LLANRUMNEY HIGH'S LAST EVER GCSE RESULTS

As school closes, we congratulate the class of 2013 on their great results

Llanrumney High School’s last cohort of pupils to sit examinations did themselves, their school and their community proud.

The class of 2013 achieved record results for the school with 42% of pupils achieving five or more A*-C grades at GCSE.

The class of 2013 were still in their respective primary schools when the local authority first sought in April 2006 the closure and merger of Llanrumney and Rumney high schools.

Theirs is a school generation that went about their education while unnecessary time was wasted seeking to build a new school on Rumney Rec without the support of the local community. It is to their utter credit that they and their teachers never gave anything less than their best.

Llanrumney High School will cease to officially exist at the end of August. As we wish the GCSE students all the best as they embark on their futures we know that our Llanrumney children will grab the opportunity to make history as they begin life in September at Eastern High.

Acting Llanrumney High School head Jan Hargreaves will lead talented Llanrumney High School teachers and pupils across to the new Eastern High knowing that exciting years lie ahead for education in east Cardiff. A new purpose-built school will be built for September 2016.

We look forward to seeing in September Llanrumney children wearing their new Eastern High blazers and ties with pride. Education and a rise in standards are fundamental priorities for the Labour-run council.

So thank you to the Llanrumney High School class of 2013 and to everybody who has contributed across the decades of Llanrumney High School’s life: 1958 to 2013.

Llanrumney Labour Councillors Keith Jones, Heather Joyce, Derrick Morgan

The above letter was published in the South Wales Echo on 27th August 2013. 

WOMEN & AUSTERITY

Friday 19th July 2013 

MY childhood was dominated by the love and influence of two women: my mum and my gran.

Two strong Welsh females who, like so many Welsh mams, led our family. Newport East Labour MP Jessica Morden highlighted in the Commons this week the disproportionate impact of the UK Government’s austerity policies are having on Welsh women.

In Wales two thirds of the people who work in the public sector are women.

The relentless ideological drive by the Tories and the Liberal Democrats to shrink the public sector inevitably means in Wales women are those hit the hardest.

Add to this the pay gap that still exists between men and women. Freezing pay has resulted in the current full-time pay gap standing at a staggering 14.9%.

Both my mum and gran have passed on but what would they make of a situation in 2013 where decades after women’s liberation Welsh women are the worst affected by the policies of a cabinet of millionaires in Downing Street?

As a councillor serving my home city it is distressing to be voting through decisions that necessitate cuts to what Cardiff council can provide.

These invariably mean great uncertainty and worry for the dedicated public servants who are the council’s employees.

In Wales most part-time jobs are undertaken by women to make ends meet and to fit around child care arrangements.

Twenty-seven per cent of these part-time jobs are in the public sector and 85% of those are women.

In Cardiff the Labour Party recently selected two talented female candidates to stand in the 2015 General Election: Mari Williams in Cardiff North and Jo Stevens in Cardiff Central. Both are talented, progressive individuals who will ensure that the Labour Party will always stand up for Welsh women.

Wales is stronger when the talent and ability of all our citizens is allowed to flourish. My mum and my gran, like so many Welsh women, act as an inspiration to us all.

Councillor Keith Jones

Cardiff Labour Group Secretary

The above letter was published in the South Wales Echo & The Western Mail on 19th July 2013. 

FINAL CHAPTER IN SCHOOL'S HISTORY

LLANRUMNEY High School threw open its doors for the whole community one last time this week. As the summer sun shone hundreds of former pupils filled the school with laughter and reunions as our community came together to celebrate the final chapter in 55 years of Llanrumney High School.

It was wonderful seeing former members of staff. From one of the originals when the school was opened on Wednesday, March 22, 1958, by Councillor CA Horwood to such legendary names as Mr “Rocco” Richards, Mrs Lewis and Mr “Shiner” Jones to modern loyal and talented servants such as Mrs Mahoney. Previous and serving governors were in attendance, including the former Lord Mayor of Cardiff Gill Bird, who loyally served the school and Llanrumney for many years.

