Council mulls controversial plan to replace English-medium school with a Welsh school

Martin Shipton

A row has broken out in Monmouthshire over plans that could see an English-medium primary school closed to accommodate a Welsh-medium school.

Families living in the village of Wyesham, near Monmouth, are calling for urgent answers from Monmouthshire County Council amid concerns that Kymin View Primary School could be earmarked for closure.

Local Conservative town council candidate Xavier Turner has called on the council to confirm publicly whether Kymin View is under threat, following reports that the site may be repurposed for a Welsh-medium school.

[mid-content-banner]

Backlash

Mr Turner says he has spoken to concerned parents who have been told the council is proposing to close Kymin View Primary and move Ysgol Gymraeg Trefynwy – Monmouth’s Welsh-medium school – to the Kymin View site, despite the fact that the school has only 18 pupils currently.

It is alleged that school staff and governors have been told not to speak about the plans publicly, to avoid a backlash against the council.

Mr Turner said: “We all support the Welsh language, but you cannot force parents to switch to Welsh-medium education by shutting down a well-performing English-medium school.

“Kymin View was only inspected by Estyn last year and the report was really positive about standards of teaching, leadership and inclusion. In contrast, the Welsh-medium option at Overmonnow currently has around 20 pupils. It makes no sense to displace hundreds of families for the sake of a plan that hasn’t been properly discussed.

“If Kymin View is closed, families would be forced to drive a 14-mile round trip to Llandogo or face a traffic-congested journey across the Wye Bridge to reach Overmonnow or Osbaston. That’s unacceptable.

“It’s appalling that Wyesham residents have been kept in the dark and have to piece together scraps of information through rumours. The councillors leading Monmouthshire County Council should be ashamed of the shabby way they treat Wyesham again and again.”

[lower-mid-content-banner]

Petition

Mr Turner has set up a petition so Wyesham residents can register their opposition to the proposal. He added: “We can’t wait for the council to come forward with formal proposals to close Kymin View. We need to send a clear message now that the community will not stand by and watch its only school be closed. We will fight this proposal every step of the way.”

Cllr Richard John, leader of the Tory opposition on the Labour-led county council, said, “Kymin View Primary has a great reputation as a well-performing school. Despite having the county’s highest percentage of children eligible for free school meals, pupils perform above average compared to similar schools.

“It would be insane to close this school, which does so much good to offer opportunities to children born into less well-off families.

“It’s a disgrace that the council’s cabinet is proposing this without any consultation with the local community. Our team on the county council will work with the whole community in Wyesham to fight any proposal to close Kymin View.”

Duty

A Monmouthshire County Council spokesperson said: “We have a duty to monitor and manage the number of school places within our communities. There are currently a significant number of surplus places within the Monmouth town area. The plans identified in the press statement to reduce this number of surplus places are entirely speculative and there is currently no preferred option.

“On Tuesday July 8, Monmouthshire County Council officers met with headteachers, staff and governors from the four schools (Kymin View Primary School, Osbaston Church in Wales Primary School, Overmonnow Primary School and Ysgol Gymraeg Trefynwy) to share the relevant data with them and explain the rationale to consider the surplus places and the need to plan accordingly. It was made clear to attendees that there was no preferred option at this time.

“When further consideration has been given to the position of the four schools we will engage with them prior to any formal process of consultation beginning. This process is set out in two defined stages under the Welsh Government’s School Organisation Code and takes approximately four to five months to complete. Any school impacted by any future proposals will be a full participant in the process."