A PLAN to improve education in Torfaen has been set out by the council new executive member for education.

Cllr Richard Clark was appointed at a council meeting as part of a cabinet reshuffle on Tuesday, March 3.

He said the county borough council is working with the Welsh Government to review procedures in schools, to find out why education is not producing results.

“We’ve had lots of procedures for education, both from ourselves and the Education Achievement Service (EAS), and clearly they are not having outcomes we have desired," he said.

“The Welsh Government is looking at that for us so we can be assured when we have procedures, we have the right outcomes.

“I want to know what has worked, and how well it has worked, and then we’ll follow those, and what hasn’t worked, and we’ll disengage or disinvest in those particular things.”

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Cllr Clark said he hoped to use the experiences of other schools - both primary and secondary - to create a working system going forward.

“Our primary schools weren’t in a marvellous position not so long ago,” said Cllr Clark.

“Work has been undertaken in them and the results are showing. There is only one in the red.

“There seems to be a great taboo about any learning from primary going in to secondary. We have some fantastic headteachers in our primary sector, and the skill sets are there.

“It’s not only the primaries, we have got a green secondary school in Torfaen - St Albans RC High School. The leader and I are going to meet the headteacher on Monday.

“Last week, I went to Cardiff High School. They had a no remark Estyn report - there were no concerns and everything was deemed as excellent.

“We went to meet the headteacher and senior management team. It’s a different area, but you can learn from there too.”

Part of this is the appointment of Elspeth Lewis, headteacher at King Henry VIII School in Abergavenny, as the executive headteacher at Croesyceiliog.

“She will be looking at situation at Croesyceiliog and I’m sure she will perform as she did at King Henry VIII and turn the school around,” said Cllr Clark.

The Executive Member for Education also offered an update on the progress of the two other schools in special measures.

“Cwmbran High, which has been of concern for some time, has just had an Estyn monitoring report, which said there were green shoots of improvement,” he said. “I’m extremely hopeful that that is the case.

“Ysgol Gyfun Gwynllyw is a particular concern. We are having problems attracting teachers who teach through the medium of the Welsh language.

“We are putting interventions in. I will be going up there in the not too distant future and will speak to the headteacher to get their perspective, but we will endeavour to turn that around.

“We have spoken to Welsh Government officials to see if there is any assistance they can provide in attracting Welsh medium course leaders but those situations are ongoing.”

Also part of Cllr Clark’s plan for education is setting up an Education Advisory Group - made up of representatives from each of the council groups - to keep all councillors informed of education matters throughout the authority

“That group will get together, it will filter information, and consider the issues there,” said Cllr Clark.

“I’m looking for them to be a conduit between myself and the scrutiny the executive and members.

“We shouldn’t have to rely on special council meetings, members should be aware of these things.”