THE PEMBROKESHIRE HERALD FRIDAY JANUARY 30 2015
Like us on Facebook
facebook.com/thepembrokeshireherald
7 News SECONDARY SCHOOLS SHAKE-UP • SECONDARY SCHOOLS SHAKE-UP • SECONDARY SCHOOLS SHAKE-UP Tasker Milward could face closure TASKER MILWARD School
faces the possibility of closure, along with Sir Thomas Picton, if Council proposals go ahead in a special meeting called at County Hall, Thursday (Jan 29).
The proposal would see the school close its doors and the site become a new provision for a Welsh Medium school. Tasker’s pupils would be merged with those of STP and a new school would be formed for 11-16 year olds. Post 16 education would go to Pembrokeshire College in the Haverfordwest schools shake up.
However, it may not be a simple case for the County Council as Cllr Bob Kilmister informed those in the meeting, reading from a letter from Price and Sons, that Tasker-Milward was both a school under voluntary control and that the land upon which it is situated in to a large extent is owned by charities. The council may want to build on the site, but permission has to be sought from the Trustees and such permission – if it was forthcoming – was subject to approval by the Charities Commission. However, acting Head of Legal Services Claire Incledon declared that the council was under no obligation to consult with the charities before the matter went out to consultation, claiming, there was no statutory obligation on the authority to do so.
However, The Code governing
reorganizations would suggest Ms Incledon’s advice was at best incomplete, and possibly even misleading, as it categorically states: “Whether any trust deed relating to the school allows for the change of category proposed. If there is any doubt, or if a variation in the trust deed is clearly necessary, proposers (i.e. the Council) should make early contact with the Charity Commission.” The proposals have been met with criticism by ex-pupil of Taskers, constituency MP, and Welsh Secretary, Stephen Crabb, who spoke with the Herald, saying: “I am very surprised at the approach being taken by Pembrokeshire County Council to our local secondary schools. I have major concerns about both the scale of the proposed reorganisation and also the disjointed nature of the plans. They seem more like a halfway house than a stable solution. The proposals for Haverfordwest don’t look right to me. Personally speaking, I believe that Haverfordwest has benefited greatly from having two secondary schools and I would be desperately sad if Tasker Milward were ever to close. Pembrokeshire County Council needs to be on top of its game to handle this major issue. I am concerned that in its current position, it may lack the strategic direction to take decisions which are in the very best long-term interests of the young people of Pembrokeshire.” Also commenting on Pembrokeshire County Council’s school reorganisation proposals was local Assembly Member,
Paul Davies, who said: “I’m very concerned by the proposals put forward by Pembrokeshire County Council for schools across the County. The key objective of any school reorganisation plans must be to improve education standards for children and young people in Pembrokeshire. However, these proposals raise a number of questions over how this will result in an improvement in standards and they clearly seem to ignore the views of local communities right across Pembrokeshire.
The proposals for
Haverfordwest are very worrying and require much more scrutiny and engagement with the local community. Pembrokeshire County Council must reconsider these proposals and find a way to deliver education services locally that also meets the needs of communities right across the County. This seems to me to be a hotch-potch reorganisation that lacks any strategic vision for education services in Pembrokeshire. We need a first class education service that supports children and young people and results in an improvement in standards." Paul Lucas, Head of Governors
at Taskers, sent a detailed email to the Herald, saying: “As you have stated the Local Authority proposals in their current form suggest a drastic decision for Tasker Milward VC School. During the initial consultation process the Governors of the school provided an in depth analysis response to the various options put forward. In considering these options we set any prejudice or preconceived ideas aside and kept in focus that we were duty bound to consider what might be the best proposal for the education of our school pupils. We duly submitted our response which is in the public domain. We have now reached the second stage of the consultation process. The preferred option to be submitted to Pembrokeshire County Council by the LEA encompasses many aspects of both primary and secondary school educational life but I can only comment on how this affects Tasker Milward. The school was placed under Estyn special measures last year and these required a significant improvement in educational standards. Since that time the acting Head teacher, Mrs Helen Lewis, and all of her staff have worked tremendously hard to turn the school around. As yet there has been insufficient time to move out of special measures but at an Estyn visit to the school just 2 weeks ago the Inspectors noted a considerable improvement in standards and accepted that many improvement measures had been put in place which as yet had not had sufficient time to produce results. Therefore the school is currently on a journey of improvement which should put us in good stead for any educational changes which may occur in Haverfordwest. Naturally the suggested closure of a school, with many past historical links to Haverfordwest, is a sad
event. I note that the proposed closure also mirrors a similar closure of the Sir Thomas Picton Secondary school, with a new 11 to 16 secondary school to be provided on the STP site. Whilst I would prefer both schools to continue in their present state realistically this may no longer be an option. Rather than a simple closure of 2 established secondary schools I would like to think that this provides an opportunity for the 2 schools to get together and indeed work together to improve the opportunities for our Pembrokeshire youngsters. I believe that the governors and teachers of each school are most certainly professional enough to do so. My main concern about the preferred option revolves around the loss of the sixth form provision. It is proposed that a sixth form college will be provided in Haverfordwest to be run jointly by Pembrokeshire County Council and the Pembrokeshire College. I sincerely believe that a sixth form provision should remain under the banner of secondary school education. My reasons are that a senior level of students in a school effectively rounds off the educational system within that school. Not only do senior students provide role models for the younger pupils, but the expertise of the existing teaching staff also provides continuity of education for students in readiness for further educational life. This valuable link would be lost
when students
transfer to a separate sixth form college. In addition, all secondary schools tend to seek out teaching staff of the highest standards. These staff are employed on national pay grades depending upon their experience and ability. I understand that in some Colleges staff may be paid on a term time or hourly basis which begs the question - would the proposed sixth form college actually employ the best
staff for our charges. Tasker Milward is an English medium secondary school which teaches Welsh within its syllabus. I cannot really comment on the County Council's published survey results in relation to demand for Secondary School education through the medium of Welsh other than to state that, as far as I am aware, there is little demand for this in the current Tasker Milward school population." Taskers
was put into special
measures last summer after a June inspection stated that the school had not addressed the raising of standards in Key Stage 4, and had only partly addressed other areas, including, improvement of behaviour of a significant minority of pupils, improvement of the co-
ordination and planning for progression in developing literacy and numeracy skills, and improvement of the quality of teaching and assessment and reduce the variation across the school. Tasker Milward was an amalgamation of the old Haverfordwest Grammar School and Taskers School for Girls, which took place in 1978. Mrs Helen Lewis, acting head teacher for the school gave this statement to The Herald: “Tasker Milward are committed to raising standards for all of our pupils. Despite this being a time of uncertainty, we would like to reassure pupils and parents that we will concentrate on providing them with the best education in an environment of respect and enthusiasm for learning."
Champion Cast Multifuel Stoves
Snowdrop Lane, Haverfordwest 01437 763904
Open Mon, Wed, Fri and Sat 10 - 4 Closed Tues and Thursday
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