first-hand about local concerns.

The Chief Constable, Ifan Charles, attended alongside officers from the Pembroke Neighbourhood Policing and Protection Team, meeting the councillor in Monkton for what were described as open and constructive talks.

As part of the visit, they also spoke with Monkton Priory Community Primary School headteacher Dylan Lawrence and Danny Nash from Pembrokeshire County Council Housing Services to gather views from education and housing professionals.

Discussions covered a range of issues raised by residents, including domestic abuse, drug and alcohol misuse, antisocial behaviour and environmental concerns such as littering, dog fouling and dangerous or inconsiderate driving.

Cllr Grimes acknowledged recent police successes, particularly in tackling drug-related activity, but said enforcement alone would not solve the area’s challenges.

He said closer cooperation between the police, council services, schools and the wider community would be needed to deliver longer-term improvements.

The councillor added that he plans to encourage residents to form a local community group in the coming weeks, aimed at developing practical solutions and strengthening partnership working across the area.