As one generation after another toured the school, sharing anecdotes from across the decades, the walls of the old buildings echoed once again to the hopes and dreams of Llanrumney.

From its beginnings as Llanrumney County Secondary School with separate education for boys and girls to its emergence as a comprehensive school with mixed-gender education, it has mirrored the changing educational landscape of our times.

From O-levels to their replacements GCSEs, from offering A-levels to the abolition of its sixth form, from school colours of red and green to blue and yellow, our local school has undertaken more regenerations than Doctor Who.

It will shortly close for ever. We would like to place on record our appreciation to the last ever cohort of staff, students and governors.

Llanrumney and east Cardiff now more than ever before requires a local secondary school that will educate our children to the highest standards, comparable with anywhere in the United Kingdom.

The task now begins in earnest to ensure that no child is left behind as we strive to raise the life chances for future generations. These have been emotional times for Llanrumney but our community won’t cry because it’s over but smile because it happened.

Keith Jones, Heather Joyce and Derrick Morgan
Llanrumney Labour councillors

The above letter was published in the South Wales Echo on 12th July 2013. 

LLANRUMNEY FESTIVAL 2013

William Jones, 5, having fun at the festival. 

Saturday 29th June saw the annual Llanrumey Festival held at the Rumney Recreational Ground. 

Read my letter to the South Wales Echo reviewing it here:

2013 Llanrumney Festival

Read my report for the Guardian Cardiff on the 2010 Llanrumney Festival here:

2010 Llanrumney Festival

LITTLE VICTORIES FOR LLANRUMNEY

BEFORE: Utility box at Ball Lane

Councillors are often fixated with potholes and dog mess. There is a reason why these mundane and perpetual issues take up so much time. They matter to the quality of life in our communities.

In Llanrumney I am always looking at ways that I can make a difference with little victories. I have a zero tolerance attitude to indiscriminate graffiti. Cardiff Council is always quick to act when notified of graffiti. 

In my ward graffiti can spring up anywhere with scrawls and tagging. This utility box at Ball Lane is a classic example. It faces residential properties and sits at a well used footbridge near the popular Llanrumney Phoenix boxing club. 

AFTER: The cleaned up utility box at Ball Lane

By ensuring that we remove the graffiti we send a powerful message to the community. The council is on your side and cares about the environment within which you live. 

This morning I've received notification from council officers that more graffiti has been removed from the fire doors at the Eastern Leisure Centre and from a litter bin at a bus shelter at Llanrumney Avenue. Zero tolerance to graffiti that does not enhance the life of our community. 

Little victories can take other forms. After the new children's play area was installed at Rumney Recreation Ground its popularity was such that the pre-existing bin was unable to cope with the amount of litter from the play areas users. On alerting council officers to this issue two further smart council bins were placed on the site. Immediately ensuring that the play area remains clean and tidy. Not only is this vital for our children who use it but an area that is appreciated and looked after will not suffer vandalism and graffiti that invariably follows a neglected area. 

One of the two newly installed bins at Rumney Recreation Ground children's play area

CERYS FURLONG: LABOUR'S YEAR IN POWER

Labour Councillor Cerys Furlong 

Well it’s nearly three years since that pesky community & Labour activist Keith Jones asked me to write a guest post for his then ‘Cardiff East’ blog. Three years on and he reminds me I am no longer representative of the ‘new generation of Labour Councillors’ but perhaps in the eyes of my worst detractors, part of the establishment- that is Cardiff’s Labour Council. Well either way, this is a welcome opportunity to reflect on the past twelve months, personally and politically.

In my last post, I was one of 13 Labour Councillors elected to Cardiff Council. The UK had just returned a less than convincing victory for David Cameron leading to alliance known now as ‘The Coalition’. At that time, I was more concerned (on a day to day basis at least) with the coalition ruling Cardiff Council- The Liberal Democrats and Plaid Cymru, Berman and McEvoy. As Chair, and Press spokesperson of the then small opposition Labour Group, there was plenty to do. 

"As Chair, and Press spokesperson of the then small opposition Labour Group, there was plenty to do."

