Education

Permanent head for Ysgol Dewi Sant

Published

10 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

Redhill’s Pembrokeshire Primary Chess Tournament hailed a success

Published

20 hours ago

December 9, 2023

Tom Sinclair

THIS WEEK the first Redhill Pembrokeshire Primary Chess Tournament took place at Redhill Prep School in Haverfordwest.

We have this report from the school: “Well what an incredible day!

“The points were so close that we had to play an extra round to determine the winner! We are very proud to announce that our very own Redhill pupil, Henry Burton, won the tournament, closely followed three second place awards which went to Genula Wickramaarachchi from Prendergast CP school, Huw Holliday (Redhill) and Harry Hayden (Redhill) The ‘David Pinch Award’ for excellent sportsmanship went to Ellie Dean from Saundersfoot CP school!

“Congratulations to all the schools that attended.

“We very much look forward to inviting you all back on Saturday 23rd March!

The school added: “Lastly a huge thank you to all the parents who helped out, Ian Eustis (Junior Director of the Welsh Chess Union), Fide Master Alexis Harakis, Scott Hammett and Gwyn.”

Education

Wales’s education performance falls to lowest-ever level

Published

4 days ago

December 6, 2023

Jon Coles

THE ORGANISATION of Economically Developed Countries (OECD) published its latest report on educational attainment (PISA) on Tuesday, December 5.

It shows students in Wales have slipped even further behind the other UK nations in a worst-ever set of results.

In Mathematics, the fall in attainment is the equivalent of a whole year’s education in the subject. Test marks also fell sharply in science and English.

Jeremy Miles, Wales’s Education Minister, said the results showed how the hangover from the pandemic affected students’ education.

His observation had clear merit, as PISA results fell worldwide, with attainment falling in all but ten of eighty-one OECD members.

Wales’s results put its education at the same level as Norway and the USA, and the nation’s results fell the same number of points in England and Scotland.

WHAT IS PISA?

PISA is a worldwide study by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development in member and non-member nations intended to evaluate educational systems by measuring 15-year-old school pupils’ academic performance in mathematics, science, and reading in PISA.

The PISA assessment is regarded, with some misgivings among educational experts, as a guide to the performance of education policies across 79 participating countries.

When the OECD last published the PISA report in 2020, Wales had caught up with the international average in all subjects.

In the new report, all home nations’ attainment fell, but Wales’s fell further than others.

MINISTER BLAMES PANDEMIC

Education Minister Jeremy Miles said: “Before the pandemic, we saw a strong improvement in literacy and numeracy standards in Wales. Sadly, it is clear that the pandemic has derailed some of this improvement.

“We have already started on a path of driving up standards in reading and maths, and we won’t let these results knock us off track.

“At the end of November (see this week’s Education section), we launched literacy and numeracy plans to help support learning and raise standards in these key areas.

“I have also published the first national report on our children’s reading and numeracy performance. I will do this annually to track recovery.

“We supported our schools and learners through the pandemic. We will stand together and support them now.”

Since 2022, schools in Wales have started implementing major long-term reforms, with the new Curriculum for Wales being taught and rolled out sequentially to reach all learners in all schools from 2026/27.

Jeremy Miles continued: “Our long-term education reforms have started after years of planning and, as the OECD says, improvement to education takes time.

“We have taken a once-in-a-generation opportunity to revolutionise the quality of education in Wales and I’m confident we will deliver huge benefits for our young people.”

CONSERVATIVES CRITICISE “WIDENING GAP”

Following the usual hackneyed jibe at the Welsh Government’s plans to increase the number of Senedd members, the Welsh Conservative Shadow Education Minister Laura Anne Jones MS said: “The results are not a shock when we have a Labour Government which has so little regard for our children’s future that they cut the education budget this year. All governments should give pupils and teachers the tools to do their best and thrive.

“After 25 years of Labour running Welsh schools, we have a widening attainment gap. Sadly, again, Wales languishes at the bottom of international league tables.

“The Labour Education Minister needs to get a grip of his department and give our young people the start in life they deserve. He can start by getting 5,000 more teachers back into our classrooms after years of declining numbers and the desperately needed money to support growing ALN numbers in mainstream education.”

PLAID HIGHLIGHTS CHILD POVERTY

Plaid Cymru has criticised the handling of child poverty rates in Wales, which it says has contributed to the results, leading to high absenteeism in Welsh schools.

Plaid Cymru’s education spokesperson, Heledd Fychan MS, said: “The PISA results published should be a wakeup call for the Welsh Government.

“Too many young people in Wales are living in poverty, pupil absences are unacceptably high, and many schools are facing a significant deficit in their budgets. Despite the hard work and dedication of an overstretched workforce, the pupil attainment gap is widening, and we cannot ignore the link between poverty and today’s disappointing results.

“Every child, no matter their background, should have an equal chance of success.

“We need more than platitudes and excuses from the Minister for Education in response to these results.

“Wales had a pre-Covid recruitment crisis in the education sector, the magnitude of which Ministers failed to grasp.

“Continuing and entrenching cuts to education will do nothing to put Wales on a path towards a turnaround in our PISA results.”

EDUCATION UNION UNSURPRISED

Emma Forrest, NEU’s Assistant General Secretary Regions, Wales, and Legal Strategy, said: “NEU Cymru members won’t be shocked by the OECD’s PISA results. They don’t tell us anything the education workforce doesn’t know – that across most OECD countries, schools need support in a post-pandemic situation.

“Comparison is difficult. We are particularly concerned that these results do not represent many countries’ full cohort of learners. Whilst this is understandable, it makes comparisons less meaningful in the context of the pandemic.

“Here in Wales, we have the new Curriculum for Wales, which none of the cohort tested in PISA have been taking.

“Suppose the Welsh Government wants to take anything from these results. In that case, it is an opportunity to ensure that they have a qualifications system which does not focus on tests and time-limited exams but gives young people a real chance to show what they can do.

“We will continue to work with the Welsh Government on the critical aspects of workload and professional development for the workforce, and how we can best support the wellbeing and expertise of staff, to ensure they are able to focus on children and their learning.”

Education

New Director joins the Open University in Wales

Published

1 week ago

December 2, 2023

Tom Sinclair

ON NOVEMBER 27, The Open University in Wales welcomed Ben Lewis as its new Director.

Ben joins the OU in Wales from Cardiff University where he was Director of Student Life. He succeeds Louise Casella who retired in June.

David Price had been the OU in Wales’ Interim Director until Ben’s arrival.

Ben Lewis said: “The Open University is synonymous with the idea of lifelong learning. At its heart is the belief that education should be available to people wherever they are, and whatever their circumstances. It’s an exciting time to be joining the OU in Wales – our student numbers have never been higher, with government and decision makers recognising the value of part-time flexible higher education.

“I thank David Price for his stewardship during the interim period, and for the welcome I’ve received from colleagues, students and stakeholders. It’s a privilege to be joining this team, and I look forward to playing my part in the next steps of the university’s future.”

President of The Open University Student’s Association (OUSA), Swansea-based Margaret Greenaway added:

“We want students to have a say in how their university is run, regardless of their background or where they live. We’re proud of the positive relationship OUSA has with the OU in Wales, and we’re sure this will continue during Ben’s time as Director. A big welcome to him to the OU family!”