Welcome to Monmouthshire County Council’s first Sustainable Communities for Learning newsletter. We hope you enjoy reading these updates from the council about the new 3-19 school in Abergavenny. You can follow us on Twitter here.
The Sustainable Communities for Learning programme is a One Wales commitment and a unique collaboration between the Welsh Government, the Welsh Local Government Association and councils. It is a major, long-term and strategic capital investment programme with the aim of creating a generation of Sustainable Schools in Wales. You can access our website here: Sustainable Communities for Learning – Monmouthshire
Abergavenny 3-19 school:
What is an all-through school?
An all–through school combines at least primary and secondary stages of education and at times also nursery and Sixth Form phase within a single institution.
The school often occupies a single site and has one governing body. Evidence suggests that all-through schools have beneficial effects on various aspects of school’s day to day running, professional development of staff, and on the educational experience and outcomes of their pupils.
| Research findings consistently highlight a number of strengths of the all-age model: – Improved teaching and learning resulting from joint working and planning; – Smoother transition between phases for pupils arising from familiarity with the school and teachers; – Strong ethos and high quality of relationships resulting from common vision and core values; – Knowledge of pupils remaining in the same school throughout their learning journey resulting in improved pastoral care and wellbeing; – Enhanced support for children with additional learning needs and a culture of inclusion; – Improved parental involvement that carries over from the primary through to the secondary stage. For more information on all-through schools, click this link: Home | All Age Schools Forum | Fforwm Ysgolion Pob Oed |
Listening to the experts
Abergavenny’s students are at the heart of plans for our proposed all-through school. Pupils have been heavily involved in recent consultation events that are shaping plans for the school, which is scheduled to open its doors in 2024.
During consultations with School Councils from both King Henry VIII and Deri View, we have listened carefully to what pupils’ ‘perfect classroom’ looks like, as well as how indoor and outdoor learning experiences can be maximised. The Student Councils have led consultations in their forms and year groups, ensuring hundreds of experts have had their voices heard.
Eco Councils lead Net Zero Carbon agenda:
As part of COP26, the school’s Eco Councils met with engineers to learn how a carbon zero school is designed, built and operated.
The Eco Councils are leading us all in becoming more sustainably aware citizens.
Darren Thomas, Senior Design Manager at Morgan Sindall Construction (right), is talking with Eco Councils.
Active travel has been a focus of the joint schools Eco Councils, encouraging us all to walk, cycle or wheel to school, helping the environment in the process.
Geraint Roberts (above), Road Safety Officer at Monmouthshire County Council, talked to the Eco Councils about safer routes to and from school.
Paul Sullivan (left), Active Travel Manager, discussed what the most efficient ways to travel to school are, as well as changing habits in our daily life can lead to a healthier us, and a healthier planet.
Listening to the experts: Part 2
Staff at King Henry School and Deri View school have been busy consulting with architects,
designers and engineers on what they consider to be the perfect classroom and how they feel their students learn best.
Department and Key Stage teams have been researching what makes effective learning in their subject or phase, and how different spaces, inside and outside of the new school could make a big difference to well-being and achievement.
Where have we been?
In February, we visited Ysgol Pen Rhos in Llanelli to look at learning and well-being in their wonderful new school.
In March, we visited Tonyrefail Community School (below). Students talked in detail about their all-through school, and described how their Middle School had provided them with new opportunities to enjoy learning and make progress.
Meet the Teams: Sustainable Communities for Learning Team
Cath Saunders – Programme Manager, Sustainable Communities for Learning
Cath has over 30 years’ experience working within the public sector and her expertise has an education focus particularly the planning and construction of new schools. As overall Programme Manager, Cath is the point of contact for the 3-19 project and her role is to manage and coordinate the multi-disciplinary client team ensuring the building is delivered on time and within budget.
She has oversight of the whole project ranging from the initial school reorganisation through to making sure all the resources are in place for children and young people attending this exciting new school have the best possible start in life.
Tim Bird – Educational Advisor, Sustainable Communities for Learning
Tim has taught in Monmouthshire schools for over twenty years and is passionate about school design and learning. Tim leads regular consultations with teachers, school staff, student councils and a wide range of further stakeholders to ensure that their collective thoughts are central in the design of the new school. As Tim always says, ‘hundreds of pairs of eyes will get it right’.
Poppy Harris – Project Officer, Sustainable Communities for Learning
Poppy has worked on Monmouthshire’s last three 21st Century Schools schemes and specialises in project liaison and decant into the new building(s). Poppy will be working with the project team and our stakeholders to ensure information is shared between parties and that all preparations are in place for the final move.
Will Barnston – Communications Officer, Sustainable Communities for Learning
Will has worked within Monmouthshire County Council’s Communications Team for over a year, having experience in covering events like the Royal Visit and local elections, as well as working closely with schools in Monmouthshire to boost their communications with the community.
Will has oversight of the Sustainable Communities for Learning webpage and social media channels, keeping stakeholders updated on the latest news regarding the proposed all-through school.
Meet the team: Morgan Sindall Construction
At Morgan Sindall Construction, we’re delighted to be leading the design and build of the new school for Abergavenny and surrounding areas. We’re looking forward to getting started on site and working closely with the school and neighbours to deliver an exceptional new education and community facility.
We’re in the pre-construction phase at the moment so we’re developing the school design and planning, ready to start construction in the summer. You may have seen some of our team visiting the site and local area to help with this:
Phil Davies – Bid Manager
Phil is responsible for the pre-construction stage and will be working on the project until it starts on site. Phil’s job is to ensure that the school and council requirements are met and that Morgan Sindall deliver all of the promises we made when originally bidding for the project.
Darren Rhys Thomas – Senior Design Manager
Darren manages our design team and ensures that the design meets the needs of the end users; teachers, staff, pupils and local community. Darren works with and coordinates input from architects, engineers and specialist advisors to ensure that everything is done correctly.
Steve Langford – Project Director
Steve will be ultimately responsible for the construction phase of the project and will lead the project build. This will include employing specialist companies to build different parts of the building and working closely with the school and leisure centre to make sure that we are considerate of their activities.
Carl Reed – Planning Manager
Carl provides advice to our team on the planning of work aligned to key dates. He works closely with our pre-construction and construction teams to make sure that we complete each element of work on time. This will ultimately ensure that we finish the build and hand over the school ready for occupation in 2024.
David James – Senior Estimator
David leads the pre-construction cost management of the project and provides advice to Monmouthshire County Council on the likely cost of the project. David works closely with our specialist supply chain to develop and manage a robust ‘cost plan’ for our team to follow.
Glyn Dudley – Senior Quantity Surveryor
Glyn works closely with David James and will take responsibility for cost management once the project starts on site. Glyn will work with Monmouthshire County Council throughout the build to make sure that costs are managed and that we provide value for money.
Supporting your community
Morgan Sindall is committed to delivering a range of Community Benefits during project, working with their supply chain to create training and employment opportunities for local residents. Their aim is to deliver school engagement activities for primary and secondary school pupils, including practical work-based challenges that link school subjects to the world of work, construction and design.
Morgan Sindall will work closely with Monmouthshire County Council and local organisations to deliver community initiatives in the local area. We will provide updates on Community Benefits in future editions of this newsletter, including opportunities to get involved.
You can find more information on our website: Sustainable Communities for Learning – Monmouthshire
How can you contact us?
For regular updates, you can follow Sustainable Communities for Learning on Twitter, or visit our webpage here: Sustainable Communities for Learning – Monmouthshire.
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