News
Taskers to be put into special measures
HER MAJESTY’S INSPECTORS OF SCHOOLS have recommended that a Haverfordwest secondary school should be put into special measures. The school has not improved since a visit last year in which certain improvements were directed,
A report which has just been published on the Estyn website says: “Tasker-Milward V.C. School is judged to have made insufficient progress in relation to the recommendations following the core inspection in March 2013. As a result, Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education and Training in Wales is increasing the level of follow-up activity.”
The report goes on to say:”In accordance with the Education Act 2005, Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector is of the opinion that special measures are required in relation to this school. The school will draw up an action plan, which shows how it is going to address the recommendations. ”
Estyn have told The Herald that inspectors will re-visit the school in about three months’ time to inspect progress against the recommendations.
You can view the report by clicking here:
A SWANSEA man has died just weeks after being released from HMP Parc, the Bridgend prison now at the centre of a national crisis over inmate deaths and post-release failures.
Darren Thomas, aged 52, died on 13 November 2025 — less than a month after leaving custody. The Prisons and Probation Ombudsman (PPO) has confirmed an independent investigation into his death, which is currently listed as “in progress”.
Born on 9 April 1973, Mr Thomas had been under post-release supervision following a period at HMP/YOI Parc, the G4S-run prison that recorded seventeen deaths in custody in 2024 — the highest in the UK.
His last known legal appearance was at Swansea Crown Court in October 2024, where he stood trial accused of making a threatening phone call and two counts of criminal damage. During the hearing, reported by The Pembrokeshire Herald at the time, the court heard he made threats during a heated call on 5 October 2023.
Mr Thomas denied the allegations but was found guilty on all counts. He was sentenced to a custodial term, which led to his imprisonment at HMP Parc.
Parc: A prison in breakdown
HMP Parc has faced sustained criticism throughout 2024 and 2025. A damning unannounced inspection in January found:
- Severe self-harm incidents up 190%
- Violence against staff up 109%
- Synthetic drugs “easily accessible” across wings
- Overcrowding at 108% capacity
In the first three months of 2024 alone, ten men died at Parc — part of a wider cluster of twenty PPO-investigated deaths since 2022. Six occurred within three weeks, all linked to synthetic drug use.
Leaked staff messages in 2025 exposed a culture of indifference, including one officer writing: “Let’s push him to go tomorrow so we can drop him.”
Six G4S employees have been arrested since 2023 in connection with alleged assaults and misconduct.
The danger after release
Deaths shortly after release from custody are a growing national concern. Ministry of Justice data shows 620 people died while under community supervision in 2024–2025, with 62 deaths occurring within 14 days of release.
Short sentences — common at Parc — leave little time for effective rehabilitation or release planning. Homelessness, loss of drug tolerance and untreated mental-health conditions create a high-risk environment for those newly released.
The PPO investigates all such deaths to determine whether prisons or probation failed in their duties. Reports often take 6–12 months and can lead to recommendations.
A system at breaking point
The crisis at Parc reflects wider failures across UK prisons and probation. A July 2025 House of Lords report described the service as “not fit for purpose”. More than 500 people die in custody annually, with campaigners warning that private prisons such as Parc prioritise cost-cutting over care.
The PPO investigation into the death of Darren Thomas continues.
A WOMAN who stabbed her partner during a drug-fuelled episode walked straight into Haverfordwest Police Station and told officers what she had done, Swansea Crown Court has heard.
Amy Woolston, 22, of Dartmouth Street in Milford Haven, arrived at the station at around 8:00pm on June 13 and said: “I stabbed my ex-partner earlier… he’s alright and he let me walk off,” prosecutor Tom Scapens told the court.
The pair had taken acid together earlier in the day, and Woolston claimed she believed she could feel “stab marks in her back” before the incident.
Police find victim with four wounds
Officers went to the victim’s home to check on him. He was not there at first, but returned shortly afterwards. He appeared sober and told police: “Just a couple of things,” before pointing to injuries on his back.
