Ysgol Gynradd Gymraeg Llyn y Forwyn school in Ferndale, South Wales has won the Educational Development Award at ATLAS, the Secured by Design Awards, which recognises excellence in safety and designing out crime.
Funded by Welsh Government’s Sustainable Communities for Learning Programme and Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough Council, the new Welsh-medium primary has been constructed on the former Chubb factory industrial estate, replacing an older primary school in the area that had outgrown its site.
The new state-of-the-art school can accommodate up to 240 school age pupils and incorporates a 30-place Welsh-medium childcare setting, Cylch Meithrin, which promotes the education and development of pre-school children from the age of two, offering a smooth transition into Welsh-medium education.
From the outset DOCO (Designing Out Crime Officer) Julie Odgers from South Wales Police and Joy Nicholls, who came onboard a little later, played an instrumental role in ensuring the school was designed with crime prevention measures from the start.
Applying the SBD and Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED) principles such as access control, natural surveillance, boundary reinforcement, maintenance and management, and sense of place, the DOCOs worked closely with all stakeholders throughout the project.
Effective communication and collaboration were central to this process, with partners including RCT 21st Century Schools Team, Project Manager’s Rhomco, Wynne Construction, Arcadis Architects, Counter Terrorism Wales, and South Wales Police Traffic Management.
The design of the school and external landscape presented complex challenges requiring a series of meeting and site visits to ensure Secured by Design standards were met.
For example, the school wanted the hall to be available for community use, to achieve this without compromising the security of the main school, the DOCOs recommended a separate access route.
One of the main challenges was the topography of the site, as the school sits in a steep valley.
With an emphasis on encouraging walking and cycling, careful consideration was given to the design of safe pedestrian routes and flow of movement, while maintaining clear vehicle access to help manage traffic in the surrounding area.
The lighting design was also reviewed in the development. Proposals for bollard lighting on a ZIG-ZAG pedestrian path to the school were revised following discussions around visibility and safety, resulting in the installation of street lighting installed to British Standards.
Joy Nicholls carried out the final school visit to confirm the school met the Secured by Design standards and said: “This is a really good example of how SBD can be incorporated into a development, making the school a safe and secure space for pupils, staff and visitors.”
Julie Odgers added: ‘It was a pleasure to work with our partners on this exciting project, and after lots of meetings it is very satisfying to be able to see Llyn y Forwyn school has met Secured by Design standards.”
Councillor Sharon Rees, Rhondda Cynon Taf Council’s Cabinet Member for Education and Young People, added: “Ysgol Gynradd Gymraeg Llyn y Forwyn continues to be an invaluable addition to Ferndale and its surrounding areas, providing first-class Welsh Medium facilities in a safe environment.
“Ensuring this is a secure site for pupils and staff was a key priority in the development’s design – keeping this clearly in mind as we also provide on-site facilities for the wider community.
“I’d like to thank South Wales Police and contractor Wynne Construction for their dedication in this area, and I’m pleased this aspect of the project has been recognised for its excellence.”
Pupils and staff moved into the new school in January 2025. Since opening, there have been no reported crimes on the school site, highlighting how effective design and partnership working can contribute to safer educational environments.
The school has also had positive impact on the wider community and plays an important role in promoting bilingual learning and supporting Welsh heritage.
Karen Wilson, Project Manager for Rhomco said: “Working on the Llyn y Forwyn School as Project Manager for Rhomco, but also as a parent it felt vital that all the advice and recommendations received through the SBD process were incorporated into the scheme throughout design and construction to provide the safest place possible.”
Richard Wynne, Director of Wynne Construction said: “Wynne Construction adopted a proactive and fully collaborative approach with South Wales Police to ensure that Ysgol Llyn y Forwyn was designed to the highest standards of safety, ultimately achieving Secured by Design accreditation.
“From the outset, we recognised that creating a safe and secure learning environment was fundamental to the school’s long-term success, particularly given its role as a key community asset.
“Working in close partnership with the Design Out Crime Officer (DOCO), Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough Council, the project architect, and landscape architect, we facilitated a series of regular, structured design workshops.
“These sessions enabled all parties to review developing proposals in detail, ensuring that security considerations were embedded into the design rather than retrospectively applied.
