4/5/2023

A public consultation has opened today, giving members of the public the chance to have their say on plans to reorganise primary school provision to serve Cathays and parts of Gabalfa, Heath, Llandaff North and Plasnewydd.

Theproposals- aimed at achieving the correct balance of English and Welsh medium primary provision so that current and future demand in the area can be met - will be subject to consultation with schools, governors, parents and children.

Three potential options are included in the plans which are designed to improve learning opportunities and to provide support with financial pressures currently being experienced by schools in the area. The options are:

Option 1

• Allensbank and Gladstone Primary Schools would amalgamate to establish a new 420 place (2FE) English-medium Primary School with nursery on the current shared site at Gladstone Primary School/St Monica's CiW Primary School.
• St Monica's CiW Primary School would transfer to the current Ysgol Mynydd Bychan site and establish nursery provision at the school.
• Ysgol Mynydd Bychan would transfer to the current Allensbank Primary School site and increase from 192 places to 420 places with the number of nursery places increasing from 64 to 96.

Option 2

• Allensbank Primary School would transfer to the current shared Gladstone Primary School/St Monica's CiW Primary School site,and the school would reduce in capacityfrom 315 places to 210 places, with the age range reducing from 3-11 to 4-11 by discontinuing nursery provision at the school.
• The number of nursery places at Gladstone Primary School would increase from 64 to 96.
• St Monica's CiW Primary School would transfer to the current Ysgol Mynydd Bychan site and establish nursery provision at the school.
• Ysgol Mynydd Bychan would transfer to the current Allensbank Primary School site and increase from 192 places to 420 places with the number of nursery places increasing from 64 to 96.

Option 3

• Allensbank Primary School would transfer to the current Ysgol Mynydd Bychan site and reduce in capacity from 315 to 192 places.
• Ysgol Mynydd Bychan would transfer to the current Allensbank Primary School site and increase from 192 places to 420 places with the number of nursery places to increase from 64 to 96.

The plans would furthermore support the Council's commitment to develop Welsh-medium educationanddeliver on Welsh Government targets set out in ‘Cymraeg 2050'.

Consideration will be also be given to views on where to locate the city's Speech & Language class, which is currently hosted by Allensbank Primary School

Cardiff Council Leader, Cllr Huw Thomas said: "At the start of 2021, an interim proposal for Ysgol Mynydd Bychan and Allensbank Primary School was consulted on and having listened to the feedback, it was agreed that a long-term plan to address school places in the area was needed.

"Members of the public can now have their say on the new set of options, all of which have been carefully devised to ensure that there continues to be the right number ofEnglish-medium places provided within improved facilities in the Cathays and Gabalfa wards, and that these are organised in a way that supports the schools in becoming more sustainable whilst addressingdemand for Welsh Medium places.

"If progressed, the proposals would help to rebalance the number of Welsh and English medium school places meaning that a greater number of children will gain entry to their local school. In addition,by reusing existing assets more efficiently and through collaborative working, the schools involved would enjoy a number of benefits including improved resources and learning opportunities for pupils and staff. The proposals keep all the existing buildings so the school community can be reassured there will be sufficient places to respond to any future population changes."

The public consultation will run untilFriday 30 June 2023. A number of in-person and online public meetings and drop in sessions will take place through the consultation period.

To view the proposals and have your say please visit:www.cardiff.gov.uk/CathaysGabalfaPrimarySchools