THE proposed closure of yet another Powys primary school is to be considered by Powys County Council (PCC) next month.

The local authority is looking to reconfigure and rationalise the primary school provision in the county as part of its ‘Strategy for Transforming Education in Powys 2020-2030’ and is proposing to close Llanbedr Church in Wales School, near Crickhowell.

A consultation on the proposal was carried out between April and June this and the findings of the report will be considered by the council’s cabinet on Tuesday, November 9. Cabinet will also be asked to continue with the process to close the school.

If given the go-ahead, the council will publish a statutory notice formally proposing the change. It would then be required to consider another report to conclude the process.

Councillor Phyl Davies, cabinet member for education, said: “We would like to thank all those who took part in the consultation exercise for this proposal.

“After carefully considering all the consultations responses, the recommendation that I will be putting forward to cabinet is to continue with the proposal by publishing the statutory notice formally proposing the closure of Llanbedr Church in Wales School.

“We are committed to transforming the learner experience and entitlement for our learners and we will achieve this by delivering our Strategy for Transforming Education in Powys 2020-2030.

“Our strategy is ambitious, exciting and we believe it will give our learners the best possible start they deserve. However, as we start to implement it, we will be faced with significant decisions as we look to address some of the challenges facing education in Powys which include the high proportion of small schools in the county, decreasing pupil numbers and the high number of surplus places.

“This recommendation has not been reached lightly but we have ensured that the best interest of the learners at this school were at the forefront of our discussions and decision-making.

“If this school is to close, then the learners would be attending schools that would be better equipped to meet the requirements of the new national curriculum and that could provide a wider range of educational and extra-curricular opportunities.”

The council’s learning and skills scrutiny committee will be considering the proposal on Thursday, November 4.

For more information about transforming education in Powys, visit https://en.powys.gov.uk/transformingeducation.