“Through this process, we carefully balanced robust security measures with the need to maintain an open, welcoming and inclusive environment for pupils, staff and visitors.
“Key aspects of the design were rigorously tested, including natural surveillance, access control, boundary treatments, lighting strategies and external landscaping.
“Importantly, each element was assessed not only for its effectiveness in reducing opportunities for crime and anti-social behaviour, but also for its practicality, buildability and long-term maintenance implications.
“This ensured that the final solutions were both effective and deliverable within the project constraints.
“Our collaborative “one team” approach, enabled informed decision-making and early resolution of potential challenges.
“Integrating security expertise alongside architectural and construction input, the project team was able to design out risk at source, enhancing the overall quality and resilience of the school environment.
“This integrated methodology was instrumental in successfully achieving Secured by Design accreditation, while also supporting the project’s wider sustainability objectives, including the attainment of BREEAM ‘Excellent’.
“The result is a high-performing educational facility that not only meets stringent environmental standards but also provides a safe, secure and supportive setting for its users and the wider community.”
Principal architect, Carys Fisher, from Arcadis Architects added: “I am immensely proud that YGG Llyn y Forwyn has been recognised with a Secured by Design award.
“From the outset, the design team worked closely with the Designing Out Crime Officer to embed effective crime prevention strategies into the design, promoting natural surveillance and secure layouts, even on a challenging site, while always balancing security with the wellbeing and child-friendly environment essential for pupils, staff, and the local community.
“This approach ensured that the school is not only safe and secure, but also welcoming and supportive for all who use it.”
Secured by Design (SBD) is the official police security initiative that works to improve the security of buildings and their immediate surroundings to provide safe places to live, work, shop and visit.
SBD’s product-based accreditation scheme – the Police Preferred Specification – provides a recognised standard for all security products that can deter and reduce crime.
There are currently many hundreds of companies producing thousands of attack resistant crime prevention products, across 30 different crime categories, which have achieved Police Preferred Specification.
Developers around the UK can achieve SBD awards for incorporating crime prevention measures and techniques into their developments in all kinds of building sectors, such as residential, education, health, transport, commercial, retail, sport and leisure.
Indeed, SBD can be used as evidence to discharge third-party obligations under Part Q of Schedule 1 (Security) to the English Building Regulations, the Scottish Building Standard 4.13 (Security) and Welsh Building Regulations Part Q (Security – Dwellings).
These awards are gained by working with police Designing Out Crime Officers (DOCOs), who advise architects, developers and local authority planners long before construction begins – and continue to provide advice and guidance until the development is complete.
Academic and other research shows that improving standards of security in brand new and refurbished properties, helps deter and reduce crime.
Reducing crime and the fear of crime has direct links to better physical and mental well-being, such as with regard to high volume crimes like domestic abuse.
The built environment influences the behaviour of people who work, live, socialise or simply pass through. SBD seeks to create environments where the law-abiding feel safe and secure whilst at the same time causing the criminal or anti-social to feel vulnerable to detection and thereby influence behaviour in a positive way. This continues to be a key objective for SBD.
SBD has produced a series of authoritative Design Guides to assist the building, design and construction industry to incorporate security into developments to comply with the Building Regulations in England, Scotland and Wales and meet the requirements of SBD.
These Design Guides, available to download for free at the SBD website, have been updated over the years to keep pace with changing patterns of criminal behaviour and advances in building design and new technology.
They are a valuable source of reference to architects, developers, self-builders, local authority planners and police officers and cover a range of building sectors, including residential, education, health, transport and commercial.
DOCOs provide specialist crime reduction advice to the public, businesses and colleagues about premises or property security.
They also work with building developers, architects, and council planning departments regarding new developments and refurbishments, to ‘design out’ crimes like burglary and anti-social behaviour (ASB) by providing advice on street lighting, building and street layout, entrances and exits – as well as preferred standards and specifications for doors, windows, and locks, under the Secured by Design initiative.
DOCOs are able to deliver site specific interventions required to help design out crime in areas that suffer disproportionately from acquisitive crime, based on local crime pattern analysis, police, local authority and community engagement and the collective knowledge and experience of how criminals behave.
DOCOs are specialist problem solvers, working every day to make a positive difference, changing lives for the better and helping people to be safe and secure in their homes.
