Education

Permanent head for Ysgol Dewi Sant

Published

8 years ago

October 22, 2013

UNDER threat local community school, Ysgol Dewi Sant (St David’s School), this week appointed a permanent Head Teacher, Mr David Haynes. He had previously been acting Head at the school
The appointment follows months of uncertainty at the school.
In a report earlier this year, ESTYN assessed the school as having an overall performance rated merely adequate and also stated their prospects for improvement as also being just adequate.
They deemed the school’s leadership and management as unsatisfactory and expressed concern that middle leaders of the school had not had enough impact on improving the quality of provision and raising standards in their areas of responsibility.
They also criticised lines of accountability, stating that they were unclear, and that line management arrangements lacked vigour and consistency in holding these middle leaders to account.
That report was in stark contrast to the finding of the Real Schools Guide, published in September, which placed Ysgol Dewi Sant as Pembrokeshire’s best achieving secondary school.
Speaking with The Herald, David Lloyd, School Governor and local County Councillor, discussed the positive aspects to arise from the appointment of a new Head Teacher.
“It is an interesting and uncertain period for education in Pembrokeshire. The local authority was reluctant for us to appoint a head on the basis it (the school) may be closed. Therefore, the governors had to appoint a head without the blessing of the local authority.#
‘’We have been careful not to reject their advice but always working with what is best for the school. ESTYN have objected to too many temporary acting Heads in Pembrokeshire.”
He went on to point out that such acting Heads did, in ESTYN’s opinion, undermine the leadership of a school, and that the school, therefore, faced the paradoxical position of being rated only adequate/unsatisfactory in leadership but with the local authority asking for the school not to appoint.
He continued: “This is an impossible situation, making the school vulnerable. I’m happy to say that the new incoming director of education (for Pembrokeshire County Council) gave us their blessing to appoint, and we are happy with the working relationship we now have with the local authority.”
On the issue of the school maintaining its current status Mr Lloyd said: “We are quietly confident that all the hard work will ultimately succeed in retaining a secondary school in St David’s. We are happy to appoint a Head Teacher to consolidate our efforts to keep the school and we are very happy to work with the new team at the County Council. We accept their decision will be evidence based”.
Mayor Glenys James spoke to The Herald saying: “We are delighted to have Mr Haynes. People are more comfortable now that we have a Head. He has addressed the (City) Council and given us a précis of what is being put into place. We also took the councillors around the school for them to see what is going on.”
On potential closure to the school she continued: “The fear is with us until we know (the result of any closures). If you take the school, you take the community, and there is the link with The Cathedral and the St David’s choir.
‘’This school is working well, now, and is full to capacity. We will wait for the review and see what happens from there. We would be devastated if the school closed. We are a community working closely with the school”.
Speaking on behalf of the County Council, and of the continued worry by the school as to what their fate might be, a spokesperson said: “The review of secondary education in the St. Davids area is part of a wider review of secondary provision in Pembrokeshire. The St Davids review is due to be completed in November.
‘’Members have been assured that no decisions regarding school closures or mergers have been taken. Closures and mergers are just two of a number of strategies for consideration once recommendations have been presented.’’
The four principles underpinning the process of developing and implementing school organization proposals are:
* Quality and future sustainability of educational provision;
* Sufficiency and accessibility of school places;
* The condition, suitability and standard of school buildings;
* Value for money.
The prime focus is currently on secondary schools due to the estimated projected 2,000 surplus places in the future. The review of secondary provision will significantly inform recommendations as to how these challenges can be addressed.
In a recent meeting of the Children and Families Scrutiny Committee, the shared Head of School Effectiveness, Alan Walters, stated that while school performance at primary level was mostly positive, performance within secondary schools was disappointing and a cause for concern.
The judgment was made following consideration of national and regional results of Estyn inspections.

Education

New specialist pre-school to open in county of Pembrokeshire

Published

2 weeks ago

July 13, 2021

Thomas Sinclair

PEMBROKESHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL says it is pleased to announce an exciting new partnership with Portfield Special School to develop an Early Years Pre-school at Pennar for children with additional learning and complex medical needs between the ages of two and five.

The provision, which will be registered as Portfield Pre-School Pennar, will open in September, and will provide play and childcare opportunities for early years children.

The Council is currently working with parents of children who previously attended SNAP playgroup to communicate these changes.

