Robs Weekly Round Up 

16 August 2024

Dear colleagues,

I’d like to start this week by congratulating those young people across the Vale who would have received various results (including A and AS levels) yesterday.  

Our schools deliver great outcomes for children and young people and there will have been much celebration yesterday after another excellent performance for the Vale.  

A lot of effort has gone into achieving this success and I hope our pupils and former pupils are able to savour the moment before they move onto the next stage of their education or employment journey. 

We must also not forget the hard work put in by teachers and school staff without which none of these great outcomes would be possible.  

Some will of course not have achieved what they may have been hoping for and for them this will be a time when the help and support of our great teams will be even more valuable.  

Also, as a parent who has lived through a number of results days in recent (and not so recent) years I’d like to send my regards to all of those colleagues who will have shared in all the emotions of their loved ones on Thursday morning.  

Next, I’d like to congratulate another group of colleagues, those at Dinas Powys Primary School, on a different set of results. The result of the school’s inspection by Estyn was published earlier this week.  

It is very positive and describes the schools as “a welcoming, inclusive school where leaders and staff are committed to providing effective care and support for all pupils. Staff nurture positive relationships with pupils, which ensures that most feel safe and happy in school. Leaders focus their work firmly on improving outcomes for pupils’ learning and well-being. As a result, most pupils, including those eligible for free school meals and those with additional learning needs (ALN), make good progress.” 

It is great to see the hard work of Jon-Paul Guy and the team at the school being recognised. Congratulations all. Llongyfarchiadau. 

On Tuesday I led an extended SLT session where we reviewed the current Reshaping prospectus and set priorities for the projects that will lead the transformation of the Council over this year and next. These will be presented to all colleagues in September in the next in our series of Welcome to the Council of the Future sessions and I am very excited to share our plans.  

Making the best possible use of our resources is central the building a better Vale of Glamorgan Council for the future. Those of you working from the Civic Offices this week may have noticed that work is now underway on a refresh of the Learning and Skills section of the building. A new layout and furniture are being used to create a functional modern workplace for the team. This is due to be completed in early Autumn.  

Early next month we will, as part of Eich Lle, welcome colleagues from Ysgol y Deri to the building. They will begin delivering some of their services from the Civic to make best use of our available space and I am sure will get a very warm welcome. 

A huge amount of work is needed to make these moves happy. Diolch yn fawr iawn to all those managing the moves.  

Sadly (for us) one of those who has been leading the delivery of Eich Lle and supporting many other changes projects is leaving the Council this week. Dawn Rees retires today after 34 years with the organisation. 

Dawn joined the Council in August 1990 as a clerk before becoming the PA to the then Director of Finance, ICT and Property - a post she held for 16 years before a move into HR as an assistant HR Business Partner.  

Dawn's last job was with the Business Improvement Team where she's worked on a range of projects, building strong working relationships especially with Social Services and contributing to the Space Project.  

I’d like to wish Dawn a very happy retirement. She has been a trusted and loyal member of Team Vale for over three decades. Her can-do attitude and willingness to roll up her sleeves to get the job done always with a smile and compassion for her colleagues will be sorely missed. And I understand from her colleagues that so will her dance moves at Christmas! 

Yn olaf, llongyfarchiadau mawr i’r cor o Ysgol Bro Morgannwg. Along with many other schools in the Vale they competed in this year’s National Eisteddfod in Pontypridd last week. One of YBM’s groups came first in the open vocal ensemble of 3 - 6 members, a great success.  

I’m sure many colleagues visited the festival. It was a great celebration of our national culture. I know first hand how challenging and rewarding it is to plan for a successful Eisteddfod having led on it for the Vale of Glamorgan in 2012 so congratulations are also due to colleagues at RCT who seemed to have pulled it off with much success. 

Don’t forget if this year’s festival has whetted your appetite to improve your Cymraeg, or even start from scratch, there are courses for learners at all levels starting next month.  

Thanks as always for your work this week. Diolch yn fawr iawn.  

Rob.