To consider the Portfolio Holder for Education’s recommendations to Cabinet on 22nd November in respect of primary education in Welshpool.
Minutes:
The Portfolio Holder for Education outlined his recommendations to Cabinet in respect of primary school education in Welshpool.
· It is proposed that the new English-medium School will be located on land at Welshpool High School. The school will, however, operate from the current sites of Ysgol Maesydre, Gungrog and Oldford Schools on a temporary basis before subsequently transferring to the new building at the earliest opportunity;
· The new build Welsh-medium School will be located on the Ysgol Maesydre site, but will operate from the current site of Ardwyn School on a temporary basis before subsequently transferring to the new building;
· The anticipated timescale is for the new schools to be established from September 2017 before transferring into the two new school buildings upon their opening in 2018/19;
· The current four schools in Welshpool – Ardwyn Nursery & Infant School; Gungrog CiW Nursery & Infant School; Oldford Nursery & Infant School and Ysgol Maesydre would close from the end of August 2017.
297 written responses had been received during the consultation period. 91% of staff (11) responding supported the proposals, 100% of governors (14), 84% of parents (63), and 55% (209) of other respondents. Of these a proportion came from the Wales Humanists Association who had encouraged their supporters to oppose the proposal for the English-medium primary school to be a Church in Wales school. As many of the responses were anonymous it was not clear how many were from Welshpool or Powys and how many came from out of the county.
County Councillor Francesca Jump spoke as a local member to say that she fully supported the proposals. She did ask for extra transport to be provided for pupils and for more information on improving the walkways to the schools. The Head of Schools agreed to discuss this with colleagues to ensure safe routes and integrated transport.
County Councillor Phil Pritchard spoke as a local member. He fully supported the establishment of new English medium and Welsh medium schools but was concerned with some aspects of the proposals, principally about the sites selected and he asked for the Cabinet to visit the sites. He would prefer to have seen a non-denominational school created rather than a Church in Wales school. The Head of Schools noted that any significant changes to the proposals would require a new consultation and submission of a new business case.
County Councillor Myfanwy Alexander also raised the question of the denomination of the school noting that many Roman Catholic Eastern European families lived in the area. She asked whether it would be possible for them to be provided with free transport to a Catholic school. The Head of Schools advised that the transport policy did not currently allow for this. The policy would be reviewed but he could not guarantee that it would change. He also noted that Church in Wales schools provided the same religious education syllabus as other non-denominational schools.
County Councillor Gary Price expressed disappointment that many of the Cabinet were not in attendance. The Monitoring Officer confirmed that Council’s views would be reported to Cabinet. In response to Councillor Price’s question about why the consultation had been delayed, the Head of Schools reminded members about the significant number of consultations that had been undertaken by the Schools Service during the year.
County Councillor David Jones asked for consideration to be given to the transport issues and for information on the number of pupils who would be living further away from the new schools as a result of the proposals. The Head of Schools confirmed that transport would be taken into account as part of the planning process.
County Councillor Aled Davies asked about the capacity of early years provision noting that there only 2 additional nursery places. The Head of Schools advised that he was confident that this was sufficient.
County Councillor Gwilym Vaughan welcomed the proposals.
The Leader confirmed that the Cabinet would visit the school sites.
By 34 votes to 0 with 2 abstentions Council
RESOLVED to support the proposals being recommended by the Portfolio Holder for Education to Cabinet for the establishment of a new English medium school and a new Welsh medium school in Welshpool.
Supporting documents: