Have your say
Proposal to Federate
Proposal to federate St Florence Church in Wales VC School and Penrhyn Church in Wales VC School
Foreword
St Florence Church in Wales VC School and Penrhyn Church in Wales VC School have been working in collaboration as a ‘soft’ federation since September 2022, with the Headteacher of St Florence Church in Wales VC School, acting as Executive Headteacher. Prior to this period, the Headteacher at Penrhyn VC School was a longstanding appointment since the school opened in September 2017 and subsequently leaving the authority in August 2022.
Collaboration between schools forms a central tenet of Welsh Government policy, and the role of the local authority is to support such schools. As stated above, the position of being unable to recruit a headteacher for Penrhyn Church in Wales VC School has led to the governing body, supported by the Diocese Director of Education (Church in Wales), concluding that establishing a federation is a logical and sensible step forward.
Meetings of the governing bodies of St Florence Church in Wales VC School and Penrhyn Church in Wales VC School were held on 20th February 2025 with discussions regarding the future leadership arrangements at the schools. The resolutions of both governing bodies were to support the principle of Federation and that the process be led by the schools and supported by the local authority. Subsequently, Cabinet considered the benefits of establishing a Federation at its meeting on 28th April 2025, with approval being given to the Director of Education to commence statutory consultation on behalf of the schools.
This consultation document sets out the case for a change to the leadership and governance arrangements at St Florence Church in Wales VC School and Penrhyn Church in Wales VC School with a view to establishing a Federation between the two schools.
We look forward to receiving your views on this proposal.
Steven Richards-Downes
Director of Education
The proposal
Meetings of the governing bodies of St Florence Church in Wales VC School and Penrhyn Church in Wales VC School were held on 20th February 2025 with discussions regarding the future leadership arrangements at the schools. The resolutions of both governing bodies were to support the principle of Federation and that the process be led by the schools with support provided by the local authority.
At its meeting on 28th April 2025, the Council’s Cabinet considered a report which outlined that the two schools were already in a successful ‘soft’ (informal) federation, and the Headteacher recruitment difficulties encountered by Penrhyn Church in Wales VC School. Members considered the benefits of establishing a formal Federation, and Cabinet’s decision was:
That the decisions of St Florence Church in Wales VC School and Penrhyn Church in Wales VC School to proceed to consult on a federation of the two schools be noted; and the Director of Education be authorised to commence consultation on behalf of the two schools.
The Council proposes to use the powers granted by the Federation of Maintained Schools (Wales) Regulations 2014 to establish the above federation; however, prior to its implementation, it is incumbent on the Council to consult on the proposal.
The term ‘Federation’ describes a formal and legal agreement by which the schools involved work together in formal partnership under a single governing body (GB). The existing GBs will be dissolved and replaced by a new, single GB with strategic oversight of both schools.
The proposed name of the Federation is The Federation of St Florence and Penrhyn Church in Wales Voluntary Controlled Schools but this may be modified following consultation.
If the proposal is accepted, the Federation will come into being on 1 January 2026.
Consultation arrangements
This document represents the Council’s responsibilities under The Federation of maintained Schools (Wales) Regulation 2014 to consult with appropriate stakeholders and to explain the reasons for federation and details of specific governance matters. The main purpose of this document is to provide information and in order to gather the views of identified stakeholders.
There is a statutory duty to seek the views of the following stakeholders, to whom the proposal will be distributed:
- Pembrokeshire County Council – local elected members in the areas covered by the schools;
- The headteachers of both schools (if applicable);
- The school council of each of the two schools (in a format appropriate to age);
- All staff paid to work at each of the two schools;
- Every known parent or carer of a registered learner at each of the two schools;
- Every trade union known to have members paid to work at each of the two schools;
- The Diocese of Education (Church in Wales);
- All foundation governors;
- Any other relevant persons the governing bodies considers should see the proposals.
