The College Merthyr Tydfil
Y Coleg Merthyr Tudful
Core Brief
Edition 13– October 2012
Welcome to the thirteenth edition of the Core Brief for The College
Merthyr Tydfil
The Core Brief will continue to be published on a monthly basis to
provide staff and others with regular updates on progress on the
College development.
Managers/Headteachers: For those staff not on email will you please
ensure your teams/school are aware of these updates at your next team
meeting. If any of your team has a question or comment on this content,
please send them to questions.college@merthyr.ac.uk or come and see
Leanne Jones, Rachel Elias-Lee or John O’Shea at the college.
All colleagues: We are also continually looking for ways to improve the
way we are communicating information and progress on the College
Merthyr Tydfil. Help us to improve this by feeding back any suggestions or
comments on the core brief to questions.college@merthyr.ac.uk
Update on other activities and progress – October 2012
Capital Developments
Building Construction
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We are 38 weeks into a 77 week construction programme and are still on target for a 28th June
2013 delivery of the new college building.
Glazing to the south elevation has substantially progressed and all steel supports for the internal
teaching spaces have been integrated into the concrete frame.
The steel frame has been installed for the grand stairs in the atrium foyer and internal
partitioning is continuing to the ground, first, second and third floors.
Window and curtain walling has been installed to most elevations now and rain screen is
progressing to the south and west elevations.
Windows fitted on ground and first floor
Construction of steel
structure for glazed roof
Installation
of
steelwork frame for
the fourth floor rooms
and to support the
roof and sports hall
cladding.
Internal Design and Specification
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The Project Delivery Manager and Davis Langdon Project Manager are continuing to review the
C-sheets for power, data, services, ceilings, furniture and the coordination of these elements
within each room. Ground, first and second floor have been completed to date, with third floor
currently being reviewed.
Work has been undertaken to review the ceiling and floor finishes and tweak materials where
necessary to ensure functionality and value are maintained. As part of this exercise, samples of
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the grand stairs and timber cladding to the atrium have been provided to the Estates,
Infrastructure and Finance group for consideration.
Lighting design and specification has been reviewed in line with ceiling finish changes and a
movement to a Welsh supplier. Lighting is being reviewed in terms of room function and
construction, with consideration being given to the energy consumption and ongoing revenue
cost of maintaining the light fittings.
RMJM are currently advising on colour scheme and theme for the internal spaces.
Building Consultation
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The PDM and wider college support team, including the Assistant Principal Advanced
Programmes, has been undertaking meetings with individual school subject teaching staff to
establish all teaching resources, IT hardware and software requirements, revenue budget needs
and anything more that may be needed to deliver specific subjects in the new building. To date
the college have conducted meetings for Biology, History, Mathematics, English, French and
Physical Education.
Social Monitoring
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Interserve are continuing to achieve their ‘Social Performance’ targets with monthly monitoring
reports provided to the Project Delivery Manager.
Currently 79% of the workers employed on the project are from the local area, with a further
18% from within South Wales. The value of services being sourced and installed from
Businesses based in South Wales was £9.5m as at 10th October 2012. This is £2.5m above
Interserve’s original target.
The college has agreed a programme of work experience placements for level 2 and level 3
Business Administration students, with the first student commencing their placement on Friday
5th October. It is proposed to offer ten students a four week placement each over the next 40
weeks.
Interserve will be providing a session on Sustainability for
a group of Welsh Baccalaureate students on Tuesday 6th
November. This session will explore key elements of
sustainability and support the teaching for the
sustainability module of the Welsh Baccalaureate.
ICT Infrastructure
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Open sessions have been held for both college and secondary
school staff to come along and try out the mock teaching wall
design and IT equipment (including interactive projector/3D
projector etc.). The key aim of the sessions has been to enable staff
to try out the new interactive projector in order to sample some of
the key benefits it can provide and gain an understanding of how
they can use it to support their teaching. All staff have been
encouraged to feed back their thoughts and comments on whether
it fully meets their teaching needs in order to help us decide what
to standardise on in the new college.
“I much prefer the Epson to the Smartboard particularly due
to software being available on all computers, also easier to
use and calibrate. However I feel all staff should be
allocated their own pen which they are responsible for due
to problems with pens going missing from Smartboards”.
