Latest news with #Orrells
Powys County Times
13 hours ago
- General
- Powys County Times
Powys: Acting head appointed at Ysgol Bro Caereinion
A senior education officer from Powys County Council has been appointed to take over at a school after the head and deputy both resigned. Anwen Orrells has been appointed as acting headteacher of Ysgol Bro Caereinion following "an extensive recruitment process" overseen by the school's governing body. Mrs Orrells, is a fluent Welsh speaker with over 30 years' experience in education, including more than 16 years in educational leadership, curriculum design, and school improvement. Her previous roles have included Service Manager for the Education Support Service and Secondary School Challenge Adviser with the council as well as senior leadership positions at Caereinion High School and as a teacher at Builth Wells High School. Mrs Orells is currently Head of School Improvement and Learning at Powys County Council and Strategic Lead for the Mid Wales Education Partnership. The school released a statement saying it was overjoyed that she had accepted their offer for her to fill in the role after the resignation of headteacher Huw Lloyd-Jones and deputy Edward Baldwin from their positions. 'I'm delighted to announce that we have offered the post of Acting Headteacher to Mrs Anwen Orrells and she has accepted the offer,' said Ysgol Bro Caereinion's chair of governors, Myfanwy Alexander. 'A familiar face to many in the school community, Mrs Orrells combines strategic knowledge, leadership skills and unrivalled talents as a teacher. The Governing Body has the utmost faith in her and we are certain that she is the headteacher replete with experience and vision who can lead the school to an exciting and successful future.' Mrs Orrells said she was delighted to take on the role and will be joined by Miss Laura Jones as Deputy Head whose appointment was announced last week 'I am delighted to begin my role as Headteacher and to work in close partnership with pupils, staff, parents, and governors,' said Mrs Orrells. 'Together, we will build on the school's many strengths to ensure every learner has the opportunity to thrive. 'I am committed to fostering a positive, inclusive, and ambitious learning environment for all, as we continue our journey along the language continuum towards becoming a truly bilingual school.' Help support trusted local news Sign up for a digital subscription now: As a digital subscriber you will get Unlimited access to the County Times website Advert-light access Reader rewards Full access to our app Cllr Pete Roberts, Powys County Council's cabinet member for a learning Powys, hailed Mrs Orrells 'wealth of experience and a strong track record in educational leadership to her new role'. He added: 'Her deep understanding of the local education landscape will be a valuable asset to the school community. 'I'm excited to continue working alongside Anwen and the entire Ysgol Bro Caereinion community as we strive to improve educational outcomes for all learners. Together, we are committed to advancing the school's journey along the language continuum and fulfilling the goals set out in our Welsh in Education Strategic Plan.'
Powys County Times
3 days ago
- Business
- Powys County Times
Question marks over level of funding for Powys schools
A SENIOR councillor says work needs to be done to look into schools' funding needs as Powys council looks to recover from a scathing Estyn inspection report and improve exam results. At a meeting of Powys County Council's Liberal Democrat/Labour Cabinet on Tuesday, June 24, councillors received a received a report on the council's school standards improvement plan. This is partly a response to the scathing Estyn inspection report published in March into the education service. The document includes an integrated business plan (IBP) which explains the steps the council will try and take to improve education in the county over the next five years. The plan had been discussed by council's Learning and Skills scrutiny committee earlier this month and its chairman, Cllr Gwynfor Thomas (Conservative) who presented their views to Cabinet. Cllr Thomas said that the relationship of schools standards and funding needed to be thoroughly researched. Cllr Thomas said: 'I really do think a piece of work needs to be done on whether they have enough resource or are schools running too thin to provide a breadth of curriculum. 'We need to understand that.' Council leader, Cllr Jake Berriman (Liberal Democrat) said that the Cabinet had agreed to 'fully fund' the schools funding formula this year. Cllr Berriman reminded councillors of the need to provide a 'fair distribution' of resources to 'all areas' of the council. Finance portfolio holder Cllr David Thomas (Labour) said that the 'concern that funding is not meeting education needs' is a theme brought up by the committee 'constantly.' Cllr Thomas said: 'At the end of the day it's the responsibility of the funding formula working group. 'They should be working with scrutiny and the schools budget forum to put recommendations forward. 'If the formula is not fit for purpose, I would like to see some recommendations brought forward so it can be amended.' 'It's a bit unfair really to be saying we're not funding the needs of the curriculum as that's not something that is the responsibility of the finance department.' Earlier on, head of schools improvement and learning Anwen Orrells explained that the report compared how Powys schools perform against similar schools across Wales. This is done in 'families' of up to 10 schools. Mrs Orrells said: 'We've provided detailed data of the performance of Powys secondary and all age schools and highlighted areas that have declined over time. 'Based on Powys' level of free school meals and low level of deprivation it is an expectation that our schools should perform well above the national average, and this is not the case.' She explained that education chiefs have outlined what they intend to do to turn this around in the integrated business plan. Mrs Orrells said: 'These actions are designed to address the underlying factors that have led to the current situation and lay the ground for consistent and sustainable improvement across Powys.'
