Agenda and minutes

Points raised by the Panel:

Responses received from Officers or Cabinet Members.

In terms of the consultation response was an option that pupils could go to Llanfyllin rather than Llanrhaeadr, as High School pupils already travel in that direction unsure if thought has been given to that proposal.

That explanation does not negate the practicalities of pupils transferring to Llanfyllin rather than Llanrhaeadr ym Mochnant.

The proposal was for the school to close and pupils to transfer to the nearest alternative school in Powys. Reasoning for this was to have pupils remain in Powys and receive the Welsh curriculum and opportunities for the Welsh language, knowing of the close proximity of Llansilin to the border and schools in Oswestry. The nearest school for most of the pupils currently in Llansilin was Llanrhaeadr ym Mochnant.

For pupils to travel to Llanfyllin would mean that they were passing other schools, Llanfechain and Llansantffraid, as Llanfyllin was the further school.

To which schools would Powys provide free transport to, as some pupils of Ysgol Bro Cynllaith are closer to Llansantffraid. Would free transport be provided to their closest school.

The new home to school transport policy approved September 2024 would come into operation in September 2025. The policy has changed and stated that transport would be provided to the catchment school. Llanrhaeadr ym Mochnant’s catchment area would be extended to include the current catchment of  Llansilin. Therefore wherever a pupil lives within the new catchment transport would be provided to Llanrhaeadr, if a pupil did not live in the new catchment area of Llanrhaeadr transport would be to the catchment school for where they lived.

Would the whole of current Llansilin catchment area transfer to the Llanrhaeadr catchment.

Was there a plan to re-draw the Llansantffraid catchment area as well or not.

Should catchments be re-defined prior to the consultation stage.

Re-defining post consultation could make it difficult for families who relied upon Powys transport services to transport the children to make decisions regarding Llanrhaeadr.

There was real concern in the community in regard to breakfast and afterschool clubs, for working families, especially those that work in the opposite direction.

There are worries that children would move to school across the border, and the new transport policy had not been tested in Court, there could be appeals for pupils to be transported over the border to their nearest schools.

This would depend on where those pupils lived. If they did not live within the re-defined catchment area, they would go to the catchment school for where they lived. Currently there was 1 pupil that lived closer to Llansantffraid.

First would review and re-define the Llanrhaeadr ym Mochnant catchment area first, and which  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

Points raised by the Panel:

Responses received from Officers or Cabinet Members.

Request made by the Committee for the numbers of surplus places in Llanfaes and the Priory schools.

Information would be forwarded if not responded to within the meeting.

Committee Member queried why were budgets projected to the penny (Pg 18).

The current pupils numbers were recorded as different figures within the SOC (pg19 & pg. 28-30) should these two sets of figures be the same.

The proposal was for a 360 pupil school to be opened in September 2027, yet the January 2028 projected figures across the 3 schools involved was reported at 258, resulting in 102 surplus places. Were there effectively 2 classes too many and more suitable school size would be 300 pupils.

Was there still a requirement by Welsh Government that school should have no more than 15% capacity, which could place at risk the repayment of the grant.

The options proposal looked at a number of variables. The scope looked at the size of the school and what were the facilities included. The options covered pupils numbers of  300, 360 and 420. The projections were expected to fall across the school, however there were 109 pupils in the Foundation phase. On an average class size of 30 there would be required 3.6 classes. There were 190 pupils in Key Stage 3 which would equate to 6.3 classes of 30.

For the projected numbers 10 classes would be required. Given that detail the school size of 360 was the most appropriate and flexible structure moving forward.

It was known how pupil number fluctuated, and another 2 classrooms would be required for classes to be accommodated.

The clause remains and could put at risk the repayment of the grant should capacity not be reached within 5 years.

The Committee welcomed the positive investment to the south of the county, the schools concerned were in need of improved facilities. The site would have Early Years wrap around provision opportunities, as well as facilities for the community and the multi-agency facilities.

Further clarity was requested, given the costs involved, to the possibilities for schools to be refurbished, given the maintenance backlog was £1.3m against projected build costs of £5m.

The existing schools were very tired and small, with poor access. There were a whole range of issues which made them unfit for purpose. The three schools in question were already federated across 3 sites, there was not one site that was suitable for redevelopment on this scale. The maintenance costs noted in the reports were for the fabric only.

The new build would address all safeguarding issues and operational challenges, to support the Governing Body and the Leadership team within the one site school.

Concerns were raised in regard to school transport and nearest, closest and catchment school. The Committee would make a recommendation that the Cabinet formally write to Welsh Government for clarity and to obtain their firm position to give assurance in relation to transfer to closest  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.