‘pupils are losing out at school,’ say parents
WORRIED parents say children are losing out at a troubled 3-16 superschool as Blaenau Gwent Council confirmed more jobs may go.
The parents of pupils at Abertillery Learning Community (ALC) are demanding answers over:
■ high staff turnover;
■ cuts to teaching assistant jobs;
■ the departure of headteacher Jonathan Wilson earlier this term;
■ the loss of three senior leaders at the end of this term; and
■ the fact the school has had five head teachers in the three years it has been open.
Blaenau Gwent Council is currently consulting on shedding 15 teaching assistant posts and said “an ongoing review of teaching across all campuses” is “likely to result in a reduction in the number of staff”.
The school opened in 2016, bringing five different schools in the area together under one umbrella – the former Abertillery Comprehensive and Abertillery, Bryngwyn, Queen Street and Roseheyworth Millennium primary schools.
Headteacher Jonathan Wilson left before his contract ended at half term, tweeting that he would love to have stayed “under different circumstances”.
The new head Meryl Echeverry, former chair of Newport Association of Primary Headteachers, is now in post – but three senior leaders are leaving before Christmas.
The school is under Estyn monitoring, with inspectors judging it “in need of significant improvement” after an inspection last year.
Parent Clare Wilkinson, a former Abertillery Primary mum, said she was asked to continue as a governor in the new school but declined because she had “concerns” about how it would operate and be financed.
The ALC is now running at a deficit, but Blaenau Gwent Council declined to say by how much.
It was also unable to provide a list of the school’s current governors and no information about the governing body is available on the school’s website.
Asked about the specific concerns raised, Blaenau Gwent Council said in a statement: “The recently appointed new headteacher will make the necessary teaching arrangements to ensure that the improvements seen this year continue to improve in the months and years ahead.
“The ALC is building the capacity necessary to provide outstanding educational opportunities for the children of Abertillery.
“The reorganisation of the school has provided opportunity to review arrangements and direct more resources into teaching.
“Difficult decisions have been made to reduce the number of senior leaders, to review business support and site management.
“The quality of teaching has been reviewed and a comprehensive programme to improve pupil behaviour has been introduced.
“This has been a significant success, attracting the attention of schools across Wales.
“The school now needs to continue its work to balance budget and to improve the quality of teaching and learning. This school community is aware of the challenges and is responding positively and with real energy.
“As we said previously, the ALC is currently consulting over a review of teaching assistants.
“This follows a review and reduction in the number of senior leaders and similar work addressing business support staff, site management staff and support services.
“There is an ongoing review of teaching across all campuses to ensure that our pupils enjoy the very best teaching we can provide.
“The review is based on a national model and is likely to result in a reduction in the number of staff.”
A number of governors were contacted for comment but had not responded at the time of going to press.