Saltney: St David’s High School sees positive turnaround

A headteacher has praised the investment in his school after concerns were raised by a councillor earlier this year at the conditions staff and pupils were working in.

Back in April, Connah’s Quay South Cllr Bill Crease (Ind) reported on a visit he had made to St David’s High School in Saltney to a meeting of Flintshire Council’s corporate resources scrutiny committee.

He claimed he had witnessed children and teachers wearing gloves, scarves and coats during cold weather due to a lack of heating, with wheelie bins used to catch leaks from the roof.

In response to those comments at the same meeting Flintshire Council’s chief executive Neal Cockerton said there were “a number of pieces of activity” relating to the school in the pipeline.

The council is currently determining a strategy for school modernisation in the Saltney area expected to be unveiled around March next year.

Options for the future of secondary education in Saltney and Broughton have been up in the air for a number of years since plans for a rebuild of St David’s fell through a few years ago.

Six months on from Cllr Crease’s comments, the school’s headteacher Steven Richardson has told the Local Democracy Reporting Service that roof repairs are now happening and money is in place to fix the boiler with the council investing a six-figure sum in refurbishments.

As well as the refurbishment work taking place, Mr Richardson added that an improvement in the academic results of pupils and a surge of interest in the school from prospective pupils and their parents.

He said: “We are now in October and the roof is in the process of being repaired and the local authority has now allocated money so that the boiler can be fixed. Flintshire County Council has invested almost half a million pounds in the building and refurbishment is well under way.

“Perhaps more importantly, the school has produced some excellent exam results this year, with the overall Capped 9-point score reaching 384 points (the Welsh average was 356).

“The Capped 9-point score measures the best nine GCSE results but three of the nine must include the grades achieved in Maths, English and Science. Furthermore 19 per cent of the pupils received five or more A/A* grades which again is truly remarkable. “

Mr Richardson added: “In addition to this, more pupils than ever are choosing St David’s as their local high school with a record number of Year 7 pupils who joined us in September.

“This was also reflected in our recent open evening where over 400 visitors had an insight into the inner workings of our fantastic school, and many are now excited to join us in September 2024.”

By Rory Sheehan – Local Democracy Reporter (more here).