The Council will also distribute the document to the following:
Constituency Members of UK Parliament:
- Henry Tufnell MP – Mid and South Pembrokeshire
Constituency Members of Senedd:
- Samuel Kurtz MS - Carmarthen and South Pembrokeshire
- Paul Davies MS – Preseli Pembrokeshire
Regional Members of Senedd – Mid and West Wales
- Jane Dodds MS, Cefin Campbell MS, Joyce Watson MS, Eluned Morgan MS
Town/Community Councils - Tenby area
- St Florence
Town/Community Councils - Pembroke area
- Hundleton
A copy of the proposal will also be available for inspection at all reasonable times at each school in the proposed federation.
There will be an opportunity for the pupils of both schools to participate in the consultation process. This will take place with the relevant School Councils. The information provided to children and young people will be presented in such a way that it is relevant to their age and level of likely understanding.
The information gathered from the consultation with pupils will form part of the Consultation Report which will be considered by Cabinet prior to its decision.
The consultation period for this proposal will be 9 June 2025 until 18 July 2025.
During this period, you can express your views by writing to the Director of Education by using any of the following methods:
You can give your views by completing this online response form (opens in a new tab).
Letter to:
Mr Steven Richards-Downes
Director of Education
County Hall,
Haverfordwest
SA61 1TP
Email:
Federationconsultations@pembrokeshire.gov.uk
At the end of the consultation period the feedback from the consultation will be collated and summarised, and a report presented to a meeting of Pembrokeshire County Council’s Cabinet. This consultation report will be available for all to view on the Council website and hard copies obtainable on request from the address below.
Your questions
The content of this Consultation Document is likely to provide answers to the most common questions that will arise regarding the proposal. In addition, Appendix A provides answers from the Welsh Government to frequently asked questions. However, should you have any further questions, please contact David Thompson on the following email address: Federationconsultations@pembrokeshire.gov.uk
You can write to:
David Thompson
Education Access & Compliance Manager
Education Directorate
County Hall
Haverfordwest
SA61 1TP
Key points of Federation
The Welsh Government’s policy objective is to promote collaboration between all parts of the education system to improve outcomes. School federation is a more formal way of extending collaboration and promoting closer working relationships. It is a principal initiative for achieving formal partnership working amongst schools to improve performance.
As part of its statutory responsibility for the planning of school provision, Federation is considered as an option within Pembrokeshire County Council’s strategic planning for effective and efficient school provision in and across communities.
Federation is not an amalgamation, a take-over or a route to closure. Rather, it is a partnership of the two schools sharing a joint vision for a venture that would serve the interests of pupils, staff and both school communities. The schools would remain as separate establishments; they would be funded and inspected separately, produce separate accounts and report their assessment results separately. However, the governing body of the federation has the option of pooling a portion of the budget of the two schools to enhance joint working or shared staffing should the opportunity arise.
St Florence Church in Wales VC School and Penrhyn Church in Wales VC School have been working in collaboration as a ‘soft’ federation since September 2022, with the Headteacher of St Florence Church in Wales VC School, acting as Executive Headteacher. Prior to this period, the Headteacher at Penrhyn VC School was a longstanding appointment since the school opened in September 2017 and subsequently leaving the authority in August 2022.
The collaboration has been achieved with the full support of the governing bodies of both schools. It should be noted that the arrangements ‘to-date’ have been informal and do not constitute a legally binding agreement between the two schools. As it stands currently, any party could withdraw from its collaboration, thereby resulting in a vulnerable situation.
In order to address this, and to allow more efficient use of school budgets, the governing bodies of St Florence and Penrhyn have expressed a desire to consider establishing a federation of the two schools under one governing body.
The federation’s governing body will have both schools’ delegated budgets at its disposal so that funding is used creatively to improve resources and staffing arrangements at those schools. This includes determining the ongoing arrangements to employ an executive headteacher.
The executive headteacher is in a position to continue to improve provision at St Florence and Penrhyn schools through setting a clear direction, establishing a common ethos and developing the expertise of staff. This work has already begun.
