Fate of another Powys primary school to be decided next week

Powys County Council’s cabinet will make a decision on what to do with Llanbedr Church in Wales School on Tuesday, March 8.

The council is looking to reconfigure and rationalise the primary school provision in the county as part of its ‘Strategy for Transforming Education in Powys 2020-2030’ and is proposing to close Llanbedr Church in Wales School, near Crickhowell, from August 31 this year.

In November, cabinet gave the go-ahead for a statutory notice to be published formally proposing the change. During the statutory notice period, nearly 350 objections were received.

Next Tuesday, cabinet will receive and consider the objection report and will be asked to approve the proposal to close the school, with pupils to attend their nearest alternative school from September.

The council’s strategy outlines the concern that the county has a high proportion of small schools and, for those, the budget share per pupil is generally higher than the Powys average for primary schools.

If the recommendation to close Llanbedr is approved, pupils would transfer to other schools in the area. The council say this would mean that the education they receive would be more closely aligned with the standard model of delivering education in the area and would contribute to ensuring more equity across the education system in Powys.

Councillor Phyl Davies, cabinet member for education and property, said: “After carefully considering the objections, I will be recommending to cabinet that they approve the proposal to close Llanbedr Church in Wales School.

“We are committed to transforming the learner experience and entitlement for our learners and we will achieve this by delivering our Strategy for Transforming Education in Powys 2020-2030.

“Our strategy is ambitious, exciting and we believe it will give our learners the best possible start they deserve. However, as we start to implement it, we will be faced with significant decisions as we look to address some of the challenges facing education in Powys which include the high proportion of small schools in the county, decreasing pupil numbers and the high number of surplus places.

“This recommendation has not been reached lightly. Not only has it been robustly challenged by senior leaders within the council at every step, but it has been developed with the best interest of the learners, who have been at the forefront of our discussions and decision-making.”

Llanbedr is the last of a cluster of four schools throughout Powys whose futures have hung in the balance for the last 18 months.

Powys’ cabinet controversially decided to push ahead with the closure of Llanfihangel Rhydithon Community Primary School at their last meeting in February, much to the consternation of hundreds of supporters.

The school, in Dolau, near Llandrindod Wells, will close at the end of August, and is set to save the local authority £76,000.

In the north of the county, a proposal to close Churchstoke Primary School was reversed in November, although the axe did fall on Castle Caereinion Church in Wales Primary School.

For more information about transforming education in Powys, visit www.powys.gov.uk/transformingeducation.