PLANS for a village primary school near Brecon to become a Welsh medium school have been agreed by Powys councillors but will be implemented a year later than originally expected.
At a Powys County Council Cabinet meeting on Tuesday, July 14, senior Liberal Democrat and Labour councillors received a report following the consultation held into proposals for Sennybridge primary school to become a Welsh-medium school.
Education chiefs recommended implementing the move to Welsh medium on a phased basis, to minimise impact on pupils currently being taught in English at the school.
Initially there had been calls to postpone the language category change for a year from the original start date of September 2027.
This is because there is already a lot of upheaval going on at the school with the move to Welsh-medium education coming on top of the new school build and setting up nursery provision at the site.
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Of the 115 current pupils at the school, 63 are in the Welsh-medium stream and 52 in the English one.
The consultation took place from April 15 to May 27, and 64 responses were received by the council.
Education portfolio holder James Gibson-Watt (Liberal Democrat – Glasbury) said: “The trend is that more and more pupils are accessing Welsh medium education and the Welsh ethos in the school is something that really stands out.
“This direction of travel is very clear.”
Cllr Gibson-Watt continued: “The consultation was a very valuable exercise.
“One of the concerns is that moving to a Welsh medium would reduce the number of pupils.”
He said that “the opposite” had been seen in other Powys schools that had gone through the process to become Welsh medium.
Cllr Gibson-Watt said: “Which tends to show that the demand is there and that this move can be very positive in terms of sustaining a school in a rural area which is actually experiencing a fall in pupil roll numbers”
He explained that the proposal had slightly changed following the consultation by moving the implementation back a year from September 2027 to September 2028.
Council leader Cllr Jake Berriman (Liberal Democrat – Llandrindod North) said he was “heartened” to see that feedback from the school and school governors to move the date back a year had been taken on board.
He asked when would the new school build be open.
Head of school transformation Marianne Evans said it would be completed by October 2027.
Cllr Berriman said: “We have a brand-new school and a period of settling in before moving across (to Welsh medium).”
Welsh language portfolio holder Cllr Sandra Davies (Labour – Cwm-twrch) said: “I welcome this transition as the portfolio holder responsible for the Welsh language, the people living locally are supportive of this.
“I would have preferred it to go a bit quicker than it is, but I accept the recommendation.”
In February, Bannau Brycheiniog National Park Authority Planning committee voted to grant planning permission for a new multi-million school building for 120 pupils.
In March, the council announced that the Welsh Government have agreed to fund 65 per cent of the £9.6 million project through its Sustainable Communities for Learning Programme.
Kier Construction have been appointed to build the new school, and work is now underway.