Federation offers opportunities for the two schools to:
- Learn from one another
- Improve performance through sharing good practice, expertise, preparation materials and resources
- Streamline policies and structures
- Offer enhanced opportunities for wider experiences to pupils
- Provide wider professional development opportunities for staff
- Retain their individuality and ethos and to remain open in their communities
- Provide greater leadership opportunities for staff which supports the Local Authority in developing future leaders for its schools.
Background information on collaboration between the schools
St Florence is an English Medium, 3-11, mixed, voluntary controlled Church in Wales school with capacity for 95 pupils. Penrhyn is an English Medium, 3-11, mixed, voluntary controlled Church in Wales schools with capacity for 120 pupils. St Florence Church in Wales VC School has a headteacher (Mrs Julie Davies) who acts as the Executive Headteacher for both schools.
St Florence and Penrhyn have been collaborating under the executive leadership of Mrs Davies since September 2022. Mrs Davies splits her time equally between both schools. She leads and acts on behalf of both schools at all times, e.g. when attending courses, conferences and Headteacher and Diocesan meetings.
Since September 2022 staff from St Florence and Penrhyn school have taken part and identified collaborative practices whenever possible. For example, staff collaborate effectively to create an engaging curriculum that has led to a wide range of learning opportunities for pupils. They plan jointly and closely with colleagues in both schools, pupils have taken part in school-to-school visits to share and see good practice. There have been joint learning walks and meetings to complete work scrutiny – this allows for quality assurance, moderation and sharing of good practice.
The joint leadership team work closely together, and this has led to a programme of planned monitoring, evaluating and reviewing. Where priorities align on the school development plan the headteacher has been able to work with Areas of Learning (AOLE) leads in both schools to create bespoke plans for each school that draws upon a wider pool of expertise.
The schools share resources such as visiting theatre companies, they share joint residential trips to Morfa Bay and day trips such as Skomer Island this allows both schools to share staff and resources. St Florence school make use of Penrhyn school facilities and the minibus whilst Penrhyn school’s ALNCo and admin officer from St Florence school share their expertise over both schools.
St Florence Church in Wales VC School was last inspected by Estyn in March 2019, and this resulted in four recommendations, as follows:
- Improve pupils’ mathematics and numeracy skills
- Improve pupils’ Welsh speaking skills
- Ensure that improvement processes focus on evaluating and improving pupils’ standards
- Ensure that teaching provision in the foundation phase challenges all pupils effectively and develops their independence
The overview of the inspection report is as follows:
St Florence Voluntary Controlled Primary School is in the village of St Florence in Pembrokeshire local authority. There are 68 pupils on roll aged from three to eleven years, including five who attend part-time in the nursery. The school organises its pupils into three mixed-age classes. Over the last three years on average, around 17% of pupils are eligible for free school meals, which is similar to the national average of 18%. The school identifies about 24% of pupils as having additional learning needs. This is slightly above the national average of 21%. A very few pupils come from an ethnic minority background and a very few have English as an additional language. No pupil speaks Welsh at home. The headteacher took up her post in September 2015. The school’s previous inspection was in March 2014.
It should be noted that Estyn carried out a review in February 2021 and reported that St Florence is judged to have made sufficient progress in addressing the recommendations and was subsequently removed from the list of schools requiring Estyn review.
Penrhyn Church in Wales VC School was last inspected by Estyn in September 2022, and this resulted in five recommendations, as follows:
- Embed the new leadership strategies to ensure that monitoring and evaluation processes improve teaching and the planning of learning experiences
- Improve the effectiveness of teaching, planning and assessment to challenge all pupils consistently
- Improve pupils’ extended writing skills
- Ensure that pupils apply their numeracy and digital skills effectively across the curriculum
- Strengthen the provision for pupils to speak Welsh, and the learn about the culture and heritage of Wales
The overview of the inspection report was as follows:
In a very short space of time, the executive headteacher has worked diligently with the school’s governing body and the local authority to develop a positive culture of teamwork amongst the staff and the local community. This has begun to address important weaknesses in the school’s leadership practices and provision.