Alison Cox, Tutor, The College Merthyr Tydfil
Mr N Dufty, Head of Mathematics at Afon
Taf High School tries out the new
interactive projector
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Staff IT training
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A draft staff IT training plan has been developed outlining the schedule of staff training for
existing staff during 2012/13. This will include basic, intermediate and advanced training on a
variety of IT programmes and applications, including Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint,
Internet, Virtual Learning Environment, Communications and College Applications. Some training
sessions on the Virtual Learning Environment have commenced with further sessions on the
other areas due to take place over the forthcoming months.
Old Town Hall
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Graham Construction are 32 weeks into a 71 week project and are reporting to be on target
for a 28th June 2013 delivery.
Roof repairs are now well advanced and good progress has been made on masonry and
terracotta repairs.
The ground floor slab and precast concrete stairs have been installed in the internal courtyard.
Mechanical and electrical works are starting to make good progress throughout the building.
The college met with the OTH project team and consultants on 10th October to discuss the C
sheets for the college spaces and to make any necessary tweaks to power, data and services.
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Learning Developments
Curriculum and Learning Team
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The Assistant Principal Advanced Programmes is in the process of meeting with current college
staff and subject area leaders at the secondary schools to finalise the examination boards and
syllabi to be used for AS/A2 subjects in the new college. Following on from these meetings, work
will also be undertaken to analyse the current syllabi being followed for GCSE English and
Mathematics at each of the secondary schools in order to inform the syllabi for the college’s
GCSE English and Mathematics re-sit programmes.
The college is in the process of collating the current AS/A2 pupil numbers from each of the
Merthyr Tydfil secondary schools in order to identify learner numbers per subject area and
finalise the number of teaching staff required from 2013 onwards.
Work has commenced on the development of the curriculum prospectus for the college. This will
be finalised by November in preparation for distribution to parents’/carers’ evenings across each
of the secondary schools.
A first draft programme for the more able and talented was presented and agreed at the
curriculum deputies meeting on 17th September. The programme will now be piloted with a
group of current year 12 pupils from across each of the Merthyr Tydfil secondary schools.
Learner Support
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The final version of the student support brochures have now been circulated to the school
council co-ordinators at each of the Merthyr Tydfil secondary schools. Each co-ordinator has
been asked to review the brochures with their school council pupils and provide feedback as to
whether they think the brochures are valuable, provide the right information and if there is any
further information that they would like to see included.
Work is also being undertaken to examine the possible development of the key student support
brochures and parent/carer’s guide as mobile applications that can be downloaded by both
students and their parents.
The college is in the process of finalising the timetable of activities to be taken forward to
support Year 11 pupils in the transition from school to college. This will include:
o College representatives going out to Year 11 assemblies and school council meetings
during October and November 2012
o Programme of taster sessions and visits to the college for all Year 11 pupils
o Pilot programme for the more able and talented
o College representatives attending all Year 9, 10 and 11 secondary school parents’/carers’
evenings from September 2012 onwards. The first of these evenings will be a Year 11
parents’/carers’ evening at Bishop Hedley Catholic High School on Thursday 22nd
November.
In addition, an open evening for all Year 11 pupils and their parents/carers will take place at the
current college on Tuesday 27th November 2012. This will provide an opportunity for pupils and
their parents to meet teaching staff (including new staff appointed), discuss course options and
pathways, view plans and progress on the new college development and take a look at some of
the key enrichment programmes available. This will include Sports Leader Programmes, Camp
America, Duke of Edinburgh Award, Peripatetic Music Service, Educational trips and visits abroad
together with the college’s programme for the more able and talented.
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Communication
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Further pictures and displays of construction
progress have been added to the Interserve
hoarding. These include a chronological timeline
of the college’s development from its inception
right the way through to the new college
development.
The second edition of the Student Newsletter was
circulated to all secondary school pupils at the
end of September. This edition also included a
reflections article written by a Year 11 pupil at
Penydre High School to describe her experience of
a recent site visit to The College Merthyr Tydfil.
