Robs Weekly Round Up

10 January 2025

Hi everyone,

Following my message with the Leader earlier this week, I wanted to again welcome back those who recently returned following a Christmas break. I’d also like to again mention those of you who worked over the festive period, delivering vital frontline services to our residents and communities – thank you all for your dedication and commitment.  Diolch yn fawr iawn.

The new year may only be 10 days old, but there’s no shortage to update you on as I continue to receive reports of outstanding work taking place across the Council.

Firstly, anyone who has taken a stroll from the Civic to Central Park recently might have noticed a new addition.

Playground and Landscape Officer Gareth Scott helped install a Rainbow Bench there, the third of its kind in the Vale.

Featuring an arcing prism of colours across its width, the bench has been put in place ahead of Barry Pride, which starts from the location on June 15.

Other benches are already in place on Cowbridge High St and Barry Island Promenade, while another is due to be unveiled at another Vale location in the near future.

As a Council, we are fiercely proud to uphold values of equality, tolerance, acceptance and understanding.

These benches are a symbol of those ideals, promoting the belief that people should not be discriminated against based on gender, sexual orientation, race, disability or any other protected characteristic.

If you have the chance, why not visit the bench for yourself and take a minute to appreciate what it stands for - and against.

Since the end of last year, there have been a series of positive developments in education involving our schools and their staff.

Over the last 12 months, 17 primary schools achieved Welsh Language Charter Awards recognising their success in encouraging the use of the language socially.

Evenlode, Gladstone, Holton, Llangan and St Brides primary schools have gained silver status, along with St Cyres and Whitmore High School, while High Street, Llandough, Palmerston, Pendoylan, Peter-Super-Ely, Rhws County, Romilly, St Athan, and Victoria primary schools received bronze recognition, as did Ysgol Y Deri.

Llongyfarchiadau and well done to all involved for your efforts in attaining these awards. Da Iawn.

I’m also pleased to announce that Pen y Garth Primary School is no longer in special measures.

Since Estyn inspectors placed it in that category in November 2022, the school has been assessed a further three times and taken huge strides forward.

And, after their last visit in October, Pen y Garth was moved out of the bracket in recognition of the significant progress that has been made.

This is down to the hard work of Headteacher Becca Pugh and the rest of the school staff, supported by colleagues from our Learning and Skills Directorate.

Estyn noted that the Head and Leadership Team have created a clear strategy to improve teaching and learning standards.

I, along with Director of Learning and Skills Liz Jones and the rest of the Strategic Leadership Team, are very proud of Pen y Garth’s achievements and the school’s ongoing work to raise standards.

On a related theme, Llantwit Major School has recently seen hugely positive results from work to improve outcomes for underachieving learners.

As part of its development plan, the school identified improving results and retention in Years 12 and 13 as a priority.

Director of Sixth Form, Rob Jones, enrolled in the CSC Alps Connect project, an online tool that helps analyse data, and introduced a new mentoring programme to maximise the impact these insights provided.

As part of the mentoring programme, there was a strong focus on specific groups, including vulnerable learners, and links were made between attendance and attainment. 

Careful study of progress data allowed the school to intervene earlier in cases of underachieving learners and increase communication with parents and carers.

The use of structured coaching also meant individual pupils had tailored support from departments and Heads of Year.

This impacted positively on targeted pupils, while feedback from learners indicated they were receptive to coaching and valued the new support systems.

As a result of the tracking and mentoring, the school has seen a noticeable improvement in pupil outcomes, progress data and retention from Years 12 to 13, with Alps Connect believed to be the driving force behind these results.

Future work will see Alps Connect and mentoring embedded in Year 10 and Year 11 to support learner aspirations and to drive school improvement.

Rob recently published a case study outlining the work of the project, while a testimonial video has also been produced.

Fantastic Work, Rob and congratulations to all the pupils involved.

Sticking with school staff and Sarah Cason, Headteacher of Palmerston Primary School, recently provided an excellent keynote speech on ‘‘High Standards and aspirations - Equity and Excellence for All’ at a Central South Consortium leadership conference.

Sarah outlined the strong focus in Palmerston Primary on developing learner wellbeing and high-quality teaching and how these play a key role in developing equity and excellence.

It was a very well received presentation, with Headteachers from across the region valuing the clear message on the importance of teaching and learning. Very well done Sarah.

Year 9 pupils from St Cyres and Whitmore High who are on the Seren Programme, a Welsh Government initiative to help the most able learners reach their full potential, recently attended an event at the Aston Martin plant in St Athan.

Organised by STEM Cymru, a Welsh Engineering Education Scheme, the pupils enjoyed a guided tour of the manufacturing site, gaining hands-on experience of problem-solving tasks and workshops.

There were also inspiring talks from young women in the third year of degree apprenticeships about their journeys and what it’s like working for Aston Martin in the Vale.

The Council’s Seren Advisor Nisha Shukla helped organise the visit, which was attended by a 50/50 split of male and female pupils interested in engineering. Top work Nisha.

Peter Williams, who also works for the Youth Service, has seen a case study of a project he was involved with recognised as an example of good practice within Wales.

The STRIVE programme aims to prevent young people from becoming categorised as NEET (Not in Education, Employment or Training) and also combats homelessness by encouraging families to stay together where possible.

Following a presentation delivered at a national meeting last summer, the case study has now been shared on the Welsh Government website as an example for others to follow.

Well done Peter and all involved in the STRIVE programme.

Social Care Officer Tristan Harris recently won the Inclusive Frontline Professional category of the inaugural Diversity & Inclusion Wales Awards.

Organised by Thinkedi, a company that promote equality, diversity and Inclusion within businesses, Tristan was nominated by the organisation’s CEO.

Congratulations Tristan, who scooped the prize in the first year of the awards which are set to become an annual event moving forwards.

I also wanted to highlight a message I got this week praising one our planning officers, Laura Fower.

That came from someone working on the Goodsheds project who described Laura as a “breath of fresh air” and someone who is “super responsive, understands what is necessary and has been a delight to work with.”

As a former Planner myself, I know only too well how difficult it can be to balance the need to make fully informed decisions with keeping applicants happy with the service they receive. 

It is a difficult line to tread, so Laura deserves a lot of credit for managing that relationship so successfully. Very well done.

Lastly, I received a very touching email before the Christmas break from Sharon Miller, our Operational Manager for Business Intelligence and Service Development, praising the efforts of Saul Brook, a Premises Officer at the Dock Office.

Sharon explained just what an impact Saul’s dedication has on the people that work there and how much they value him.

As a thank you, staff held a collection for Saul and gave him a card, which contained nearly 100 messages of personal thanks.

Sharon wrote: “He is an exceptional individual whose hard work, commitment and positivity makes such a difference to us all in the Docks Office. He always greets everyone with a warm smile, goes out of his way to assist, and makes a genuine effort to know everyone by name, which fosters a wonderful sense of community in our building.  During our recent office move, Saul was, as always, incredibly helpful, ensuring everything went smoothly and providing invaluable support to everyone.

“A few weeks ago, we organised a Christmas collection for him, just to say thank you for everything he does.

“I believe his hard work and positive attitude deserve recognition. He truly makes a difference in our daily work environment, and I wanted to make sure you were aware of the positive impact he has on all of us.”

Well done Saul and well done colleagues for your wonderful appreciation and support.

And on that positive note, again, welcome back and thanks everyone for your efforts this week – they are sincerely appreciated.

For those of you not in work, have a relaxing and enjoyable weekend.

Diolch yn fawr iawn,

Rob.