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Robs Weekly Round Up 11 July 2025
Rob's Weekly Round Up
11 July 2025
Helo Bawb,
We are back to our usual schedule for the weekly update, and I have a whole host of good news to share with you all.
This week saw the launch of the Reading Agency’s annual Summer Reading Challenge for 2025.
The Summer Reading Challenge is a free UK-wide initiative run by libraries encouraging children to read books during the summer holidays.
This year’s theme, The Story Garden, celebrates the magical connection between storytelling and the natural world. It offers a fantastic chance to highlight books in our libraries that explore nature, creativity, and imagination.
Among this year’s fantastic featured titles are The Ocean Gardener by Clara Anganuzzi - a beautifully illustrated story that dives deep into the mysteries of the underwater world, BOING! A Bouncy Book of Bugs by James Carter - a lively and interactive read about the tiny creatures buzzing all around us, and The Edge of The Silver Sea by Alex Mullarky - an enchanting adventure full of mystery and magic where the land meets the sea.
From the 5 July, children can sign up at any library and receive a folder to record their progress. For every two books they read and return, they’ll earn stickers as fun rewards.
Those who read six or more books will be awarded a medal and a certificate of achievement.
This is a wonderful opportunity to engage with our youngest residents throughout the summer holidays by encouraging a love of reading and supporting literacy development outside of school.
Jordan Forse, the Vale's Library and Cultural Services Manager, has embarked on his own Story Garden adventure this summer. Keep an eye on our social media pages for some exciting readings of featured books from this year’s reading list at various locations across the Vale!
For more information about the Summer Reading Challenge, click here.
As the Reading Challenge aims to inspire young minds through the world of books this summer, there's plenty more to do across the Vale for residents of all ages, especially following the news that GlastonBarry festival is set to rock Romilly Park until at least 2029 following the approval of its new license agreement.
Now entering its 12th year, GlastonBarry has become a staple event in the town, attracting thousands of music lovers from across South Wales and beyond.
With an event capacity of 6,000 people each day, GlastonBarry continues to grow in popularity, bringing with it significant economic and community benefits.
An estimated 50% of attendees travel from outside the Barry area, and the festival is believed to generate over £2.19 million for the local economy - offering a major boost to the hospitality and service sectors in the Vale of Glamorgan.
The agreement follows a request from the festival’s organisers Mack Event - to secure greater certainty for planning the festival in the long-term - and allows them to continue enhancing the experience for festival-goers and the local community alike.
This is truly fantastic news - GlastonBarry’s continued success is a testament to the ever-growing cultural offer in the Vale alongside other large-scale events in Barry such as Gwyl Fach y Fro, Barryfornia and the Barry Island Food Festival.
GlastonBarry will be taking place this year on Saturday 26 and Sunday 27 July 2025, and more information can be found here.
Keeping with the theme of summer fun, the Family Information Service has announced the launch of its Summer Holiday Programme for 2025.
This year’s programme offers a wide range of activities for families and young people throughout the school holidays.
A number of Vale services are offering several free events for children and teens to participate in during the school holidays - including free or low-cost craft and story events across all Vale libraries, as well as free multi-sport sessions, playschemes and play rangers across the county.
The Youth Service offers a variety of youth clubs and sports camps to keep young people engaged over the summer. Additional activities - such as drama and theatre sessions, dance and gym classes, animal encounters, cinema screenings, swimming lessons, and more - are also available for a fee.
During a time where finances are tight for many families in our communities, we’re proud to be able offer such a wealth of free and low-cost activities to keep children and young people active and engaged throughout the school holidays.
Diolch yn fawr to colleagues in the Family Information Service, the Youth Service, Flying Start and Health Living, Play and Sports for providing such an expansive programme this summer!
In other news, the Vale Learning Centre in Barry has recently seen impressive academic achievements among its ESOL learners.
Twenty-nine learners have passed their Trinity College London writing exams, achieving a 100% pass rate. This milestone reflects not only the excellent results but also the significant effort, commitment, and resilience demonstrated by the learners.
