Pencoedtre High School Headteacher Lee Humphreys says he is proud of how staff and students have coped with changes to school life during the pandemic.

Remote learning will continue for Pencoedtre High School students up to 18 January at least, as the Welsh Government announced that no Welsh schools would re-open until this date yesterday evening.

That afternoon the Vale of Glamorgan Council had said Vale schools were not "in a position to open", changing its plan to allow schools to re-open from tomorrow [6 January].

"These things seem to be changing on a minute-by-minute basis. Yesterday we had to change our plans three times based on the information that was being provided," said Lee Humphreys.

"When we came in at 8.30am, we were planning for a certain outcome, by lunchtime we were planning for a second outcome and then late last night we planned for a third outcome.

"We haven't got a glass ball to look into the future, but equally it doesn't take a rocket scientist to read between the lines and see something was inevitable.

"We'd already put plans in place for this at Christmas and all our blended learning provisions were up and running, so it's a matter of keeping them up to date.

"It's challenging for us all, but our duty is to make sure the children aren't too badly affected both in their academic progress and in their wellbeing.

"You've got to follow the guidance and protect the community so that we can bring down infection rates and go back to in-person teaching," he said.

Provision is in place at Pencoedtre High School for children of critical workers and vulnerable children. The school is expecting around 30 students to come in tomorrow.

Mr Humphreys said that although it was "devasting" not to have children on site for learning, the school has resources in place to continue lessons online.

"There's a significant number of children who have lost a significant amount of school," said Mr Humphreys.

"One of the positives to come out of the pandemic is that we've made improvements to the quality of online provision. I'm confident that all of the structures and resources are of a high standard.

"We've been told we won't re-open until 18 January at the earliest, but we know it could be later, so we're trying to look forward beyond that as well.

"I can understand the anxieties and stresses from parents about not knowing, so as soon as we know, we will communicate it to them.

The school is also working with families in the community to ensure pupils are able to take part in remote learning.

"I am worried about the children who don't have the resources that they need at home, and this week we will be providing those children with the hardware that they need, so to speak, to fully engage with online learning," said Mr Humphreys.

"We've got to pay attention to the wellbeing of families within the community.

"It's a tough situation for us all, pastoral teams are working really hard to check in on a weekly or daily basis with some children who we feel need that support.

"I've been really proud since taking over as headteacher of how the school and community have come together and the progress that's been made since September has been remarkable.

"I'm really proud of how we look after each other and keep each other accountable of safety measures like sanitising and keeping to one-way systems," he said.