Back
Proposals for new Primary School

 

21/1/2020 


A report which recommends proposals are taken forward to establish new primary school provision to serve parts of north-west Cardiff will be considered by the local authority's Cabinet when it meets on Thursday 23, January 2020.

The report will also inform the Cabinet of responses received as part of a public consultation, which invited people to share their views on establishing anew two-form entry dual stream primary school,serving the early phases of thePlasdŵrdevelopment, spanning parts of Creigiau, St Fagans, Radyr, Morganstown and Fairwater.

If progressed, the new school would be dual stream, organised as one-form of entry offering Welsh-medium education and one-form of entry offering English-medium places with significant use of Welsh. The school would also offer 96 part-time nursery places, with half of the places being Welsh-medium and half English-medium, also with significant use of Welsh.

A number ofnew housing developments have commenced in north-west Cardiff in recent years. These include the Plasdŵr development on land north and south of Llantrisant Road, south of Pentrebane Road and Goitre Fach Farm.

The new homes will increase the number of children in the area needing school places. As part of the contributions the Council has secured for the building of social infrastructure through its section 106 agreement, the Plasdŵr developer will construct the new two-form entry primary school in order to meet the increased demand for school places created by the new homes it is building.

Deputy Leader of Cardiff Council, and Cabinet Member for Education, Employment and Skills, Cllr Sarah Merry, said: "The public consultation presented an opportunity for people to have their say and I am pleased that the majority of responses received were in support of the proposals for the development of the new school.

"If progressed, proposalswouldprovide a new and exciting opportunity in how the Welsh language is taught to pupils in an English-medium school, delivering an innovative variation on the traditional dual-stream primary school provision. It would see a significantly greater focus on Welsh teaching within the English medium stream, supporting our aspirations to grow the Welsh language that we have set out in our bilingual strategy, and in turn is consistent with the Welsh Government's own Cymraeg 2050 strategy.The Council is fully committed to ensuring that any Welsh-medium stream that forms part of this model would deliver the same high standards of Welsh language teaching and learning consistent with our current Welsh-medium schools across the city.

"By increasing our Welsh-medium education in a strategic way, we are ensuring that our new schools are on a strong financial footing; our existing primary schools in the area remain viable; and that the schools we offer cater for the range of parental preference we see in Cardiff.

"Whether choosing Welsh-medium or English-medium education, the new school would deliver high quality education with a strong Welsh ethos, providing opportunities for children growing up inPlasdŵr to access excellent school facilities, in a learning environment fit for the 21stCentury."

The school is being proposed under the Plasdŵr Section 106 agreement, and is in addition to the new and expanded schools being delivered by Cardiff Council and Welsh Government under its £284m Band B 21stCentury Schools Programme.

If progressed the new school would admit its first pupils in September 2021.

 A full copy of the reports are available to view online at www.cardiff.gov.uk/meetings