Welsh medium school for Penallta (From Campaign Series)

Welsh medium school for Penallta

4:30pm Wednesday 25th March 2009

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A BUILDING that was built by a developer will be fulfilling its purpose in September after Caerphilly council cabinet voted for it to become a Welsh medium school.

The school was jointly funded by Redrow and Caerphilly County Borough Council, as part of the development of a housing estate built in Penallta and was set to become an English medium school in September 2008.

But then a proposal to postpone the date of the opening of the school to September 2009 was taken by Caerrphilly County Borough Council in July of last year. This decision had to be approved by the Assembly Government and was last year.

This meant that building has not been used as a school for this academic year. As the school was originally earmarked to be an English medium school the council had to consult the public with notices being put around the area. They also had to consult schools in the area, which would be directly affected by the establishment of the school.

Headteachers and governors of schools within a two mile radius were consulted. There were 11 positive responses to the modification of the school and just one negative.

The consultation began last July. Council officers found that English medium schools had surplus places to fill which equates to a surplus of 40 pupil places for 2007.

Out of the nine Welsh primary schools in the borough there was a excess of 47 nursery pupils and 17 of these were from the two immediate schools in the catchment area of the new school, which is Bro Allta and Gilfach Fargoed. This will affect the other Welsh schools and In 2002 the then council tried to set up a Welsh medium in Penallta but were turned down by the Welsh Assembly as demand could not be proved at the time.

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