Pontypridd school shake-up plan put out to consultation

Hawthorn Primary School is one of six which would close under the plans

Two new schools teaching children aged three to 16 could be built amid falling pupil numbers in a south Wales town.

Under the plan, six primary and high schools in Pontypridd would close, with sixth-formers being taught in nearby towns.

Rhondda Cynon Taf council bosses, who are seeking people's views, said there would otherwise be nearly 800 surplus places by 2023.

One councillor raised concerns about young pupils potentially being bullied.

Under the £37.4m proposal, Pontypridd and Hawthorn High Schools would close in 2022, along with their sixth forms and four local primary schools. Cardinal Newman RC High School would also lose its sixth form.

They would be replaced by two schools for children aged three to 16, a new Welsh-medium primary school, and new sixth form centres in Beddau and Nantgarw, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

Council officers have described the shake-up as an "ambitious" programme.

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Councillor Joy Rosser, cabinet member for education, said: "We want to ensure that our young people have access to the very best learning opportunities, within modern state-of-the-art facilities."

Stephen Belzak, independent councillor for Cilfynydd, said his local primary schools were "well regarded" and claimed there was little evidence either way about the worth of schools with such a broad age range.

He said the Scottish Headteachers' Union had raised concerns about the possible bullying of the youngest pupils, and their premature exposure to "teenage issues".

"There is a great deal of unhappiness about this," he said.

The council cabinet - which has already carried out a similar shake-up in Rhondda - decided on Wednesday to launch a consultation on the plan until January.

Schools teaching children of all ages are relatively rare, accounting for 13 of the 1,521 state schools in Wales in 2017/18.