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Councillors Brendan Toomey (Leader of Merthyr Tydfil Council) and Harvey Jones (Portfolio
Councillor for Education) visited The College Merthyr Tydfil on Wednesday 12th September. The
visit provided them with an opportunity to meet the college project team, view the progress of
the college development to date and ask questions on any aspects of the project.
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The college held a Question Time event for secondary school pupils on Friday 21st September.
Over 45 secondary school pupils attended the event which provided them with the opportunity
to ask any questions they may have on the college development, to a panel of key
representatives. These included the Council Leader, Brendan Toomey, Children’s Champion –
Gareth Lewis, Councillor Harvey Jones and youth forum representatives Amy Williams and Ben
Gullick. The event also provided pupils with an opportunity to meet Lisa Thomas - the new
Assistant Principal Advanced Level Programmes.
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Work has been undertaken to begin the development of a college wall of fame which will be
situated in the college’s entrance foyer. The wall will celebrate staff, student and college
achievements.
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A 3D model of the new college building has also been procured. This will be displayed in the
reception area of the existing college building.
An editorial has been prepared for inclusion within the Merthyr Express during October. The
editorial provides an overview of progress to date and highlights recent activities and events
undertaken.
The college is in the process of exploring the use of MakeWaves.com as a social media site that
could be used for members of the Youth Transition Forum to communicate and share ideas and
documents with each other.
Project team representatives attended the Merthyr Tydfil Secondary and Primary School Council
Conferences on Thursday 4th and Friday 5th October to talk to pupils about the college
development and provide an overview of the facilities and courses available from September
2013.
Work has started on the development of video diaries and other electronic promotional material
to promote the new college and the courses on offer from 2013.
The college is continuing to advertise on Nation Radio.
Transition Developments
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The college is pleased to announce that it has appointed to 11 out of the 12 management posts.
The post of Head of Division – Creative and Performing Arts will now be advertised nationally,
with a closing date of 9th November 2012.
General teaching posts will be advertised on 24th October with interviews being completed by
the end of November 2012.
To support the recruitment process for the teaching posts, the college is holding drop-in staffing
sessions at each secondary school. The key aim of the sessions is to provide an opportunity for
school staff to ask any questions they may have on the teaching posts and ‘what it is like to work
at the college’.
Work is being undertaken to develop a programme of staff development sessions, away days
and team building sessions for new teaching and management staff. This is planned to be taken
forward prior to the opening of the new college.
Key Activities planned for October/November 2012
Capital Development
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Development of the SFS frame, roof structure and internal partitions
Continued design development between the client team and the main contractor.
Progress Design and Access Group
Complete C-sheet check and integrate amendments
Develop IT Equipment Schedule
Learning Development
Curriculum planning
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Develop curriculum prospectus
Promote curriculum provision to employers and develop employer engagement strategy
Commence pilot programme for more able and talented
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Learner Support
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Finalise and disseminate student support brochures and parent’s/carer’s guide
Attendance at Year 11 assemblies and school council meetings
Communication
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Continue advertising campaign
Publish Merthyr Express article
Launch of new website, Face book and Twitter for The College Merthyr Tydfil
Agree membership of Youth Transition Forum and schedule first meeting
Publicise Year 11 Open Evening
Transition
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Agreement on job descriptions and adverts for teaching posts
Further programme of staffing presentations
Finalise arrangements for transition year 2013-2014
Progress culture change initiatives
Keeping you informed
Information will be available on The College Merthyr Tydfil, Merthyr Tydfil County Borough
Council and A465.com web sites to keep key stakeholders, pupils, parents/carers and the local
community in general updated on developments.
Visit www.merthyr.ac.uk/cmt, www.merthyr.gov.uk or www.A465.com
The college site will include links to an on-site web cam which will enable you to track progress of
the build. In addition, a public viewing panel will be constructed on site to enable the local
community to come along and see the progress being made in real time.
Where can I obtain further information from?
A question and answer section will be available on the web sites from February 2012 to provide
some answers to frequently asked questions on the new development. In addition, you can email:
questions.college@merthyr.ac.uk anytime with any further specific queries you may have on the
development. We guarantee all questions will be answered within seven working days.
Any suggestions you have to improve this Core Brief please send an email to the dedicated email
address given above.
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