FOLLOWING the successful completion and handover of the new-build school, Ysgol Bro Penfro opened its doors to pupils for the first time on Thursday 5^th September. The school represents an exciting new chapter for Welsh medium education in Pembrokeshire and will serve as a Welsh medium primary school for the whole of the south west of Pembrokeshire.

The Ysgol Gymraeg Bro Penfro building project has been funded by the Welsh Government through its Sustainable Communities for Learning Programme, and Pembrokeshire County Council, and provides full day-care for up to 36 children aged 0-11 years, a 30 place nursery, and capacity for up to 210 pupils (Reception to Year 6).

The school represents a landmark project, not only for its status as a Welsh medium school, but also due to it being the first school in Pembrokeshire to be delivered to meet stringent Net Zero Carbon requirements.

The school was built by Morgan Sindall Construction & Infrastructure Ltd with approximately 21% of all sub contracts being awarded to Pembrokeshire companies.

Cllr. Guy Woodham Cabinet Member for Education and the Welsh Language, said:

“I am delighted to see Ysgol Gymraeg Bro Penfro open its doors to pupils for the first time. This new school is a testament to our commitment to providing high-quality Welsh medium education and creating sustainable, state-of-the-art learning environments.

“The investment in this project not only supports the educational needs of our children but also reinforces our dedication to environmental responsibility. I look forward to seeing the positive impact this school will have on our community and the future generations of Pembrokeshire.”

The school’s Executive Headteacher, Dafydd Hughes, said that he was delighted to be in a position to welcome pupils to the new school.

“It is pleasing that nearly 140 children have come through the doors of this fantastic new facility and I am certain that we can ensure that we develop a successful educational setting which will provide pupils with the opportunity to thrive and flourish in a fully Welsh medium setting.  The focus will be on innovation and excellence in all aspects of the school’s daily work whether supporting pupils from an academic perspective or from a well-being perspective.  I want them to be proud of their language, their community and their school.”

The Council’s two Welsh Language Champions, Cllr Delme Harries and Cllr Aled Thomas added: “We are delighted that Ysgol Bro Penfro has opened and that the Council has invested in a new Welsh medium school to serve the wider Pembroke area. This investment, and Cabinet’s decision to widen the school’s catchment area, will further enable the expansion, and access to Welsh medium education in the county.”

A NEW report by Estyn has highlighted the ongoing negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on pupils’ Welsh reading skills, emphasising the importance of promoting reading across the curriculum. The report, published today, explores how Welsh and bilingual schools are developing these crucial skills, revealing significant variations in reading standards among pupils aged 10 to 14.

The report, titled Developing Pupils’ Welsh Reading Skills from 10-14 Years of Age, outlines how the pandemic has affected pupils’ confidence and ability to read and communicate in Welsh. The findings indicate that, despite efforts by schools, many pupils continue to struggle with Welsh reading, and wide disparities remain between primary, secondary, and all-age schools.

Owen Evans, His Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education and Training in Wales, said: “It is unsurprising that we are still seeing the negative impact of the pandemic on pupils’ Welsh reading skills. However, our new report highlights good practice from schools and offers practical toolkits to help teachers develop pupils’ Welsh reading skills.”

The report identifies Welsh lessons and language sessions, as well as humanities subjects, as key areas where the most effective opportunities to develop reading skills occur. While many primary schools, and a few secondary schools, have successfully promoted reading for pleasure, the overall experiences designed to foster reading outside the classroom have decreased significantly, particularly in secondary schools, since the pandemic.

One of the challenges highlighted in the report is the difficulty of co-ordinating the development of reading skills consistently across different subjects and teachers, especially in secondary schools. This contrasts with primary schools, where a more unified approach is typically easier to implement.

Estyn has called for schools to strengthen opportunities for pupils to develop a broad range of reading skills across the curriculum. The inspectorate recommends that local authorities and the Welsh Government support schools in this endeavour. The report also presents a number of practical recommendations for school leaders, including a suite of toolkits designed to help teaching staff promote and enhance pupils’ reading abilities.

