Secondary and Post 16 Education Modernisation –

Informal Consultation

Informal Consultation31st Jan – 6th June 2011

The Proposals:11 – 16: ‘A new structure of seven or eight schools acrossthirteen sites with some as all through schools’

Welsh Medium: ‘Minimum of three dual-stream schools, with consideration ofthe establishment of a designated Welsh Medium School’

Post 16: ‘Hub and Spoke’ or ‘FE Tertiary’

Consultation Responses

Records of:• Public Meetings * 16• Pupil Meetings * 16• Staff/Governor Meetings * 16• Powys Youth Forum * 1

Correspondence: 126

Questionnaires: 3,200

External Surveys: 3Petition: 1Alternative Proposals: 10

Work-streams: 2

* It is estimated that more than 6,000 people attended the 49 meetings

Methodology

Every comment from all sources allocated a:

• Reference number• Location (if known)• Stakeholder category e.g parent (if known)• Theme e.g Pre-16, Post-16, Welsh Medium, General • Sub-theme e.g. travel, support, logistics, bilingual

QuestionnairesTwo questionnaires issued:• General• Young People

Information Requested:

• Home post code• Status of stakeholder by location• Q1(General Survey only): “Do you welcome the move to retain

secondary education on all 13 existing sites?”• Q2(General Survey only): “Do you agree with the need for the

modernisation of the secondary and post-16 sectors?”• Comments on each of the three/general proposals• Age (Young People’s survey only)

Questionnaire Analysis

Stakeholders

0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

Pupils

Colleg

e Stu

dent

Teach

er/le

ctur

er

Gover

nor

Paren

t/gua

rdia

n

Mem

ber o

f sta

ff

Other

Young Person's Survey

General

Responses by stakeholder group

Pupils 2255* (includes both questionnaires)

College Students 13

Teachers/Lecturers 102

Governors 60

Parents/Guardians 642

Members of staff 42

Others 118

Stakeholder response by area

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

Breco

n

Crickh

owell

Gwerny

fed

Bro D

dyfi

Builth

Well

s

Lland

rindo

d W

ells

Llanf

air C

aere

inion

Llanf

yllin

Newto

wn

Llani

dloes

John

Bed

does

Wel

shpo

ol

Mae

sydd

erwen

Other

Other

Member of staff

Parent/Guardian

Governor

Teacher/Lecturer

College Students

Pupils

Stakeholder Response by area - General Survey only

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

Other

Member of staff

Parent/Guardian

Governor

Teacher/Lecturer

College Students

Pupils (Gen)

Q2a.

Do you welcome the move to retain secondary education on all 13 existing sites?

1022

141

108

Yes

No

NA

Q2b

Do you agree with the need for the modernisation of the secondary and post 16-sectors?

536

592

143

Yes

No

NA

Thematic Analysis

• Pre-16

• Post-16

• Welsh Medium

• General

THEME 1: PRE-16

Main messages • Logistically challenging (pupils, teachers and

management)• Threat to standards • Costs outweigh any benefits• “We’re a good school, leave us alone” – Status

Quo/General opposition• Travel• Significant support for all-through schools in Llanidloes

Pre-16 Main Themes by Survey - All county

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

400

450

Staff

issues

- em

ploym

ent

Merg

er -

quality

/logis

tics

Trave

l

Data a

nd fi

nanc

ial

Conflic

t

Suppo

rt fo

r pro

posa

ls

Statu

s Quo

Gener

al opp

ositio

n

Friend

ship

All thr

ough

schoo

ls

Impac

t of m

oder

nisat

ion

Too m

any p

eople

Loss

of id

entity

Neutra

l

General Survey

Young Person's Survey

Pre - 16 Top themes by area

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

Breco

n

Crickh

owel

l

Gwer

nyfe

d

Bro D

dyfi

Builth

Wel

ls

Llan

drin

dod

Well

s

Llan

fair

Caere

inio

n

Llan

fyllin

Newto

wn

Llan

idlo

es

John

Bed

does

Wel

shpo

ol

Mae

sydd

erwen

All through schools

General opposition

Status Quo

Support for proposals

Data and financial

Travel

Merger - quality/logistics

THEME 2: POST-16

Main messages

• Keep 6th forms in schools: standards and added value of 6th form to a school and wider community

