Agenda item

To submit a report by the Director of Education, Skills and Young People.

The report of the Director of Education, Skills, and Young People setting out a proposal to transfer pupils from Ysgol Carreglefn to Ysgol Llanfechell and close Ysgol Carreglefn was presented for the Executive’s consideration.

Councillor Dafydd Roberts, Portfolio Member for Education and the Welsh Language presented the report which sought the Executive’s approval for the proposal to transfer pupils from Ysgol Carreglefn to Ysgol Llanfechell and close Ysgol Carreglefn, and to publish a statutory notice to that effect. The proposal paper has been written in accordance with the expectations of the revised School Organisation Code 2018.

The Director of Education, Skills and Young People outlined the reasons for the proposal to close Ysgol Carreglefn which included the cost per pupil which at £17,200 is the highest of all Wales’s primary schools, the number of surplus places at 80% with attendance predicted to fall from 9 pupils currently to 5 pupils from September, 2024 onwards; current and future maintenance costs of £317,350 as well as the challenges of teaching a mixed age class with all pupils at the school being in a single class. He described the procedures followed in considering the future of Ysgol Carreglefn and in formulating the school closure proposal as a designated rural school and he referred to the reasonable alternative options considered and detailed at section 6 of the proposal paper. Should the proposal be approved Ysgol Carreglefn would close in August 2024 and pupils at the school would transfer to Ysgol Llanfechell in September 2024. As a school with fewer than 10 registered pupils at the 2024 January Census the School Organisation Code allows a streamlined procedure to be undertaken to bring about official closure. In the event of the school’s closure, the Authority is committed to working with the community of Carreglefn with a view to providing an opportunity to secure the long-term viability of the present school building as a community resource and to providing free transport for eligible pupils from Carreglefn to Ysgol Llanfechell in accordance with the Council’s transport policy for schools as the road between the two villages is deemed unsuitable for learners of that age to walk to and from school.

Councillor Dyfed Wyn Jones, Vice-Chair of the Corporate Scrutiny Committee reported from the Committee’s 13 February 2024 meeting at which the proposal to transfer pupils from Ysgol Carreglefn to Ysgol Llanfechell and close Ysgol Carreglefn had been considered. The Committee had discussed a range of issues and had sought assurances with regard to the factors driving the proposal, the consideration given to the reasonable alternatives, the financial implications, provision of transport, the impact on pupils, staff and the community and the support available to them, as well as the future of the school building. In considering the latter the Committee had emphasised the importance of working with the community to find a way of retaining the school building for community use should the school close. Having considered all the information provided in the report and orally at the meeting the Committee had resolved to support and to recommend the proposal to transfer pupils from Ysgol Carreglefn to Ysgol Llanfechell and close Ysgol Carreglefn to the Executive.

The Executive’s Members noted the factors driving the proposal to close Ysgol Carreglefn in relation to the cost of the education provision per pupil which would rise to £32k per pupil if as projected the roll call falls to 5 pupils in September 2024, the percentage of empty places at the school and the ongoing decline in pupil numbers as well as maintenance issues and teaching challenges.  Members also referred to the challenges in a school with so few pupils of being able to provide pupils with the range of experiences and opportunities which pupils in more populated schools enjoy such as team, club, and group activities as well as greater social interaction with other pupils which is beneficial to their wellbeing and development. Transferring to Ysgol Llanfechell would also give pupils at Ysgol Carreglefn greater opportunity to use their Welsh language skills by mixing with a larger number of pupils. Members considered the high cost of education provision at Ysgol Carreglefn unsustainable in the long-term as well as being unfair in terms of equality of provision across Anglesey’s primary schools. The Executive’s members agreed with Scrutiny’s view regarding the importance of securing the school building for the community’s use should the school close and were supportive of discussions taking place with the community to that end. They noted 

the variety of community activities hosted in the school building as reflected in the report.

Councillor Llinos Medi, who was also a Local Member, acknowledged that the closure proposal was a difficult proposition and she thanked everyone who had striven to keep Ysgol Carreglefn open during the past few years but accepted that declining pupil numbers and the teaching and financial challenges which that brings means that the proposal as presented is seen as the best solution to address the key drivers for the area.  She referred to the closeness of the two communities and the many activities held by the community of Carreglefn which make retaining the school building for future community use all the more important. Should the proposal be accepted, the catchment area of Ysgol Llanfechell would be extended to include the existing catchment area of Ysgol Carreglefn.

It was resolved –

·      To approve the proposal “to transfer pupils from Ysgol Carreglefn to Ysgol Llanfechell and close Ysgol Carreglefn.”

·      To authorise Officers to progress to the next stage noted in the School Organisation Code 2018 which is to publish a Statutory Notice for a period of 28 days (once a Statutory Notice is published, stakeholders will have 28 days to make a statutory objection to the proposal).

·      To authorise Officers to respond to any statutory objections (should there be objections), in the form of an Objection Report for further consideration by the Executive.

·      To authorise Officers to hold discussions with the community with a view to provide an opportunity to secure the long-term viability of the present school building as a community resource if required.