Wales Feed

The Rhondda School

2015-03-25T12:33:35+00:00

Wales is fortunate in being able to boast a whole range of writers, musicians, singers and artists who have achieved international acclaim.

Artistic endeavour and excellence seem to go hand in hand with the Celtic spirit and nowhere is that statement more obvious than in the mining valleys of the country. In painting and in the visual arts the Rhondda, in particular, has had a lasting influence and effect.

Pembrokeshire might have spawned Gwen and Augustus John; north Wales might have sustained the talent of Kyffin Williams. But the Rhondda, with its interwoven webs of industrial architecture and social deprivation once produced a like-minded group of painters and sculptors that soon became known as 'The Rhondda School'.

The Family, a sculpture by Robert Thomas in Churchill Way, Cardiff

The Rhondda School of artists was never an actual school, in the formal sense, and was in no way an official grouping. The members produced no manifesto or statement about their aims – they were, simply, a group of students from the Rhondda who, in the early 1950s, travelled by train down the valley each day to study at Cardiff College of Art.

The legend about these six men states that they would spread their drawings and paintings across the seats of the railway carriage – thereby discouraging anyone else from entering the compartment – and discuss painting and art for the full length of the journey. For two hours, as the old steam train rattled down the valley, these eager and dedicated men would discuss art with all of the bravado and enthusiasm that go with youth, talent and emerging skill.

The men in question were Ernest Zobole, Charles Burton, Glyn Morgan, Nigel Flower, David Mainwaring and Robert Thomas. They came from different locations in the Rhondda and so boarded the train at different times and at different stations but their aim was the same – to discuss art and artists.

Zobole had been born in Ystrad, the son of Italian immigrants who arrived in Wales in 1910. He is perhaps the best known of the group, a man whose gradual move away from descriptive painting to more abstract work reflects the general trend within the Rhondda School.

Zobole, who died in 1999, might have been the best known but all of the group were influential in their effect on art within Wales.

Charles Burton, for example, became Head of Art at the Polytechnic of Wales while it was still based in Barry, dozens of students passing through his department each year. Once he had finished his course, Burton had moved from Cardiff College of Art to London, to study at the Royal College. With no grant to support him he had to sell paintings in order to live. It was a hard lesson to learn but one which the young man took to with gusto.

These days the sculptures of Robert Thomas can be seen at many locations, in particular in Queen Street, Cardiff. They are stunning representations of Welsh life but it is probably the tall and striking statue of Aneurin Bevan, just opposite Cardiff Castle, that people will know best.

The Miner, Mother and Son, and Aneurin Bevan by Robert Thomas, in Queen Street, Cardiff

All members of the Rhondda School were influenced by the industrial environment from which they came. It was impossible not to be affected by the winding gear of the collieries, the rows of terraced houses and the slag heaps that dominated the valley towns. Nor, for that matter, the broken old men who stood silently at almost every street corner – you would have had to be pretty unemotional not to be touched by all that. And the members of The Rhondda School were keen to reflect their communities and their way of life.

As such – at least to begin with – there was a distinct socialist edge to their work. That interest may have dissolved a little as abstract art began to make itself felt on the group’s work but it never totally died away.

The School – or group, call it what you will – broke up as the artists finished their studies at Cardiff Art College and moved away to different places and different jobs. Yet the influence of the School remained strong. It is another example of the vibrant and dynamic drive for expression that existed and still exists in the Welsh valleys.

Can't Read, Can't Do My Sums!

2015-03-17T13:28:37+00:00

A question for you… Is it possible for someone who’s gone through the Welsh education system to be unable to tell the time?

It’s a skill I’m working on with my 6 year old. We’ve not got to grips with the concept of how many minutes ‘to the hour’, but he can read an analogue clock and write down the numerical representation. I am playing quite an active role as a parent and am fortunate to consider myself confident when it comes to numbers. But even for those children without pro-active family members to help-out, surely after 10 plus years at school they should be able to tell the time?

WIWO presenter Rachel Treadaway-Williams helps her 6 year old with his homework

Not so for Nick Bush from New Tredegar. 23 years old and totally dependent on his friends to decipher a train timetable. Nick attended school, but when it comes to his mathematical ability he’s not the exception. More than half of the Welsh adult population have maths skills of an average 11 year old or lower.

