Massive primary school shake up for Conwy county

Jun 10 2010 by Judith Phillips, North Wales Weekly News

Massive primary school shake up for Conwy county

A DRAFT plan for a massive shake-up of primary education in Conwy county which could see some schools close and merge with others will be unveiled on Monday.

It could see up to four rural schools housed on one central site, and town centre primaries being brought together under one headteacher and governing body.

But education chiefs are stressing that the proposals are only in draft form and there will be a full consultation with parents and teachers before any decisions are made to implement them.

“This process has been going on for two years and we have been very thorough in the way we have consulted with people,” said the county’s head of education Geraint James.

“We have adjusted proposals to take in some of the feedback we have received.

“The responses of schools and communities have been recognised and will continue to be.”

But he said tough decisions need to be made to ensure that the county meets its targets of providing quality education within a shrinking budget set against the background of a projected fall in pupil numbers over the next five to ten years.

“There are hard messages we will have to give. We have 61 primary schools in the county and we’ve got some that aren’t sustainable because they are under-subscribed, but we are being totally transparent in the way we are doing things and are hoping we can take parents and governors along with us,” he said.

Copies of the draft strategy will go to schools on Friday, with the details being available to the public at municipal buildings and libraries on Monday.

There will then be a ten-week consultation period before the council’s principal scrutiny committee will discuss the final report in October, with the cabinet being asked to endorse it by the middle of the month, when it will go to the Welsh Assembly Government for approval.

Although no details of which schools may face the axe have been released, those with high numbers of unfilled places may well be under threat.

Although Mr James, and cabinet minister for lifelong learning Wyn Jones, refused to name which these may be, the council’s own figures show that in the Conwy Valley, Ysgol Betws y Coed currently only has 25 pupils when it’s capable of accommodating 100, and Ysgol Pentrefoelas has 50 out of its 68 places unfilled.

In Llandudno, Ysgol Ffordd Dyffryn has 60 spare places while less than half a mile away Ysgol Tudno has 61 fewer pupils than it can house.