Over time, leaders have not monitored and evaluated the school’s work and its impact on pupils’ learning carefully enough. This has led to a lack of sufficiently challenging learning experiences to support pupils to progress and demonstrate their true abilities. Over time, leaders have not addressed vital aspects of the school’s provision well enough. This includes improving teaching and assessment practices through purposeful professional development and implementing the Curriculum for Wales within required timescales.
Pupils interact well with adults and each other and they are courteous and polite. They enjoy coming to school and are eager to learn. This is due to the positive working relationships that they have with their teachers and the support staff. There is a welcoming and inclusive atmosphere at the school and pupils and staff enthuse about the newly decorated corridors and the re-furbished and re-organised library and cooking areas.
The school environment promotes beneficial learning opportunities, both indoors and in the extensive outdoor areas. Within these appealing learning areas, all staff promote a positive ethos of care and guidance for pupils. This encourages pupils to take responsibility for their own well-being and behaviour effectively and contributes to their positive approach to school life. This culture of support helps pupils to build confidence in themselves as individuals, while also developing a strong respect for the feelings of others.
Pupils' speaking in English, their listening, reading, creative and physical skills make good progress as they move through the school, and they use these skills effectively across many areas of the curriculum. However, pupils do not develop their writing, numeracy, digital and Welsh oracy skills well enough, when considering their positive starting points at school.
Since taking up her role, the executive headteacher has shared responsibilities effectively among staff and provided relevant opportunities for professional learning. This has begun to develop and contribute to a thriving whole-school ethos, where staff and pupils feel valued for their contributions to school life.
It should be noted that Estyn carried out a monitoring visit in March 2024 and reported that Penrhyn is judged to have made sufficient progress in relation to the recommendations following the recent core inspection and was subsequently removed from the list of schools requiring significant improvement.
It is the view of the Local Authority that proceeding to a federation will enhance the capacity to improve distributed leadership and teaching and learning in both schools.
By entering into a federation, the two schools can work together under shared leadership to utilise their strengths to improve standards across the federation and together address areas in need of improvement.
By federating under one GB the climate of trust, openness and willingness to work together that already exists can be further cemented and the pooling of budgets enhances resource provision and the time available to the Executive Headteacher and leadership team to provide appropriate leadership and management for both schools to secure further improvement. The GB of the Federation will ensure there is fairness in the share of the budget allocated to each school.
What does it mean for the schools?
The benefits of collaboration between St Florence and Penryn Church in Wales VC schools are already evident. This arrangement will be formalised and improved further through the establishment of a federation between the governing bodies of the two schools. Moving forward the schools would be able to align their priorities when appropriate, leading to more efficient and effective working – this would support ongoing school improvement. Having greater staff capacity would strengthen opportunities for continual professional development for staff – it would support the development of bespoke, but linked curriculums for each school. This means that while the schools will maintain their individual identities, they will work more closely together to provide a stronger education for all pupils.
The existing governing bodies will cease to exist and a new governing body, with representatives from both schools and their communities, will lead the work of the federation. This will allow for pooling of some parts of the budgets of the two schools with resulting efficiencies. The single GB can share resources and expertise across the schools and work to raise standards and improve teaching, learning and outcomes for pupils across both schools. However, these are matters for the federation governing body to determine.
The two schools will continue to be funded separately based on pupil numbers in each, and according to the Local Authority’s funding formula. In 2024-25 the funding per pupil (net of SEN) at St Florence was £4,529; at Penrhyn was £5,070 per pupil. It is important to note that these figures include the funding given for pupil and non-pupil funding within the LA’s funding formula and that this accounts for the difference in funding between the two schools.
Each school will be funded for a headteacher based on the LA’s agreed formula range for the size of the school. The Individual School Range (ISR) for the leaders of the federation will be determined by the total pupil numbers in the two schools.
While the staffing structure of the federation’s schools will be for the federation GB to determine, advice will be available from the schools’ Improvement Adviser in order to explore a range of options with a view to ensuring the chosen structure is sustainable and encourages distributed leadership.