Evans added: “There are clear opportunities to improve how clusters of schools can work together to develop pupils’ reading skills and create more purposeful opportunities to nurture Welsh reading across the curriculum. Improving reading standards is a national priority, and we hope this report will help schools plan strategically to boost pupils’ interest, resilience, and confidence when reading in Welsh.”

Estyn’s report serves as a crucial reminder of the long-lasting effects of the pandemic on education, with a focus on how Welsh reading skills can be improved through a more integrated approach across all subjects. The inspectorate hopes that the report’s findings will spur school leaders, teachers, and policymakers to continue efforts in raising the standard of Welsh reading for pupils across Wales.

AT the start of the 24/25 academic year, the Students Loans Company (SLC) is reminding students to be vigilant of smishing scams.

Scammers target students at this time of year as they receive their first maintenance loan payment. SLC is expecting to pay £2bn to students over the autumn term and last year it stopped £2.9m of maintenance loan payments being taken by smishing and phishing scams, where students received and acted on false communications.

Smishing, which is fraud involving text messages, is currently the most popular form of scam, with students usually being asked to click a link to complete a task – for example verifying bank details or confirming their personal information, providing an opportunity for a payment to be diverted to a scammer’s bank account.

SLC will never ask students to provide or verify their personal or financial information via email or text message, and Alan Balanowski, Risk Director at SLC, is urging students to pay attention to any communication they receive from Student Finance Wales (SFW) or SLC over the coming weeks.

He said: “Starting or returning to university is an exciting time, but it’s also busy, with students getting organised and set-up for the academic year, which includes dealing with information from different organisations, including ourselves. We aim to ensure our payment process is simple for students, but we do experience a rise in smishing scams at this time year. This means students need to be alert to any potential attempt to intercept their maintenance loan instalment.

“We have a range of preventive methods we use to target scams, but the most impactful tool we have is working together with students to stop scammers. If a student receives a suspicious message, they should delete it and report it immediately, but if a scammer does succeed in obtaining personal details, then we must collectively act quickly to spot and block the action”.

“Last year, we were able to stop £2.9m of maintenance loan payments ending up in the hands of scammers and we are focused on working as effectively as we can to protect students and their finance.

“Our message to students is quite simply, think before you click.”

SLC’s top tips

• Neither SLC nor SFW provide any services through WhatsApp and will never initiate contact with a student through social media channels, including Facebook, X, Instagram and Tik Tok, to discuss their application or student finance entitlement. If a customer receives a communication from SFW that they are unsure of, they should log into their online account to verify if it’s genuine.
• Check the quality of the communication – misspelling, poor punctuation and bad grammar are often signs of phishing.
• Keep an eye out for any suspicious looking emails, phone calls or text messages, especially around the time of an expected payment.
• Scam emails and text messages are often sent in bulk to many people at the same time and are unlikely to contain both a first and last name. These commonly start – ‘Dear Student’.
• Messages that convey a sense of urgency are also unlikely to be genuine – for example ‘failure to respond in 24 hours will result in the account being closed’.
• Think before you click. If an email or text message contains a link, hover over it to check that it goes where it’s supposed to. If in any doubt don’t risk it, always go direct to the source rather than clicking on a potentially dangerous link.
• Scammers can use a variety of methods to try and get students to pay money or share personal details, including the use of fraudulent phone calls, social posts and direct messaging on digital platforms. Always use official phone numbers, the online account and official communication channels to verify the contact received is genuine.
• Be mindful of the information you share about yourself on social media, and elsewhere online, to help guard against identity theft. Identity theft happens when fraudsters access enough information about a person’s identity, such as their name, date of birth, customer reference number, course information or their current or previous addresses to impersonate them online and over the phone.
• SLC or Student Finance Wales (SFW) send a text message to students in Wales if a change has been made to their bank details. If you haven’t changed your bank details and receive a message, contact us immediately.
• Check out our guide to identifying a scam at www.gov.uk/guidance/phishing-scams-how-you-can-avoid-them
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If a student receives a suspicious message, they should report it immediately by email [email protected] and to SLC by calling our dedicated hotline on 0300 100 0059. 

There is also a range of additional advice and information on recognising and avoiding scams from Action Fraud, the UK’s national reporting centre for fraud and cybercrime.