24/02/2017 BBC Wales Today

Welcome to Wales Today. Tonight's headlines.

It's an unpopular subject, Torfaen's the latest council

planning to scrap high school sixth forms, for a new college.

Ffion's one of hundreds of pupils, parents and teachers

And Anglers say pollution problems are growing in our rivers

and could cause an environmental disaster.

Hundreds of parents, pupils and teachers are calling

on the Welsh Government to block plans to remove sixth forms

from English-medium high schools in Torfaen.

Schools in Cwmbran, Croesyceiliog and Pontypool would be affected.

The council says plans to move post-16 provision

to a new ?20 million site in Cwmbran from 2019

would benefit students, as Paul Heaney reports.

Performing well, St Albans high school in Pontypool.

Sounds, lights and much more, all the responsibility of

Without them, this show simply couldn't go on as often.

Some disappointed at the prospect of losing the sixth form.

We have a lot of students coming from further up

the valley and if we close down our sixth form and we have a college

built further down in Cwmbran, that creates more barriers

for disadvantaged students to access further education.

There are three English medium sixth forms in Torfaen.

The council wants to merge them, creating a ?20 million college at

this former industrial site near Cwmbran town centre.

No-one from Torfaen Council was available for

interview today but officials have told me in the longer term the

authority expects to get less money from the Welsh Government, in part

because fewer pupils will be coming through the system here.

Leave sixth forms as they are, they say, and

there's a chance that not all topics available now will be available

There simply might not be the student numbers to make some of

Get everyone on one site here, and you may create a critical mass

and get a better chance of offering that wide range of courses.

14-year-old Ffion and others in her year group would be the

first not to be able to stay in high school beyond their GCSEs.

It would have a lot of facilities, but if they have

difficulty getting staff in the first few years, then they

wouldn't be able to run the courses either, so new facilities are

nothing without promises of great teachers.

The merger of high school sixth forms has already

Merthyr Tydfil did the same in 2013, against the wishes

Controversy back then but now staff here say there are more students,

better links with industry and grades have improved.

The schools watchdog Estyn says sixth forms here are likely to at

A warning to, more assessment is needed

on the effects on those from low income backgrounds.

The proposal now with the Gelsh government for final approval.

A man from Cardiff has appeared in court accused

of murdering his 18-month-old adopted daughter.

31-year-old Matthew Scully Hicks denies killing Elsie Scully Hicks

He was released on bail following a hearing

Two Cardiff men, including one seen here,

who unknowingly sold more than ?100,000-worth

of stolen cars to the police, during a six month sting,

41-year-old Dean Cronin, and 28-year-old Daniel Gordon,

were behind a campaign to steal luxury vehicles

Both admitted conspiring to handle stolen goods.

The trade union, Unison, is branding the Welsh Government's

approach to the funding of its jobs advice service as "a mess".

It wants an urgent meeting to discuss plans to cut 10%

The organisation says it's looking at all the options,

It doesn't make sense to us to plan a multi-million pound apprenticeship

programme next year where our careers members will be needed

and yet at the same time, they're downsizing their own service now.

We won't be in a position to deliver what the Welsh Government want.

The Welsh Government says it's aware Careers Wales is consulting

on a "voluntary release scheme" and hopes its staff and trade

unions can work together, to improve the long term

Angling clubs say pollution incidents affecting rivers in west

Wales are becoming more frequent, and could cause

It follows a slurry leak which has killed hundreds of fish in the

It's the third large-scale pollution incident in recent months,

It was described as one of the worst cases of pollution to

More than 1,000 fish were wiped out on a six mile stretch of

the river by a slurry like substance.

It killed salmon, sewin and brown trout.

Now, just a month later, another agricultural

pollution incident has killed hundreds of fish.

Around 200 trout and 40 lamprey and hundreds of small bullhead

fish have been killed in the river Gwili

in Carmarthenshire following a slurry leak.

The impact it's having on the local rivers I think

This is our third one within Carmarthenshire.

Any slurry that comes downstream is going to end up in here,

end up in the river, and that is going to have an effect

not just on the fish but all the vertebrates

Now, the hundreds of dead fish might have been washed

away or cleared away, but there is still evidence of a

You can see it here with this form on the water.

The concern is the frequency of these pollution

incidents and the impact that will have on the environment

and also the economy, because angling tourism

is a multi-million pound industry for West Wales.

Following the incident on the Teifi, the oil

leaked into the waterways in the Nantycaws areas

in October last year, and now the slurry pollution

in the Gwili, it is feared visiting anglers by stay away.

Kimberley Redman is from Natural Resources Wales.

She says they are trying to tackle agricultural pollution and the cases

Overall the number of significant pollution incidents we have been

dealing with has dropped tremendously since last year.

It's just that we have had three within quick succession.

I think the reason for that is a change the way we are working

in terms of our proactive campaigns but also the weather has had a big

The environmental cost might still be visible after this

most recent pollution incident but the economic impact

Wales' women narrowly lost their Six Nations game

It's the first time since 2010 that Scotland's female side has won

They recovered from two tries down, to beat Wales by 15-14.

A very different story for the Under-20s.

Two tries within the opening seven minutes of the game put the side

on track for a win of 65-34, securing a bonus point in the

And in football, Neil Warnock says he will be Cardiff City manager next

season following positive talks with his bosses.

The 68-year-old is expecting to sign a new deal in the next 24 hours.

Time for a look at the weather now.

Sue, not a very nice weekend in store?

Wet and windy at times over this weekend. Nothing as extreme as Storm

Doris. It will feel slightly milder. Let's have a look at the map.

Overnight, outbreaks of light rain and drizzle

pushing in from the west moving eastwards.

Some drier spells andwinds will pick up overnight.

The cloud holding up the temperatures between

Tonight's front clears allowing just a few drier spells

early on Saturday further south, but then these two follow

Tomorrow, early on in the south and east, the best chance

But turning quite wet and windy from the north and west.

Aand across the UK that band of rain, heavy

Staying driest for longest in south east England.

Warmest here too and drying up from the north

So an improving picture for the rugby in Edinburgh

for Wales's Six Nations match against Scotland.

Breezy, some rain but drier weather developing later.

Tomorrow afternoon across Wales, heavy rain at times

often misty, murky and overcast and the strong south westerly winds

could reach gale force along exposed coasts

Highs of between nince Celsius in Swansea

Tomorrow night, rain turns patchy, easing overnight.

Misty and murky and often cloudy with lows of 4-8 Celsius.

Sunday, some early brightness, dry for a time but winds

Gale force Southwesterlies developing along Cardigan Bay

with some rain pushing in from the northwest in the afternoon,

patchy at first but turning heavier with highs of 10-11 Celsius.

I'll be back with all the latest news at around 5.20pm tomorrow.

Until then from me, Sue, and everyone on the team, goodnight.

A 24-year-old man has been charged with murder.

Huntley's definitely hiding something.