“Out of the 121 children currently in the school 91 are attending Welsh medium. Why is this so when the new Furnace school is under capacity by 132 places and Brynserfiel under by 38.5 Pupils according to section 2.3 of the consultation document. There's surplus capacity at Welsh Mediums which is not in alignment with School Organisation Code 2013 which states no more than a 10% surplus. There are 1,710 as per Carmarthenshire Councils website surplus places in all welsh medium primary schools in Carmartheshire figures taken from ccc own website. So doesn’t justify any further spaces being created. The School Organisation code 2013 states when developing proposals relevant bodies should have regard to Local plans for ecomomic or housing development. Why has there been no regard given to the 91 houses being built in Hendy and 700 plus houses planned for Pontardulais? Surely, this would have a major impact on the surrounding schools. Hendy is one of the nearest schools for English medium if this proposal goes through. However, Llanedi school is facing closure and advised to relocate to Hendy. Hendy school are already nearing full capacity and as a dual stream are earmarked for changing to Welsh Medium Only. The other nearest English medium is the Bryn School but the county have already been issuing reject letters as they have received 54 applications so far and only have 30 spaces. As well as the proposed new school being unfit for purpose as it does not serve the community it’s meant to support, English speaking children appear to have no nearby alternatives?”
Minutes:
“Out of the 121 children currently in the school 91 are attending Welsh medium. Why is this so when the new Furnace school is under capacity by 132 places and Brynserfiel under by 38.5 Pupils according to section 2.3 of the consultation document. There's surplus capacity at Welsh Mediums which is not in alignment with School Organisation Code 2013 which states no more than a 10% surplus. There are 1,710 as per Carmarthenshire Councils website surplus places in all welsh medium primary schools in Carmartheshire figures taken from ccc own website. So doesn’t justify any further spaces being created. The School Organisation code 2013 states when developing proposals relevant bodies should have regard to Local plans for ecomomic or housing development. Why has there been no regard given to the 91 houses being built in Hendy and 700 plus houses planned for Pontardulais? Surely, this would have a major impact on the surrounding schools. Hendy is one of the nearest schools for English medium if this proposal goes through. However, Llanedi school is facing closure and advised to relocate to Hendy. Hendy school are already nearing full capacity and as a dual stream are earmarked for changing to Welsh Medium Only. The other nearest English medium is the Bryn School but the county have already been issuing reject letters as they have received 54 applications so far and only have 30 spaces. As well as the proposed new school being unfit for purpose as it does not serve the community it’s meant to support, English speaking children appear to have no nearby alternatives?”
Response by Councillor G.O. Jones, Executive Board Member for Education & Children:-
“For the spring term 2016 there are a total of 446 children attending the Llangennech schools, 210 in the infants school and 236 in the junior school.
Overall, taking both schools together and excluding the children in the reception classes, 73% of children are in the Welsh stream and 27% are in the English stream.
Children are attending the language streams according to parental preference and as agreed between the school and parents. Data confirms that over recent years the number and proportion of children attending the Welsh stream has been steadily increasing whilst the number and proportion attending the English stream has been declining.
The new Ysgol y Ffwrnes was built to ensure adequate capacity to meet projections in the Llanelli area where demand for Welsh medium primary education has been increasing over recent years. It was fully recognised that the new Ysgol Ffwrnes would have surplus places at the point of opening but these would be taken up over a period of years.
The Welsh Government expects local authorities to endeavour to manage surplus school places within a tolerance of 10% overall, accepting that figures at individual schools will vary as a consequence of various factors. The School Organisation Code notes that “some spare places are necessary to enable schools to cope with fluctuations in numbers of pupils”. The Welsh Government regards a single school as having excess surplus places if it has more that 25% of its places empty.
It is true that a number of Carmarthenshire’s Welsh medium schools have surplus places. These schools are predominantly in rural areas where there has been a decline in the number of young families and the number of children. This situation is not an indicator of a decline in the demand for Welsh medium education but an indicator of the demographic change facing many rural communities, with a generally ageing population.
Through its Modernising Education Programme Carmarthenshire County Council has removed approximately 3150 surplus places from its primary schools estate over the past 15 years, predominantly in rural areas, demonstrating that Carmarthenshire County Council is effective at managing surplus places.
This Council’s school organisation proposals routinely consider future housing developments and the demand that these can produce for school places. The objective of the Council’s proposals for the Llangennech schools is that local children attend Llangennech school in future. The Council does not intend that any local child should seek a school place outside Llangennech, other than in the infrequent incidence of a specific additional learning need in which case the Council will work with parents to identify the most appropriate arrangement. It is for this reason that no reference is made in the Consultation document to potential housing development in Hendy or any other school area.
The County Council will continue to monitor demand for places at Hendy School, in particular with regard to new housing developments being built in the locality in the foreseeable future and with regards to the review of Llanedi school and will respond as appropriate. The Council’s Modernising Education Programme includes provision for investment at Hendy school in the medium term to expand and modernise the school’s premises and facilities and it should be possible to align this investment with a need to increase capacity, should that need arise.
The City and County of Swansea’s Local Development Plan (LDP) draft deposit is due to be published for consultation in the summer of 2016. This draft plan includes a significant allocation of over 700 residential units in Pontarddulais. Discussions with officers at the City and County of Swansea confirm that they are planning to develop schools within the community of Pontarddulais to meet all need arising from their LDP in due course, as required by the development timeline. This is a matter for Swansea local authority to resolve.”