• Logistics of ‘hubs & spokes’, • Some support for some change (curriculum choice,

collaboration, ‘sacrifice the smaller centres to invest in the larger ones’)

• No to FE Tertiary

Post-16 Main Themes by County

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

400

GeneralSurvey

YoungPeople'sSurvey

Post-16 Main Themes by Location

050

100150200250300350400450500

Travel

Quality

No support forproposals

Neutral

Added Value of6th Forms

THEME 3: WELSH MEDIUM

Main messages

• Support for bilingual schools • Some support for designated Welsh Medium school• Support for Welsh Medium education – local

access/entitlement

WM Subthemes analysis - all county

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

Gen Survey

YP Survey

Welsh Medium - Main Themes by Location

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

400

450

Neutral

Support for WMeducation - localaccess

Support for WMschool

Support forbilingual school

THEME 4: Category ‘Other’

Main messages• Case for Change• Specific support for school• Language• All Through Schools• Process• Status Quo

General Comments - Main Themes by County

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

400

450

Status Quo Case forChange

All ThroughSchool

Specificsupport for

school

Travel Merger

General Survey

Young People's Survey

Alternative proposals

1. All Through School:Llanidloes High School & Llanidloes Primary School

2. South Powys:• two post-16 ‘Centres of Excellence’ at Crickhowell/Brecon• Voc provision at Coleg Gwent• CHS ‘management hub’ for local primaries

3. Learn from the highest performing schools, undertake further research into pupil demand, LEA spend

4. Centralise primary cluster administration at Gwernyfed High School

5. Collaboration:• Core A levels provided at ‘home’school• 30% A levels accessible from other schools• CP to focus on voc provision• WM – to be demand-led/out-of-county partnerships

6. South Powys WM:• Co-ordinate provision across Brecon & Builth• Provide WM streams at both, sharing teaching staff and other

resources to meet the requirement for WM• Single head of WM

Or, Establish new Ysgol Uwchradd De Powys across both sites

7. General:• Reform LA education dept; • Improve the management of school budgets/surplus capacity;• Implement ‘Making a Difference’• Improve use of technology

8. Newtown:• Retain NHS as an 11 – 18 school• Post-16 Hub • Develop WM Stream

9. Crickhowell:• Develop local 3 – 19 Cluster Model

10. Builth Wells:• Retain Builth Wells as an 11-18 bilingual school• Provide WM stream at Builth Wells to achieve target of at least 80%• Collaboration at Post-16 with schools in local area

External surveys

Three Surveys received:1. Friends of Llanfyllin

2. RHaG South Powys

3. North East Powys Parents for WM Education

The proposals will allow students to chose a more widely offered education/training route. The choices will be greatly improved.

I think that your ideas for Welsh medium education are really bad. We live in Wales so we should be able to learn Welsh in whatever school you go to.

I want the school to stay open because then we can start our education in one place and end it in one place

How would you feel if your education was in the hands of someone you don't know?

I think we should have a welsh medium school in the centre of all the schools. And pupils should have free transport there. So they have more opportunities.

In my opinion, everything should just stay as it is. Everyone is happy. Pupils would need to travel much further.

I feel that every pupil has the right to go to sixth form in their own schools, where they are comfortable and have built up a rapport with other pupils lower down the school and staff. Taking post-16 education from secondary schools is not the right move for Powys.

Where is the substance to these proposals - they are full of rhetoric and statement but little detail.

I believe that students being taught through a Welsh language is basically pointless because how many places in the world speak the Welsh language. Unless you will be employed in a strong fluent Welsh community in Wales or Patagonia in the the Falklands then it is advisable but not for myself.

‘ I don’t understand what your proposals are, and even if I did, I wouldn’t agree with them!’

What happens now?