He had three stab or puncture wounds to his back and another to his bicep.
The victim said that when he arrived home from the shop, Woolston was acting “a bit shifty”. After asking if she was alright, she grabbed something from the windowsill — described as either a knife or a shard of glass — and stabbed him.
He told officers he had “had worse from her before”, did not support a prosecution, and refused to go to hospital.
Defendant has long history of violence
Woolston pleaded guilty to unlawful wounding. The court heard she had amassed 20 previous convictions from 10 court appearances, including assaults, battery, and offences against emergency workers.
Defending, Dyfed Thomas said Woolston had longstanding mental health problems and had been off medication prescribed for paranoid schizophrenia at the time.
“She’s had a difficult upbringing,” he added, saying she was remorseful and now compliant with treatment.
Woolston was jailed for 12 months, but the court heard she has already served the equivalent time on remand and will be released imminently on a 12-month licence.
THE BBC has issued a formal apology and amended a six-year-old article written by BBC Wales Business Correspondent Huw Thomas after its Executive Complaints Unit ruled that the original headline and wording gave an “incorrect impression” that Herald editor Tom Sinclair was personally liable for tens of thousands of pounds in debt.
The 2019 report, originally headlined “Herald newspaper editor Tom Sinclair has £70,000 debts”, has now been changed.
The ECU found: “The wording of the article and its headline could have led readers to form the incorrect impression that the debt was Mr Sinclair’s personal responsibility… In that respect the article failed to meet the BBC’s standards of due accuracy.”
Mr Sinclair said: “I’m grateful to the ECU for the apology and for correcting the personal-liability impression that caused real harm for six years. However, the article still links the debts to ‘the group which publishes The Herald’ when in fact they related to printing companies that were dissolved two years before the Herald was founded in 2013. I have asked the BBC to add that final clarification so the record is completely accurate.”
A formal apology and correction of this kind from the BBC is extremely rare, especially for a story more than six years old.
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Heidi Moseley
July 24, 2014 at 1:29 pm
Told u there was major problems at that school
Steve
July 24, 2014 at 1:36 pm
Not good news, but before everyone jumps on the Pembrokeshire band wagon, dont judge all the pupils at the school as the same. Yes they may have a minorty of pupils who are dragging it down and making it diffcult for others, but there are those who are doing well. Comments like your Heidi do nothing for their confidence. What the education authority need to do is get rid of the wasters who dont want to learn and let the rest get on with it. As for the so called adults who seem to think it acceptable to look at anyone in a Taskers uniform as a lower form of life well maybe they need to go back to school.
Not surprised!
July 24, 2014 at 3:17 pm
The problem does not lie with the pupils, but with the poor standard of teaching and management. There are pupils in Swansea living in areas that are considered so poor they receive European area 1 funding. Pembrokeshire does not have that problem apparently, but our schools are performing to a lesser standard than in those areas! Until the teaching standard is raised and the management is held to account for their failures then the school should remain in special measures, or be closed! It’s time for action.
Sam
July 24, 2014 at 3:23 pm
I have to say my daughter went there from the start of her school career till this January (year 10) when I took her out. Initially I thought it was a good school however I discovered this not to be the case. There is good and bad in every school but I found from personal experience books not checked or written in for guidence (only 1 teacher had bothered from every subject), no feedback from the school if the pupil hadn’t done homework set and my major problem is that the teachers seem to be more concerned with what the children were wearing to the point of ridiculousness. Yes I totally agree with uniform and so on but complaining and threatening a child to confiscate their coat in -7 degree weather just because it was black and white and not black is well and truly over the top. The school needs major input!!!
Steve
July 24, 2014 at 3:50 pm
nice to see the concensus that the vast majority of the children want to learn and are well behaved. Agree Estyn need to give a big push here to help these children out so they dont feel they are losing out. as for those who cant be bothered, fine, but dont drag my child down with you
Tomos
July 24, 2014 at 5:34 pm
Surely it’s PCC that needs to be put in special measures.
