Responding to Neil Foden's crimes: Easy-to-read version for children

A former headteacher in Gwynedd, Neil Foden, was found guilty of serious crimes against children and has been sent to prison. These crimes were deeply upsetting and should never have happened.  
 

What the Council is doing 

Since the criminal trial ended, Cyngor Gwynedd has created a plan to make sure young people are protected and that nothing like this ever happens again. 

Cyngor Gwynedd has promised to: 

• Say sorry to the victims and their families. 

• Support the victims, their schools, and the wider community. 

• Find out exactly what happened, including how things were handled in the past. 

• Learn from mistakes and make changes based on expert advice. 

• Improve how things are done, especially around keeping children safe. 

• Be open and honest about what’s being done and how well it’s working. 

 

Who’s helping? 

A group of experts is helping Cyngor Gwynedd  with this work. It includes people who know a lot about child protection, like the former Children’s Commissioner for Wales and professionals from organisations such as Estyn and the Welsh Government. 

 

Investigations and Reviews 

Several investigations have taken place. 

Every time an investigation is carried out, people who work at the Council take the information that it reveals to improve their work in the future. This will help make sure the same mistakes are not repeated and that everyone is safe at school.  

Some of the investigations which have been carried out include: 

• A review of events in 2019 by an independent legal expert. 

• A check by the Information Commissioner to improve how the Council handles sensitive information. 

• A look at how the school and Cyngor Gwynedd responded to complaints in the past. 

• A full review of how schools in Gwynedd deal with safeguarding. 

 

Child Practice Review 

A Child Practice Review has also been ordered, which is bigger than the other reviews and investigations listed above. It is more detailed as the investigators have been able to speak to more people and gather much more information. It is considered good practice for this process to be carried out when a child (or children) has been seriously harmed. 

The purpose of the Review is to understand what went wrong and how to prevent something similar from happening in future. 

The Review is not being carried out by Cyngor Gwynedd, it is being done by the North Wales Regional Safeguarding Board. More information about North Wales Safeguarding Board 

We expect the Child Practice Review to be published and to be available for everyone to read in September 2025.   

 

 
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