THE Vale Council is to start a consultation process on its plans to double the size of Ysgol Iolo Morganwg in Cowbridge and move it to the outskirts of the town by September 2025.
Under the proposal, the number of pupils would jump from 210 to 420 and staff and pupils would move into a new Welsh medium school to be built at the Chare Garden Village development just off the A48.
The report, considered earlier this month by the Vale Council cabinet, said that no decision has been made yet about the future of the existing site of the school, saying that “all options would be considered”.
A statutory consultation is set to begin on 27 February and last for six weeks.
The proposal also involves increasing nursery provision from 66 to 96 part time nursery places. Also, an extra facility will be established onsite to support “adult education and immersion”.
The report says that the reason for the proposal is to create and accommodate additional demand as a result of recent and proposed housing developments. The largest of these is on “Land to the north and west of Darren Close” with 475 dwellings. As of October 2022, 135 dwellings have been built and are occupied and 44 dwellings are currently under construction. Approximately 475 dwellings will be built in total by 2026-27
A two-hectare school site is due to be transferred to the Vale Council via the Section 106 agreement. The new school site is 1.3km from the existing school.
The report says that English medium provision was identified as the priority due to the “urgent need” to increase the number of English medium primary places. The council has identified the Cowbridge Comprehensive School site as the preferred site to deliver the English medium primary expansion, through the creation of an all-through school.
In doubling the size of Ysgol Iolo Morganwg, the council seems to be anticipating a growth in demand for Welsh medium education. The report addresses this by saying: “Evidence shows that where the council has provided additional Welsh medium capacity, the number of Welsh medium learners has increased.
“An example of this is Ysgol Dewi Sant, a Welsh medium primary school in Llantwit Major that opened in September 2011. In the first year of opening, the reception intake contained 3 pupils. In 7 years, the September 2018 intake was oversubscribed with 32 applicants for 30 places.”
The report says that an on-site expansion was rejected because the school comprises a main Victorian building built in 1900, a dining block from the same period and three demountable buildings – two of which are used for classrooms and one for storage. It says the school is on a “confined sloping site” with no prospect of substantially increasing it to meet the Welsh Government’s ‘Sustainable Communities for Learning Programme’ standards.
The report goes on to say that the existing buildings are in poor condition with a £798,590 backlog of maintenance.
The cost of the new school is estimated at £13.76 million. The Vale Council expects to receive £8.9 million in Welsh Government match funding through the Sustainable Communities for Learning Programme – subject to the approval of a full business case
The extra facility mentioned earlier would be established onsite to support adult education and immersion for late learners (primary aged pupils 7+ year olds) to Welsh medium education. A self-contained unit would provide Welsh medium immersion placements for primary aged pupils aged 7 and above, as well as offering Welsh lessons for adults after school hours. The council has an existing immersion unit in Barry but the proposed unit would be better placed to serve the western Vale. The immersion centre would have capacity for 12 immersion placements.
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