Blaenau Gwent Council鈥檚 Executive Committee has approved the building of a new Welsh Medium Primary School inclusive of childcare provision, in the Tredegar/Sirhowy Valley.
A consultation, involving all major stakeholders, took place earlier this year on a proposal to develop a 210 place Welsh Medium 鈥榮eedling鈥� school, with co-located childcare, in Chartist Way.
The consultation showed strong support from those who took part for a new Welsh school.
The new school and co-located childcare provision will be developed in line with 21st Century Schools standards, subject to planning processes (consultation and approval). The Council has secured 拢6.2million of capital funding via the Welsh Government Welsh Medium Capital Grant and Childcare Capital Grant schemes for the build.
The school will allow the Council to meet increased demand for Welsh-medium childcare and education places in the area.
Lynn Phillips, the Council鈥檚 Corporate Director for Education says:
鈥淭here is a strong desire to increase the number of Welsh speakers in Wales and the opportunities for education through the medium of Welsh, and indeed we are seeing a growing demand for local school places and early years鈥� provision.
鈥淭his new school with on-site childcare will give parents more options when choosing an Education path for their children, so I am pleased that the Executive Committee has today recognised this as an important step in increasing provision here in Blaenau Gwent and providing more choice for parents.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.