As we got into 2011 it became clear to me that the local elections of May 2012 were going to be quite different from my first experience of standing for Council in 2008, when I was returned as one of only two new Labour Councillors (the other being Heather Joyce). This time there were young people (as well as middle aged and older), women, a more diverse representation of religions, ethnicity and social class groups- and they were enthusiastic self- motivated campaigners.

So May 3^rd 2012 happened. I still owe one mate £20 for not thinking Labour would take more than 35 seats. I did not anticipate returning 46 Labour Councillors with a clear mandate for change in Cardiff. However, waking up (or rather being nudged after a short nap) to go and celebrate with our Leader Cllr Heather Joyce & First Minister Carwyn Jones, brought home the reality. We were going to do this. 

As a sitting Councillor, who had spent four years being frustrated at the lack of action on so many important issues, that was both incredibly exciting, and daunting. I had also started a new job only weeks earlier, and was unsure how my group being in control of the Council would impact on my work as a Councillor. There was also the matter of moving from being a group of 14, to 46.

"It’s absolutely fair to say it has not been plain sailing."

So what happened? Ha! Well, there have been differing accounts. It’s absolutely fair to say it has not been plain sailing. However, I never expected it to be. Under previous administrations it almost felt like there was no direction, no vision, no passion. There were clearly issues that individual politicians felt strongly about, championed, and deserve credit for. However, I always felt that it was local government mediocrity. Happy to continue as long as no one got too unhappy, criticised too much, or asked difficult questions. One thing is for sure, you can’t accuse this Labour Council of seeking to court the media for populist appeal?! I should know, I was part of the first story to make headlines; that surrounding the Lord Mayor. 

"In my four months as Chair of the Council, I went to some amazing events, mixed with business leaders, community groups, guides & scouts, people from a range of faith groups and from communities across Cardiff."

This issue is straightforward to me: The idea to separate the important roles of Lord Mayor and Chair of the Council is sound. So much so, that this is included in forthcoming legislation from Welsh Government to take effect across Wales. However, the process by which we went about this was in hindsight not the smartest political move. It became clear that the proposed changes could not be in-acted as quickly as suggested, and this caused understandable concern to some groups of residents. After a few months, I felt that it would be better to stand down, although the process to separate the role continues. Despite that start, I think we achieved some important things. In my four months as Chair of the Council, I went to some amazing events, mixed with business leaders, community groups, guides & scouts, people from a range of faith groups and from communities across Cardiff. I was humbled by the number of people who told me how refreshing it was to have a younger (and dare I say female) councillor representing the Council in this way, and I will treasure the letters and cards I received from them. That is not in any way to denigrate the fantastic Lord Mayors past and present, but simply to say that that role (like any other in the council) should be representative of the Councillors within the Council, and the people it serves. 

Cllr Cerys Furlong as Chair of Council raising money for Llamau

So what next? Not content with our first few sensationalist headlines, we ploughed straight into a Senior Management restructure. While I could understand some of the furore (indeed my own reservations are on record) this did not seem to me to be a strange move. In any place that I have worked, where there is a change in leadership direction, there likely follows a restructure of staff & resources to deliver this. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that in my view- it does not suggest that people were not doing a good job, it simply states: This is what we want to achieve; these are the roles we thing necessary to deliver that vision, and we want the best people possible to do that for Cardiff.

"I believe we are starting to see scrutiny begin to have an impact on policy in the Council in a way that rarely happened in the previous four years." 

Amongst the other changes I have observed over the last twelve months include a rejuvenation of the scrutiny process- It’s been fantastic to see motivated chairs and members, some as first time Councillors, taking on their roles with real energy. I believe we are starting to see scrutiny begin to have an impact on policy in the Council in a way that rarely happened in the previous four years. There is more to do here, and the Constitution Committee (which I chair) will be looking at the role of scrutiny, and how it plays a role in shaping policy and direction, as well as its traditional reflective scrutinising role, over the next twelve months. It’s only through working with Scrutiny Chairs and Councillors of all political parties that we will make these positive changes.

