New Faces on Teaching Council

Yn disgwyl cael ei gyfieithu

21 July 2008

September marks the beginning of the new school term and for 12 teachers in Wales it will also mark the start of their four year term on the General Teaching Council for Wales (GTCW).

The teachers were elected by their peers across Wales and will represent the profession on the Council. The 12 are made up from four primary school teachers; Angela Jardine, Cleo Sollars, Anna Spokes and Sarah Stockford; four secondary school teachers, Frank Bonello, Roberto De Benedictis, Suzanne Nantcurvis and Jane Setchfield, while representing head, deputy and assistant headteachers are Beth Davies, Elwyn Davies, Gareth Jones and Sue O’Halloran.

“The teacher-elected posts bring diversity to the Council membership and gives strength to our voice on behalf of the profession by giving serving teachers a clear say in the priorities of the Council,” said GTCW chief executive Gary Brace. “Together with the nominated and appointed members of the Council, the 12 elected members will help us continue to improve the status of teaching throughout Wales by contributing to our objectives and programme of work.”

Current chair of GTCW, Mal Davies and deputy chair Jacquie Turnbull have both been unanimously re-elected by Council members to serve a third term of two years.

Mal Davies is head teacher at Willows High School and has been teaching for over 35 years. He was elected to the Council as a teacher member from its inception in 2000 and elected GTCW chair in 2004.

Jacquie Turnbull is a former secondary school teacher and has a varied educational background including lecturing in higher education. She is Chair of governors of Coleg Glan Hafren as well as an accomplished author in the field of education.

Thanking the current teacher-members of the Council for their contribution over the past four years, Mal said: “The role of the elected teacher-members of the Council cannot be overstated and I am grateful for their commitment and support to date.”

He continued: “Of course, they will remain on our team until September, so there is still plenty of work to be done before our newly elected colleagues join us in the autumn.

“Teaching and teachers remain high profile issues and we will continue our work to raise the status of the profession, by maintaining and promoting the highest standards of practice and conduct, in the interests of teachers, pupils and the general public.”