Portfield School will manage the playgroup ensuring specialist ALN (additional learning needs) expertise and access to additional professional support is retained.

“We are very pleased to be able to say that several of the staff from the SNAP specialist playgroup have agreed to work with us in this partnership, so current users of SNAP will see plenty of familiar faces,” said Cllr Guy Woodham, the Council’s Cabinet Member for Education and Lifelong Learning.

Damian Hewitt, Headteacher of Portfield, said: “We are delighted to be part of this initiative which will provide a smooth transition into statutory education for our most vulnerable learners whilst providing early intervention and support to assist those where mainstream school may be a more suitable and inclusive option.

“It is our intention to work with Pembrokeshire County Council to grow the service with Portfield acting as a central support hub as we work with other settings across the County.”

He went on to say: “Portfield is a county-wide resource and our vision is to work with the Council and Early Years settings to develop this model further with other satellite sites opening in the future.”

Cllr Woodham said the partnership intends to increase the reach and accessibility of specialist support across the county.

“Having the Early Years relationship with Portfield will give parents the reassurance that their children’s needs will be fully supported either in a specialist environment or with outreach support in their own locality,” he said.

“The opening of the pre-school in Pennar will provide the continuity of setting and staff which is so important for the learners.”

Caption

Pictured is Headteacher of Portfield Damian Hewitt with pupils

Education

Become a wild world hero with summer reading challenge

Published

2 weeks ago

July 9, 2021

Thomas Sinclair

CHILDREN are being encouraged to become a Wild World Hero at their local library this summer.

From Saturday 10^th July, children aged 4 to 11, can register to take part in the Reading Agency’s popular annual ‘Summer Reading Challenge’.

Teaming up with WWF, this year’s theme is Wild World Heroes. The aim is to inspire children to learn all about the natural environment and discover ways to help save the planet.

The Challenge reaches over 700,000 children across the UK each year.

The Reading Agency is aiming to increase its impact even further this year by reaching 1million children with its new English and Welsh language websites providing fun reading activities for all children.

Children can join the fun for free either online or by visiting a library in person.

The Challenge is to read six books over the summer holidays and the children will receive incentives along the way to encourage them to complete the challenge.

Tanya Steele, CEO, WWF, said: “Young people are the future – and they are some of the most passionate and enthusiastic advocates for our natural world. I’m continuously inspired by our young supporters at WWF and their efforts to speak up for nature, often in wonderful and creative ways.

“We are delighted to be partners of the Summer Reading Challenge in this milestone year for environmental action.

We hope it will encourage more children across the UK to get reading, and to take positive action for the planet – our one shared home.”

Laura Evans, Library Development Officer for Pembrokeshire Libraries, said: “After such a difficult year I am so pleased to be able to offer an opportunity for the children of Pembrokeshire to have some fun over the summer.

“Although we can’t offer activities in our libraries due to ongoing restrictions, we will be giving out activity packs for the children taking part to take home. Also look out for ideas for things to do during the holidays on the libraries Facebook page”.

Information about this year’s Summer Reading Challenge is available from:

https://summerreadingchallenge.org.uk/
www.cymru.summerreadingchallenge.org.uk
www.facebook.com/PembrokeshireLibraryService
your local library.

Education

Haverfordwest High announces their Senior Prefect Team for 2021-22

Published

2 weeks ago

July 8, 2021

Carli Newell

Senior Prefect Team with Head Teacher Mrs Harries and the Education Director Mr Richard Downes

HAVERFORDWEST HIGH have this week announced their Senior Prefect Team for the 2021 – 2022 school year.

In order to gain their positions, the students went through a number of interviews, video campaigns and voting processes.

A spokesperson from the school said: “At HHVCS it gives us great pleasure to announce our Senior Prefect Team of 2021-2022 consists of the following remarkable students:

“Head Prefects are Anna Long and Isla Davies

“Deputy Head Prefects are: Caitlyn Aaran, Ioan Jones-Hughes and Will Lewis

“Senior Prefects: Beti Price, Jasmin Tjoonk and Jerin Joy

“They were joined on Wednesday by Head Teacher Mrs Harries and the Education Director Mr Richard-Downes.

“They are an outstanding team of pupils who have already been hard at work on their first day on the job.

“The pupils went through 4 interviews, a marketing campaign video and a pupil and staff vote to achieve their positions. A huge accolade indeed.”