One of the key issues of policy I am pleased to see develop under this Council is the Local Development Plan (LDP). As a newly elected Councillor five years ago, I was shocked and depressed to see how this incredibly important process was being used for short term political gain. I argued then that we needed a more mature approach to planning the development of our city and I’m glad to see some of the issues I championed coming to the fore, and that despite having to make some unpopular decisions, Cllr Ralph Cook is leading that process effectively.  

"The pledge to freeze Council tax, made before the election, remained."

So fast forward to the budget. This was never going to be easy, we knew that before the elections. The pledge to freeze Council tax, made before the election, remained. Although in the context of the budget of over £500m, raising, freezing or lowering Council tax has little impact on the overall bottom line- and in that respect at least, I was content that tax payers in Cardiff might appreciate the relative stability in their household bills. I was also extremely pleased that we were able to deliver a Living Wage to Council employees- some of the lowest paid workers in our city. That said, there were some extremely difficult and painful decisions to make- not the sought that any politician comes into local government to make. However, that is the thing about local government, the buck stops with us. Most legislation passed in Westminster or Cardiff Bay requires local government to either directly, or indirectly deliver services. So in the real context of reducing budgets for Councils, and an extremely challenging economic situation, Councils have to make tough decisions. There is no shirking the legal responsibility to deliver a balanced budget. 

So that’s a very broad brush look at a year in Council. There are many other issues I could bore for Britain on, not least the work of the Constitution Committee in trying to reform how Council works. This is not sexy stuff, but a further example of this Council getting to grips with issues that had been simply ignored for too long. Outside of County Hall, ward work continues. This year it’s going to be fantastic to see the opening of a new building for Ysgol Treganna after years of campaigning by parents, pupils, teachers and residents. I’m also pleased to see investment going into Fitzalan High School- a school that has demonstrated it is possible to quietly but surely go about improving results and outcomes for children, year on year. 

And despite the frustrations, and the pantomime that is sometimes Full Council, it is good to see that we are slowly becoming more representative of the people we serve as Councillors. Granted progress is slow on some fronts (we have only 1% more women councillors now than in 2008) but the Council now has more representation from minority ethnic groups, younger Councillors, and more Councillors who also work. These I believe, are good things.

As for me?  I stand by what I said last time on Keith’s blog that; the reality of being a Councillor is that you do your best for four years (or in this case five) and then it’s up to the important people, the electorate, to decide if that best is good enough. You can’t say fairer than that. 

Councillor Cerys Furlong is a Labour Councillor serving the Canton ward and was first elected in 2008. In 2012 she served as Chair of Council and is currently the Chair of the Constitution Committee.

Councillor Furlong: @cerysfurlong 

JFK - PEACE SPEECH - 50 YEARS ON

Through his words JFK lives on for generations to come.

President John Fitzgerald Kennedy is a political hero of mine. JFK held the Presidency during one of the most dangerous times in world history, at the height of the Cold War. His greatness as a political leader can be seen by his handling of the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962. 

Fifty years ago he gave one of the greatest speeches ever given by a politician. On a sunny morning on 10th June 1963 JFK gave the Commencement Address at the American University. 

It has become known as the 'Peace Speech'. President Kennedy called on the Soviet Union to work with the USA to achieve a nuclear test ban treaty. He boldly called for an end to the Cold War. 

"I am talking about genuine peace, the kind of peace that makes life on earth worth living, the kind that enables men and nations to grow and to hope and to build a better life for their children - not merely peace for Americans but peace for all men and women - not merely peace in our time but peace for all time." 

The Soviet government broadcast a translation of Kennedy's entire speech and allowed it to be reprinted in the controlled Soviet press.

The words and sentiment of Kennedy's beautifully crafted speech speak to our world in 2013 as evocatively as they did five decades ago. 

"For, in the final analysis, our most basic common link is that we all inhabit this small planet. We all breathe the same air. We all cherish our children's future. And we are all mortal." 

JFK's gifted speechwriter Ted Sorensen never ceased from reminding the world of JFK's eloquence.

"That is why accuracy, not modesty or loyalty, compels me to emphasize once again that John Kennedy was the true author of all his speeches and writings."  

Today fifty years on I shall re-read JFK's 'Peace Speech' and listen to a President who continues to inspire. 

JFK's Commencement Address video & transcript