It’s this void in basic skills that’s been Wales’ undoing in the educational PISA tests and rather than improve, we’ve slipped down the rankings following successive assessments. It was this political bombshell that prompted amongst other changes the introduction of the Literacy & Numeracy Framework (LNF). This was hailed as THE solution to our literacy & numeracy woes but on talking to those who are actually responsible for delivering it - teachers - the way it was implemented does not appear to have been A*. Rather it was landed on an already overloaded workforce without enough support, a viewpoint reflected by Estyn following their early evaluation of the LNF published in January 2015. Also a viewpoint neatly illustrated by Clair Sweet, the Maths lead, at Tylorstown Primary School who told me that the Welsh Government had only just posted examples on their Learning Wales website of how teachers might make it work in practice. This was in February 2015. The Literacy & Numeracy was made statutory for schools in September 2013. You do the maths.

Interestingly when I questioned the Minister for Education, Huw Lewis AM, about this very fact, he claimed to know nothing of it, instead wanting to flag up the NEW online work that his department were engaged in.

Clair Sweet at Tylorstown Primary also made another interesting point. She felt that the principle of embedding literacy and numeracy skills in all teaching was a good one, but didn’t feel the need for yet another formal initiative with all its red tape and paperwork. Instead, she felt it was something that good teachers would have been doing anyway. Which raises another point: are we fussy enough about who is teaching our children? I have to be careful what I say here as the daughter of two teachers; so let me re-phrase that. Is the teaching profession regarded highly enough that it attracts the best calibre candidates? In the educational powerhouse of China the President recently urged that teaching become the most respected job in the country.

It’s clearly a topic that’s been on the Education Minister’s mind and he’s welcomed the various expert reports recently published calling for a boost in the status, autonomy, qualifications and professional development of teachers. He’s recently raised the GCSE entry requirement in Maths & English for Primary School teachers from 2C’s to 2B’s. He told me we can’t just magic up mathematics specialists but on the other hand, I wonder, could he not be moving further and faster to raise this particular bar and send out a message that we now want the best to be our teachers?

Week In Week Out: Can't Read, Can't Do My Sums! is on BBC One Wales, Tuesday 17 March at 10.40pm.

Ospreys Schools Programme launches in Wales

2012-09-18T15:04:01+00:00

The Welsh rugby region Ospreys have today launched a new educational programme for schools that will involve more than 3,000 children from Bridgend, Neath Port Talbot and Swansea over the current academic year.

The Ospreys School Programme, aimed at primary school children in years five and six, has been developed with education departments at the three unitary authorities in the region to make sure that it fits in with the National Curriculum for Wales.

It is hoped that the initiative will develop pupils’ academic skills such as communication, literacy and numeracy though their investigations of different aspects of rugby, such as solving mathematical problems relating to point-scoring in the game.

The programme will also focus on key skills and lifestyle issues, such as helping to build awareness of personal welfare and self-esteem, encouraging teamwork and co-operation and highlighting the benefits of a healthy active lifestyle – including playing rugby.

Leighton Andrews AM with Ashley Beck, Alun Wyn Jones and pupils from Gnoll Primary School at the launch of the Ospreys Schools Programme at Liberty Stadium. Photo: Huw Evans Agency

Leighton Andrews AM, the Minister for Education and Skills, was among the guests at the formal launch at the Liberty Stadium this afternoon. He said: "I would like to congratulate the Ospreys and all the partners involved in developing this Schools Programme.

"As well as promoting the importance of physical activity and interpersonal and communication skills, this programme also places a very important emphasis on developing literacy and numeracy skills - two of my key priorities for schools in Wales."

The programme will consist of four classroom sessions with each session including a visit from WRU and Ospreys officials or community rugby coaches. There will also be one appearance at each school by Ospreys rugby players.

School children on the programme will also enjoy an interactive tour of the Ospreys’ home ground, the Liberty Stadium in Swansea, plus there will be a rugby festival day involving the participating schools to conclude the Ospreys Schools Programme.

Jason Lewis, the WRU National Rugby Development Manager, said: "Rugby is a part of school life in most schools in Wales. We recognise the enormous benefits rugby can have to the social and physical wellbeing of children in Wales. This programme demonstrates that rugby can also make a positive contribution to the academic achievement of young people."

Andrew Hore, the Ospreys Chief Operations Officer, added: "The programme aims to leave a lasting community legacy - helping improve not only rugby participation numbers but also numeracy and literacy, understanding healthy living, and how to look after the planet."

The Ospreys will work in collaboration with the Welsh Rugby Union for the schools programme, as well as their commercial partners RWE npower renewables and the Sony UK Technology Centre.

Related links