As Voluntary Controlled schools, the current over-arching employer of teaching and non-teaching staff is Pembrokeshire County Council. Under the proposal, there would be no change to existing terms and conditions of employment for staff.
Existing staff cannot be compelled to work in both schools but this can be done by negotiation. Future members of staff can be appointed to work in both schools providing expertise that one school alone could not afford. It is not expected that this will result in pupils having several teachers. Rather, it provides the flexibility for teachers from both schools to benefit from joint working and sharing of expertise, reducing duplication of effort and having greater opportunities for career development through working in a federation of schools. There will be a greater pool of resources and expertise that can be used more flexibly across the schools.
Pupils may benefit from a greater range of educational opportunities and resources and improved outcomes as a result of the greater number of staff collaborating to secure improvements in teaching and learning. Pupils may also benefit from broader social experiences and greater opportunities for extracurricular activities.
There may also be cost savings through bulk purchases. In addition, there will be one school development plan for both schools and the headteacher will have to report to only one GB. There will also be the option for the two schools to share common policies, as approved by the federated GB.
Separate accounts have to be produced for each school so this will allow monitoring to ensure each school is being treated fairly in terms of budget share. Each school will have to report its results separately. Each school will be inspected separately though, increasingly, Estyn is inspecting all schools in a federation at the same time.
In summary, the two schools will remain as separate entities, managed by one federated GB with greater opportunities for collaboration between the two schools.
Proposed composition of the governing body
Regulations stipulate the minimum number of governors of various categories permitted to sit on a federated governing body. In relation to the proposed federation of St Florence and Penrhyn Church in Wales VC Schools, the options are summarised in the table below and comply with the statutory requirements for federated Voluntary Controlled governing bodies. The local authority’s recommendation for the composition of the governing body is provided as follows:
Category of governor |
Number allowed by regulations |
Notes |
Local authority's recommendation - St Florence |
Local authority's recommendation - Penrhyn |
| Parent (elected) | 1-2 for each school in the federation | At least one but no more than two parent governors elected or appointed for each federated school. | 1 | 1 |
| Teacher (elected) | 1-2 | At least one but no more than two teacher governors. | 1 | 1 |
| Staff (elected) | 1-2 | At least one but no more than two staff governors. | 1 | 1 |
| Local authority | 2-4 | At least two but no more than four local authority governors | 2 | 2 |
| Community | 2-4 | At least two but no more than four community governors. | 1 | 1 |
| Foundation | 2-5 | At least two but no more than five foundation governors. | 1 | 1 |
| Additional community | not applicable | For any primary or nursery school in a federation which is situated in a community council area, the governing body must include an additional community governor in addition to those listed above. | 1 between 2 schools | 1 between 2 schools |
| Headteacher | not applicable | the head teacher or acting head of the federation if one is appointed or the headteacher or acting head teacher of each school in the federation unless those persons resign as a governor. | 1 between 2 schools | 1 between 2 schools |
Total = 16
Admission arrangements
The admission arrangements for each school will remain unchanged. The Local Authority is the admissions authority for each school. Parents will apply for a place for their child at the school of their choice, not at the Federation, as each school in the federation is a separate school. If the child is not given a place in the school they choose, a separate application will have to be made to attend a different school. This is the case even if the second school applied for is the other school in the federation. Applications for either school must be made using the online system on the Pembrokeshire County Council website.
Current and proposed staffing arrangements
The current contracted staffing arrangements at the two schools is as follows:
St Florence
Headteacher
Full time equivalent (0.5)
Teachers
Full time equivalent (2.5)
Penrhyn
Headteacher
Full time equivalent (0.5)
Teachers
Full time equivalent (2.9)
The proposed staffing arrangements following the implementation of the federation will be as follows:
St Florence
Headteacher
Full time equivalent (0.5)
Teachers
Full time equivalent (2.5)
Penrhyn
Headteacher
Full time equivalent (0.5)
Teachers
Full time equivalent (2.9)
You can give your views by completing this online response form (opens in a new tab).