£12m plans to expand school
Decision due on Ysgol Gyfun Rhydywaun:
EXPANSION plans for Ysgol Gyfun Rhydywaun worth more than £12m could soon be approved by councillors.
The Welsh medium secondary school in Penywaun will get new teaching and sports facilities if Rhondda Cynon Taf Council’s planning committee approves plans at its meeting on Thursday, February 25.
As part of the 21st Century Schools Programme, RCT Council is planning to spend £26.8m on improving school facilities in the Cynon Valley with other projects including Hirwaun Primary School and Ysgol Gynradd Gymraeg Aberdar.
The Rhydywaun proposals would see an extra 187 places created with a new school block containing eight classrooms, community rooms, drama and music facilities and a new school reception.
The current capacity of the school is 1,038 and a recent capacity calculation shows this is likely to be 1,225 under the new proposals including 200 sixth form students with the total number of staff increasing from 108 to 120.
There would also be a new sports hall, fitness suite and changing rooms along with extra parking and traffic improvements with work set to start in April this year if planning permission is given.
The council will contribute £4.2m towards the project with the rest being funded by the Welsh Government.
The plans would see two demountable classroom units, a vacant caretaker’s house and a car parking area all removed or demolished.
There would be a new car park containing 45 extra spaces at the southern boundary of the site replacing three existing outdoor tennis courts.
The plans also indicate that there would be five electric vehicle spaces as well as four visitor spaces and parking spaces for the disabled.
A cycle storage area with 24 spaces would also be provided.
One letter was received by the council from a local resident which raises a number of concerns over access to the school and whether there would be any changes, the impact on the sports playing fields in terms noise and use of flood lights and the impact upon neighbouring properties in terms of disturbances and devaluing of properties.
But in recommending approval, council planning officers said: “The proposal would provide a modern new building within the grounds of the existing school which forms part of the RCTCBC 21st Century Schools programme.
“It would enable an increase in the number of pupils at the school whilst also providing a muchneeded community facility within the area.
“The existing school site is situated within the settlement boundary and within an established residential area where development is generally considered to be acceptable.
“The scale and design of the proposal is appropriate to the context of the existing school campus and it is not considered that it would have an adverse impact upon the character and appearance of the site or the surrounding area or upon the amenity and privacy of surrounding residential properties.”
They added: “While the development would lead to an increase in pupil numbers, it is not considered that this would give rise to any significant increase in the level of noise and disturbance experienced by surrounding residents.
“Furthermore, the existing access to the school would be retained with additional parking being provided within the site and the council’s highways and transportation section consider this to be an improvement to the current
situation in that the development would address the existing shortfall in the car parking requirement for the existing school whilst also providing offstreet car parking in accordance with the SPG (supplementary planning guidance).”
The £10.2m improvements to Hirwaun Primary are being delivered in phases with the new school building having been completed in November 2020 and an onsite Flying Start provision having started in January 2021.
The project’s second phase is now underway to demolish the old junior school block and deliver wider external facilities, including staff car parking, an ecological habitat area, a grass sports pitch and external spaces.
Penderyn Primary will become solely a Welsh medium school in September 2021 - when its English medium pupils will access the new school in Hirwaun.
A £4.5m investment will provide 48 extra Welsh medium places at YGG Aberdar to help meet demand and provide an on-site childcare setting through a £810,000 grant from Welsh Government.
It includes a fourclassroom extension, an expansion of the existing hall and increased on-site parking.
Funding was agreed in November 2020 and the project’s detailed design is almost complete.
A consultation will be undertaken with the school community and local residents before a planning application is submitted and work could start this summer.
ALL secondary school students in Wales could be back in the classroom after Easter, depending on the coronavirus situation in the country, the Education Minister has said.
Kirsty Williams told a press conference in Cardiff yesterday that her “preference” would be for all children to return after the holidays, which begin on March 29, with the new term starting on April 12.
The youngest pupils, aged three to seven, began returning to face-to-face teaching from yesterday along with some vocational learners who were back at college.
Most children have not been in school since December, when classes were switched online due to a steep rise in coronavirus cases.
The coronavirus incidence rate in Wales is currently 80 cases per 100,000 people – the lowest of the four UK nations.
All primary school pupils, as well as those in years 11 and 13 and those doing similar qualifications in colleges, will return from March 15 if the situation continues to improve.
Ms Williams said she wanted to see other learners, such as years 10 and 12, have “flexibility” around face-to-face teaching.
“Unfortunately for those learners in secondary settings or colleges, this won’t necessarily be a return to full-time on-site learning,” she said.
