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School modernisation
Published: 14/01/2016
天涯社区s Cabinet will consider the many responses from the
recent statutory consultation on the proposals to close Ysgol Maes Edwin,
Flint Mountain and Ysgol Llanfynydd when it meets on 19 January.
Councillors will consider all the consultation feedback from pupils, parents,
carers, teachers, governors and the Education and Youth Overview and Scrutiny
Committee. Should Cabinet decide to proceed with closure, the proposal must
then be published by way of a Statutory Notice when there will be a 28 day
period when people can object. A further report will then be brought back to
Cabinet who will make a final decision in the Spring.
In accordance with the statutory School Organisation Code, a formal
consultation period started on 21 October and ended on 2 December. The County
Council produced a consultation document in line with Welsh Government Guidance
which was published on the Councils web site and sent to stakeholders. A
supplementary version of the document was produced for children and young
people specifically written and presented to enable them to understand and
engage with the consultation process. Options under consideration were:
retaining the status quo, a federation or closure.
Consultees were able comment through an online questionnaire or by completing a
form at the back of the consultation document and also through email or letter
and at the consultation meetings. Although not part of the Welsh Government
guidelines, Council officers held meetings with governors, teaching and
support staff and parents/carers/guardians to give people the opportunity to
ask questions and make further comments.
The report to Cabinet includes a summary of the issues raised by consultees, a
response to each of the issues raised, and Estyn鈥檚 view in full (as it is
provided in its consultation response) of the overall merits of the proposals.
天涯社区s Chief Officer for Education Ian Budd said: The
County Council is carrying out a challenging programme of school
modernisation. It wants to provide the best possible opportunities for
learners to achieve their full potential in schools that are fit for purpose
and deliver first-class education in the 21st Century .The Council must make
sure that its network of schools meets both current and future educational
needs and that education provision is high quality, sustainable, takes place in
improved buildings and meets the need to provide the right number of school
places in the right locations.
Councillor Chris Bithell, Cabinet member for Education and Youth said : The
Council recognises that doing nothing means higher pupil teacher ratios across
all schools as revenue funding reduces. In these times of austerity, with
unprecedented cuts in central government funding, we no longer have the
funding to subside schools with low pupil numbers.