A SCHOOL that fought against its closure for two years also shut down its social media activity last week.

With over 30 former Llanfihangel Rhydithon Community Primary School pupils starting life at other Powys primary schools this week, while some have naturally transitioned to high school, their former school wished them, and school staff, well as it announced via its Facebook page on Friday (September 1) that it was posting for the final time.

The 8.07am post read: “Happy September everybody. This will be our last post on this page as we start the next chapter of our journeys. It is not a sad post but a post looking to the future.

“Thank you for following the ups and downs of our happy, small, rural school.

“I would like to wish our wonderful staff the very best today in the first day of their new challenges, whether they are at home or in a new workplace.

“I also hope the children have a wonderful last day of the holiday and send every best wish for Monday and their new schools. Good luck at Ysgol Calon Cymru, Crossgates, Llanbister, New Radnor and Lady Hawkins.

“We were Dolau but we are still very, very proud of you all.”

As pupils began new journeys at primary schools in Crossgates, New Radnor, Llanbister or Presteigne, or indeed are headed to secondary school in Landrindod Wells or Builth Wells, there was no new class of intakes to welcome and prepare for in Dolau.

Teachers, pupils and parents had fought tooth and nail to stop the doors from shutting – even launching a Judicial Review, which was ultimately rejected last June.

Powys County Council first announced proposals to shut the village school in early 2021 and, despite scrapping for survival, the final nail in the coffin came last December, when an alternative proposal to establish Welsh-medium education was deemed unviable.

The school’s last day, 175 years after it first opened, was celebrated on Friday, July 21.

“It has been a privilege to be the executive headteacher of this wonderful school for the past 8 years,” said Adam Shearman, the school’s headteacher, in an emotional social media post the previous evening.  

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“I have been fortunate to work with some outstanding individuals during my time here. The staff at Dolau go above and beyond to offer the best start to the children of Dolau.

“Dolau School is a very special school and it has been a pleasure to have played a small part in its long and proud history.

“A huge thank you to the staff, past and present, for all you have done for the school, for the fun we have had along the way, for the laughter and the tears through the good times and the hard.

“Thank you for the memories.”