Additionally, 31 learners have successfully passed their Trinity Reading exams, while a further 28 are currently undertaking Speaking and Listening exams. These assessments range from Entry 1 up to Level 2, equivalent to GCSE grades A-C, marking important progress in their language learning journeys.
Area Development Officer Genevieve Davies said: “Our ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) learners come from all over the world. They face the challenges of navigating a new country, often while supporting families, finding work, and adjusting to life in a new culture.
“Learning English is at the heart of that journey. It gives people the tools to support their children’s education, to apply for jobs, to understand everyday conversations, and to feel a greater sense of confidence and belonging. It’s also a key part of preparing for the UK citizenship exam, which is something many of our learners are working towards.
She added: “Our learners work so hard to improve their skills and show real dedication to their studies, often fitting them in around family and work commitments and responsibilities.
“Our tutors play a massive role too – not just focusing on the curriculum — they encourage our learners in so many ways, helping and supporting them beyond the classroom. We’re incredibly grateful for the care and commitment they show to their learners.”
These successes are a huge step forward in each learner’s language learning journey and represents significant personal milestones that open up new opportunities and strengthens their place in the community. Llongyfarchiadau i chi gyd!
On the subject of reaching for new heights, Julie Thomas - a Rehabilitation and Mobility Officer for Visually Impaired - is hiking up Pen-Y-Fan in aid of Sight Cymru on Saturday 12th July.
Sight Cymru support people living with sight loss across Wales and the Hike 4 Sight event seeks raise vital funds and awareness for the charity.
If you’d like to support Julie’s trek, you can donate here. Pob lwc Julie!
On Tuesday evennig I went along to the launch of the Cowbridge Place plan. Placemaking is about partners and residents working together to collectively improve our communities and so it was great to see such a wide range of people there.
I spoke to residents of the town, local business owners, and town councillors. All had played a role in shaping the plans for Cowbridge and it was pleasing to hear that all saw a clear role for themselves in making the plan a reality.
Most pleasing was to hear the Deputy Leader for Cowbridge Town Council singling out our Creative Communities team for special praise, even going so far as asking them to stand a take a bow! Diolch yn fawr to the team for all their work to support the town council and others over the last two years to get the plan to this stage.
Similarly to the plans for Llantwit Major and Penarth, the Cowbridge plan seeks to build on what already makes the town a great places and make it an even better place to live, work, or visit for future generations. I can't wait to see the results.
Many colleagues in our schools will I am sure be looking ahead to the last full week of the summer term next week. For those who may not be around a week today I’d like to offer and early thank you for all your work throughout the year.
We know the difference that giving everyone a good start in life makes to young people’s prospects and life in the Vale more broadly. It is often in our schools that we can most clearly see the difference our colleagues make to the lives of children and young people.
It was also clear to see in some feedback I saw this week from two senior Welsh Government officials who visited the Canolfan Iaith (Language Centre) at Ysgol Gwaun y Nant in Barry. The centre helps pupils rapidly improve their Welsh language skills to enable them to transition to, or sometimes stay in, Welsh medium education at another of our schools. The pair were so impressed with what they saw they got in touch to share what a great time they had observing the children’s progress and to praise the staff who support them. Gwaith da pawb a mwynhewch y gwyliau haf!
Finally, as I mentioned last week, the Sustrans charity is running two cycle confidence sessions for staff this summer.
The first one is designed to help people who may not be confident cycling by providing tips on road position and which bike to choose and the second tutorial which focuses on bike maintenance, including how to repair a puncture.
If you still haven’t registered your interest and would like to join one or both of the sessions, there is still time to sign-up using the links below:
As always, thank you for your contributions this week – they are always very much appreciated by myself and the Strategic Leadership Team (SLT).
For those not in work this weekend, enjoy a restful and relaxing couple of days off.
Diolch yn fawr iawn,
Rob