Blaenau Gwent Council鈥檚 Executive Committee has agreed to proceed to the next step in a proposal to build a new Welsh Medium Primary School in Tredegar.
A consultation, involving all major stakeholders, recently concluded on the proposal to develop a 210 place Welsh Medium 鈥榮eedling鈥� school, with co-located childcare, in Chartist Way. The school would be built using a 拢6million funding investment from the Welsh Government.
The Council will now move to publish a Statutory Notice, which will be live for 28 days and will allow any interested party to make a formal objection.
Blaenau Gwent is the only local authority area in Wales with just one Welsh-medium primary school.
The school would be built to 21st Century Schools modern standards. The creation of a Welsh-medium primary within the Tredegar/Sirhowy valley would allow the Council to meet any increased demand for Welsh-medium childcare and education places.
The feedback from the six-week consultation was presented to members of the Executive Committee before it made a decision today (Monday, 22nd February 2021).
Councillor Joanne Collins, the Council鈥檚 Executive Member for Education says:
鈥淭he Welsh Government has an aspiration to reach one million Welsh speakers by 2050 and in Blaenau Gwent, through our Welsh Education Strategic Plan, we have an ambition to grow education through the medium of Welsh. We are seeing a growing demand for local Welsh education places and early years鈥� provision, and a new school with on-site childcare will give parents more options when choosing an Education path for their children.
鈥淭hank you to everyone who took part in the consultation which has enabled the Executive Committee to make an informed decision today and agreeing unanimously to take this proposal forward.鈥�
The new school would start out as a 鈥榮eedling provision鈥� with nursery and reception classes and grow to provision for all years by 2029.
As part of the consultation the Council engaged with Governing Bodies; school staff; children and young people; parents and local residents to collect a range of views.