6 News
THE PEMBROKESHIRE HERALD FRIDAY JANUARY 30 2015
Follow us on Twitter @pembsherald
SECONDARY SCHOOLS SHAKE-UP • SECONDARY SCHOOLS SHAKE-UP • SECONDARY SCHOOLS SHAKE-UP Scale of protest makes Jamie think twice COUNCIL LEADER Jamie Adam’s
surprise u-turn in council yesterday (Jan 29), may well have been spurred on by community pressure, culminating in a huge protest outside County Hall. Over three hundred protesters, members of the St David’s Community, greeted councillors as they entered the council offices attending the extraordinary meeting. A roar of ‘Save our School’ went up each time a councillor arrived, as the peaceful, but loud, protest gathered momentum.
Speaking to the crowd was Canon Dorian Davies who led a prayer asking for the councillors to be guided to see beyond pounds, shillings and pence, and to think of what the optimum benefit would be for the local children and community, by keeping the small secondary school open. The Herald spoke with a number of members of the community who expressed anger, frustration, dismay and doubts over the legality of the proposal to close their school.
Vicky Skeats, a community member, said: “The school in St. Davids is vital: it is the best school in Pembrokeshire, as only 2 schools are graded 2B yellow, one is Preseli and the other one is Ysgol Dewi Sant. This school is vital to the peninsula, County and community. There is another option; make it a church school. This will address cost cutting issues. It’s a complete mess and Pembrokeshire County Council (PCC) haven’t even consulted us on losing the 6th form!” Abby Voice, a pupil at the school, pleaded for her school, saying: “It’s ridiculous to close our school, without the school there is no community and why close a school full to capacity? It means everything to everyone. It is disgusting." Claire Raymond, a parent of two children at the school said: ‘It’s very important we keep our school as it has close associations with the Cathedral. It’s a well performing school so why would you close it? I asked them (PCC) to consider looking at the boundaries and primary schools that
feed in, which was an option.” Cannon Dorian Davies of St. Davids
Cathedral also spoke with The Herald, stating: “The whole of the community oppose this proposal. The people are speaking, as you can see from the turnout, and hopefully the councillors will respond in the most positive way, which is that they need to reconsider to close Ysgol Dewi Sant whilst looking at the whole schools policy.” Lisa Reeves was holding up a banner
saying, “ We moved 200 miles for Ysgol Dewi Sant”. She explained what the banner meant: “We are from Liverpool and it was our dream, for me and my partner, since we were 18, to move to St. David’s and bring our children up here. We came for a better life and better education in a smaller school. To hear our dreams are being crushed is awful. We don't want our kids to go to Fishguard and if the school is taken away this will tear the place apart. I went to a massive comprehensive school and I didn't want that for my kids; the teachers here are part of the community, it’s more personal.” Claire Dunn was holding a poster that accused Pembrokeshire County Council of being corrupt. She explained to the Herald the sentiment behind the emotive words: “As we all know there have been a lot of mis-dealings within Pembrokeshire County Council. We (the community) don't trust the efficiency of the Council to do their jobs properly, especially in matters like this. They shouldn't vote at all today
as they haven't gone through the proper procedures. What they should do is listen to the views of the community because no one wants ‘super schools’; we want individual schools that work. They want us to send our children to a school that is in special measures? They aren't competent enough to make this decision and they should be taken to task over it. There should be a thorough
investigation and then, if they are found to be competent, they can carry on with council activities.” Hannah Robinson held up a poster
reading, ‘Schools not Porsche’s”, stating: “As we all know a certain gentleman had a Porsche; our money should be better spent. None of us want a ‘super-school’.”
Adams: “Tis is not a popularity contest” SPEAKING to The Herald after the
Schools protest: Council leader Jamie Adams is confronted by demonstrators
debate on the future of secondary education in Pembrokeshire, Council Leader Jamie Adams said: “I mentioned at the end that it is important that people realise this is not a referendum or popularity contest. This is a decision based on education perspectives and educational outcomes. We – as councillors – have to make a decision about what is right not only for some children but for all. We must bear that in mind as we move forward.” Asked about his dramatic change of tack in
respect of Ysgol Dewi Sant, Cllr Adams told The Herald: “I looked at the effect on the community and the capacity of the school. I thought the recommendation had lost sight of the importance of the school to the community in Saint Davids. Recognising that it is a peripheral area of the county geographically, and recognising
that,
when push came to shove, Ysgol Dewi Sant met challenges it was faced with and excelled, I decided that Ysgol Dewi Sant should continue and I am pleased members agreed.” The question of Welsh medium education in the south of the county had been raised in the debate by both Cllr Mike Williams and Cllr Mike Evans, and Cllr Adams was mindful that progress was needed in respect of it. “It will be a while before we bring forward our detailed plans for Welsh medium education in the south of the county. In the longer short to medium terms. Bethan Williams of Cymdeithas yr Iaith said:
“We are very glad that Welsh medium education is being developed in the Haverfordwest area with a new Welsh medium secondary school - this is a significant step for Welsh medium education
in the county. However the proposal to centralise post-16 education on a Pembrokeshire College campus in Haverfordwest means that the number of pupils studying through Welsh post 16 will fall. How many pupils from the Haverfordwest and Milford Haven area are likely to travel all the way to Crymych to carry on with their Welsh education let alone those from St David’s and Fishguard? There is also cause for celebration with the community of St David's, as councillors voted in favour of a motion to keep the school there, although there won't be post-16 provision. We are glad that councillors did not accept, without question, education officers' recommendations to close St David's school and give the impression that it would be 'merged' with Bro Gwaun.” She added: “Unfortunately, although Welsh primary education is flourishing in the South West of the county, the new secondary school in Haverfordwest makes very little difference to that area. The decisions today and in the coming months will decide the future of education for the years to come; we share the concerns of parents in the Tenby area that they are still being left behind and that we will still see pupils leave the Welsh language at the school gate at the end of the day. Today's decision will be subject to consultation in the coming months. We hope that today's decision will be something to build on and that we see Welsh medium education being developed across the county, so that each pupil receives part of their education in Welsh and will be able to go on to speak and work in Welsh." Huw George, Cabinet member for the
Welsh Language told us: “Today is an important day for Welsh education county-wide. It is a
starting point. There is work to do in Milford, work to do in Pembroke, and work to do in Tenby. It will be looked at as we move on. I can see the call for Welsh education growing and we have to be in a position to meet that demand in the future. The responses on Welsh education in the south of the county were amazing and while I cannot say it is a matter of weeks or months, I can say that wheels are turning and turning quicker than I have known in the past.”
Cllr Sue Perkins, spokesperson for education echoed Cllr George’s views on Welsh education and said: “I am pleased councillors have decided to move forward and to try to provide better outcomes from education in Pembrokeshire.” Labour leader Paul Miller said: “I'm
delighted for the community of St David's who have fought to keep their local school. A passionate campaign from a strong community won out and highlighted why it's so important that rural communities keep vital public services, even in a time of cut backs. Looking forward, we need to use this energy, passion and knowledge in our communities as a force for positive change. Provision of all public services pose huge challenges to rural communities in the current climate but the solution cannot simply be that we centralise everything, always. We need to lead the way in finding solutions that work for us within Pembrokeshire.”
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88