“However, we will do all that we can to support those learners because I know how anxious this time can be as they consider key decisions about their next steps in life.
“Last time I spoke at the press conference, I announced how our education staff will be tested twice weekly as part of our testing strategy.
“Today, I’m pleased to say that this will be extended to older year learners in years 11 to 13, and those in further education (FE) settings.
“This testing will be done through lateral flow devices, which mean they can be done from a learner’s home and which will assist with the planned returned for older pupils from March 15.”
Ms Williams stressed that educational premises were safe but the movement around them contributed to the R number, which is currently estimated to be between 0.6 and 0.9 in Wales.
She called on pupils, parents and carers to follow guidance and restrict contact with others to ensure that more children could return to school.
“We’re now working on how we can see the safe return of more learners to schools and colleges,” Ms Williams said.
“We will confirm the situation for other learners before the Easter holidays but I can tell you now that my preference is to get all learners back in school after the break.”
She added: “My preference is to get all children back to face-to-face teaching after Easter but whether the virus will allow us to do that, of course, is a different thing.
“Rather than just focusing on dates, we will be focusing on what the public health situation allows us to do.
“If we can go faster and the advice is we can go f a s t e r , believe me, I will grab that with both hands and we will get more children and young people back. “But we have to be guided by the advice and the evidence to make sure that it is safe to do so and it doesn’t result in a deteriorating public health situation.” Ms Williams was asked about plans in England to open all schools by March 8, meaning students in Wales may not return to classrooms for weeks after their counterparts over the border. The minister replied that she had not received any new evidence or advice that supported a different approach to the one taken by the Welsh Government. “Our phased and very careful approach is in line with the public health advice that I have received, and in fact, it’s also consistent with UKwide
advice,” Ms Williams said.
“If there is different information and new information available which contradicts our careful approach, then clearly we would want to consider that.”
Asked whether there could be a scenario where things like holidays are allowed before all pupils are back in school the education minister said children remained the top priority but “there may be other headroom that allows us to do other things”.
First Minister Mark Drakeford said on Friday said that some hospitality accommodation in Wales could be open by Easter.
He was very cautious, warning that a lot can happen in six weeks, but said that the Welsh Government was looking at the possibility of some “limited” re-opening of selfcontained accommodation only. This year, Easter falls on the first weekend of April, with Good Friday on April 2.
Ms Williams yesterday said: “There may be other headroom that allows us to do other things.
“We have to recognise the complexities of schools as organisations - they have potentially large numbers of pupils but also adults working in those circumstances.”
Dr Chris Jones, deputy chief medical officer for Wales, told the press conference that the country was in a “fairly critical position”.
He said there was a “very substantial risk” of a large increase in cases, people being admitted to hospital, and deaths, if restrictions were relaxed too quickly.
“We know that opening schools will increase the R value, we know that will also depend to some extent on the presence of the new variants,” Dr Jones said.
“I think a cautious approach where we introduce the lowest risk children back to school first, evaluate the impact of that, that will teach us a great deal.”
In response to the minister’s statement Laura Doel, director of NAHT Cymru, said: “We all want to see children back in schools as soon as possible, but we must guard against moving too quickly.
“This is too important to get wrong. A third lockdown would be devastating to children’s education. It is far better to take our time now than to open too rapidly when the scientific consensus isn’t there.
“Given that many schools are only reopening their doors to foundation phase this week, we need to be careful about giving parents and learners false hope. Statements about a full return after Easter are premature and unhelpful at this stage.
“We need to see what impact the return of foundation phase has before looking at bringing anymore children back in.
“We also need to know exactly what indicators the government is monitoring to make these decisions, and to make sure this information is clearly communicated to schools and Local Authorities so that they can act at a local level if community infection rates begin to rise.
“Schools need to be supported and given details to act quickly if the situation on the ground warrants it.
“Welsh Government must act cautiously and transparently to give confidence in their plans for return and to minimise further disruption to children’s education.”
In a separate development, Plaid Cymru has called for school staff to be given priority for the vaccine within groups.
The party’s shadow minister for education Sian Gwenllian said the safety of school staff and children must be the “number one priority” as schools reopen.
She called on the Welsh Government to be “fully transparent” with the latest scientific advice ahead of the return of any further cohorts and said it should be ready to “quickly close” individual schools should clusters start to appear.
Ms Gwenllian said: “We expect the Government to be fully transparent with the latest scientific advice it receives ahead of the return of any further cohorts -- and ready to quickly close individual schools should clusters start to appear.
“The Labour Government should fully support calls for school staff be given priority for the vaccine within their age groups. Safety measures should emphasise adequate ventilation of school buildings.” their age