Campaigners urge supporters to pack County Hall as councillors prepare to decide future of rural school

CAMPAIGNERS fighting to save Ysgol Clydau are urging families and residents to turn out in force next week, describing Monday’s council meeting as the community’s “last chance to be heard” before a final decision on the school’s future.

Supporters of the north Pembrokeshire school have launched a fresh appeal ahead of a meeting at County Hall in Haverfordwest on Monday (Jun 15), where councillors are expected to determine whether the Welsh-medium village school will close.

In a strongly-worded social media appeal, the Save Ysgol Clydau campaign called on residents to stand together and show councillors the impact the school has had on children and families.

Campaigners said: “If you have ever said ‘someone should do something’ about the proposed closure of Ysgol Clydau, that someone is all of us on Monday morning.”

The group is asking supporters to gather outside County Hall at 9:00am, saying the meeting could be the community’s final opportunity to influence the outcome.

The campaign argues that Ysgol Clydau plays a unique role not only in education but also as the heart of a Welsh-speaking rural community.

Supporters say the school has transformed the lives of some pupils, helped vulnerable families during difficult times, and provides opportunities that could be lost forever if closure plans go ahead.

“We know many people are disappointed by the decision that has already been made,” campaigners said.

“We know many feel their voices have not been heard. But if we stay silent now, there will be no voice left to hear.”

The proposed closure has sparked strong feelings locally, with many residents warning that the loss of another rural school would deal a major blow to village life in north Pembrokeshire.

Campaigners have adopted the slogan: “Once a rural school is gone, it’s gone forever.”

Monday’s gathering at County Hall is expected to attract parents, pupils, former pupils and residents from across the area as the long-running battle over the school reaches a critical stage.

A spokesperson for the campaign said the message was simple: “Stand with our children. Stand with our community. Stand with Ysgol Clydau.”

Photo caption:

Save our school: Campaigners are urging supporters to attend County Hall on Monday (Pic: Save Ysgol Clydau).

WELSH colleges are changing the way they tackle misogyny, harmful online behaviour and peer-on-peer abuse through an international project backed by Taith funding.

The collaboration, led by ColegauCymru, links further education colleges in Wales with partners in Canada to share practical approaches to promoting respectful relationships and improving learner wellbeing.

The project was developed following concerns highlighted by Estyn about peer-on-peer sexual harassment in further education settings.

It also supports Welsh Government priorities around tackling gender-based violence, improving learner wellbeing and creating safe, inclusive learning environments.

Five Welsh further education colleges worked with five colleges and universities in Canada through an international Community of Practice, allowing staff to share experiences, develop ideas and look at new ways of addressing common challenges.

Knowledge-sharing visits between Wales and Canada focused on issues including misogyny, harmful online content, peer-on-peer abuse and the need to engage young men in open conversations about relationships and masculinity.

One of the main lessons from the project was the importance of involving young men directly in discussions about healthy relationships, online influence and harmful attitudes.

The work has also led to wider partnerships with She Is Not Your Rehab, a New Zealand-based anti-violence movement, and Our Voice Our Journey, a youth-focused social impact organisation.

Working with these organisations, ColegauCymru delivered regional sessions in North and South Wales to help colleges promote respectful relationships and challenge misogyny.

At one event at Cardiff City Stadium, around 400 young men from across South Wales took part in discussions led by international speaker Matt Brown on misogyny, masculinity and respectful relationships.

Staff involved in the project say it has already influenced how colleges approach learner wellbeing, with greater emphasis on training, early intervention and embedding conversations about healthy relationships into college life.

Siân Holleran, International Project Manager at ColegauCymru, said: “Taith funding has been critical in enabling us to connect with international partners and bring global expertise into a national priority for Wales.

“This has created space for honest conversations, practical solutions and lasting change for both staff and learners, while also positioning Welsh colleges as leaders in addressing these shared challenges internationally.”

Welsh and Canadian participants also delivered a joint workshop at the ColegauCymru Annual Conference, where they shared recommendations and discussed future priorities for the sector.

Susana Galván, Executive Director of Taith, said: “This project reflects Wales’s growing role as a confident, internationally engaged nation. Organisations across Wales are using international partnerships to address shared challenges while developing approaches shaped around the needs of Welsh learners and communities.

“Through Taith, we are supporting a uniquely Welsh approach that combines global partnerships with a strong focus on equity, wellbeing and inclusion; helping ensure that international learning directly benefits people across Wales.

“It also demonstrates the growing international interest in learning from Wales, as we share our expertise while working together to address shared global challenges.”

ColegauCymru has since secured further Taith funding to expand the work, including the development of new bystander training for learners and staff across the further education sector in Wales.

The organisation says the next phase will help ensure the impact of the international collaboration continues to grow across Welsh colleges.

SCHOOL leaders have warned that a Welsh Government plan to increase incentive payments for trainee teachers in priority subjects risks creating a “two-tier workforce”.

NAHT Cymru said the move may help attract some new teachers, but warned it does not address the wider recruitment and retention crisis facing schools across Wales.

The Welsh Government’s priority subject incentive scheme offers grants to eligible postgraduate teacher trainees in subjects including biology, chemistry, design and technology, digital technology and computer science, mathematics, international languages, physics and Welsh.

Laura Doel, national secretary of NAHT Cymru, said: “While we agree that an ambitious plan to help schools struggling with recruitment and retention of teachers is needed, we don’t think focusing on subject-specific incentives is the way to go.

“This risks creating a two-tier workforce and appears to be a short-term sticking plaster solution for a systemic problem.”

She said there appeared to be no requirement for teachers to remain in schools for a set number of years after induction in order to keep the payment.

Ms Doel added: “We know a significant proportion of teachers leave the profession within the first five years of teaching.”

NAHT Cymru said ministers should focus instead on the wider pressures affecting teachers, school leaders and primary schools, as well as secondary subjects where recruitment is difficult.

The union said improving pay, terms and conditions, and reducing workload would do more to make teaching an attractive long-term career.

Ms Doel said: “By going further in restoring the real-terms value of pay, which fell sharply over the previous decade, improving terms and conditions, and bearing down on unsustainable levels of workload, ministers could make the profession an attractive long-term career proposition once again.

“But schools also need fairer funding to recruit the staff and support staff they need and deliver for pupils.”

She said ensuring schools receive the full consequential funding owed through the Barnett Formula should be a priority for the new administration.

NAHT represents more than 38,000 school leaders across early years, primary, secondary and special schools in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.