If you have an ache in your arm because you’re having a heart attack you treat the heart attack not the bad arm.
Rhys
July 24, 2014 at 9:46 pm
Shameful! As a former pupil I find it difficult to accept that the school has deteriorated so much in such a short space of time. The demographics of the children entering the school has not changed in the last ten years, only the teaching staff and the head teacher.
Ms Haines became the head in my final year, and it was obvious that she was not a suitable candidate for the job (the school council voted overwhelmingly AGAINST her appointment). Her methods were not suitable for the school, and her general behaviour was unacceptable. I have heard horror stories of her turning up to parents evenings in flip-flops with wet hair!
When I was a pupil we had 1200 kids attending the school, now there is just over 800! Obviously parents have had their concerns for a long time and have taken their children elsewhere. Why has it taken so long for anything to be done? How many bright and talented youngsters have been failed by the school and the local authority? This is my main concern, the youngsters who needed pointing in the right direction, but have now left with poor grades and a terrible alma mata on their CV’s. What future do they have?
The first thing I noticed at university was the superior schooling that our counterparts in England receive (I am not talking about fee paying schools, but comprehensive and grammar schools); for a rural area we should not have such poor attainment and teaching standards.
Why did we change the uniform from smart blazers and ties to a horrendous red polo shirt? Why did many of the best teachers leave? Why?… In short, Ms Haines and Pembs Couty Council.
steve
July 24, 2014 at 10:19 pm
@ Rhys
Thankfully Ms Haines is no more. I hope in 3 months at next inspection the new regime have started to make improvement, there are signs. There still are pupils doing well, getting their heads down and doing their best to ignore the trouble element that need addressing. What I find sad is the manner in which the “grapevine” start calling the school (face book this evening) and by default damage the pupils confidence and self worth. Lets remember it’s not their fault the management has been poor, the vast majority want to learn and be proud of themselves and correctly so. What is not needed is parents from other schools in the vicinity assuming that ALL kids in Taskers must be trouble, wrong! It also does not make children or parents of “other” schools any better. I think we need to be adult about this , get measures in place to support and drive forward, stop the name calling and if you have nothing constructive to offer help wise, say nothing because ultimately it’s the kids that are being let down and hurt by the name calling.
steve
July 25, 2014 at 3:22 pm
Greenhill estyn report last week – ranked school as Adequate (could be Excellent, Good, Adequate, or unsatisfactory). The report for Whitland earlier this year also said Adequate. And Taskers is also Adequate and in special measures. Not exactly a glowing review of the local schools (i think Bush in 2012 was also deemed adequate – sorry havent looked at others).
im not in education – but a parent. I am concerned that on national and local level our schools are inferior to those elsewhere.
Friends who work in education in England comment that the generally held view (in England) is that welsh education is pretty poor, let down by a poor assemby decisions, a poor review body (estyn rather than ofsted), a lack of Sats, and opportunity cost for fixating on welsh language as compulsory in terms of impacts for both pupils and teachers when there are more crucial issues to address.
i appreciate this doesnt provide any answers…just concerns.
Jayne
July 26, 2014 at 9:04 am
Totally agree with Rhys. There are two measures of achievement in inspection performance (results) and capacity to improve (leadership/management). Pembroke School is the only Pembrokeshire School to date to gain a “good” from Estyn for the second measure. It should also be noted that it was students that were not educated on site at Pembroke that dragged the first measure down. Greenhill had the title of most improved school in Wales following results last year yet Estyn were not impressed…what do they want? Unfortunately there seems to be a lack of guidance filtering down from County (where lets face it has been a jobs for the boys club when it comes to appointing advisors). I feel for the teachers in all theses schools as it is them on whom the criticism will be levelled and they are already working at full effort with ZERO incentive to change due to lack of support and respect from the leaders.