Latest news with #OwenJenkins
BBC News
6 days ago
- Politics
- BBC News
Llanelli special school to be built after Ysgol Heol Goffa U-turn
Proposals to build a new special needs school have been given the go ahead after a "year of torment".It comes after Carmarthenshire council said last year it was not possible to continue with the original plan in Llanelli due to construction 300 campaigners protested in September 2024 claiming the council broke a promise to fund a new building for Ysgol Heol Jenkins, chairman of governors at the school, welcomed the news, adding: "We'll be keeping the pressure on the local authority to make sure that we do get what was promised eight years ago." The unanimous vote comes after multiple U-turns over plans for the school.A replacement school was first proposed in 2017 which was due to be relocated and expanded to meet May 2024, the council said it would not go ahead with plans due to financial pressures which led to protests by council commissioned an independent review of additional learning needs (ALN) provision in the area which was published in February outlining six options for the school and of those were formally proposed to the council on Monday by Glynog Davies, Plaid Cymru cabinet member for education, and both involve building a new special school. During the meeting he said "children's welfare is an obvious priority" along with balancing the costs of the proposals would see a school created for 150 pupils which is estimated to cost £27.3m - £35.4m as well as developing proposals to build one primary and one secondary specialist centre for pupils with Autistic Spectrum Condition (ASC) attached to mainstream would see a review and revision of the current proposal to build a new special school and design it to include a provision for pupils with ASC with capacity for 250 pupils costing between £36.2m and £51.2m. After the meeting, Mr Jenkins said it came as a "relief" for the school after a "year of torment".He thanked the community for the "depth of feeling and love" towards the pupils and staff and said he looked forward to a "positive dialogue" with the council moving forward.
BBC News
12-02-2025
- General
- BBC News
Norfolk academy's cuts to staff prompts mother to speak out
A parent has said she is worried that cuts to school staff could lead to her daughter, who has autism, distracting other pupils in said she was "angry" and sad about the impact that cuts to teaching support staff could have on her daughter's school in Broad Horizons Educational Trust, which runs 17 schools in Norfolk, has said it needs to cut £1m from its trust chief executive said there would be nine compulsory redundancies at the trust due to the "significant financial pressures". 'Amazing school' When Ellie started at Dussindale Primary School in Thorpe St Andrew on the outskirts of the city, she did not speak and had one-to-one assistance in the classroom, her mother said the school had been "amazing" and had helped her with speech and said she found some lessons in school "really hard" and was "happy" there were people in the room to help the teaching assistant from her class would be "very scary", Ellie mother continued: "She is now going to be in that classroom maybe distracting it, because she needs that extra time with that support worker." The nine compulsory redundancies across the trust are due to be made in time for the summer St Andrew School and Sixth Form and Sewell Park Academy - both in Norwich - are also run by the chief executive Owen Jenkins highlighted rising costs - and funding constraints around special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) - as primary reasons for the financial pressures. "We recognise that this has been a difficult and uncertain time for our staff, parents, and pupils," said Mr Jenkins in a statement."A significant proportion of our budget is spent on staffing, and unfortunately, this has meant we have had to restructure teams across some of our schools."We remain committed to delivering the best possible education for every child."He said there would be a "smooth transition" to support pupils and families through the changes at the various year, five academy trusts signed a joint letter protesting against a cut in SEND funding from Norfolk County Council. Follow Norfolk news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
