Plans for new Welsh-medium primary school

PLANS have been submitted for a new £12.5m Welsh-medium primary school in Rhydyfelin.

The application is for a new school on the site of Heol y Celyn Primary School, which is set to shut as part of Rhondda Cynon Taf Council’s 21st Century Schools plans for Pontypridd.

It would open in September 2024 and is part of a wider £55m school shake-up across Pontypridd through the Welsh Government’s 21st Century Schools and Colleges Programme.

The application design and access statement said the existing Heol y Celyn school buildings, built during the 1960s, are no longer fit for purpose, with limits on changing or expanding the existing site.

Heol y Celyn is currently a duallanguage school and will see a change to the catchment area, as the new school will include pupils from Ysgol Gynradd Gymraeg Pont Sion Norton, around three miles from Heol y Celyn and also due to close under the wider plans for Pontypridd’s schools.

The new school would have capacity for 540 pupils aged between three and 11, and 60 places for the nursery.

The plans also include a new multi-use games area, new playing field, staff car park and on-site bus drop-off area.

A public consultation session in October 2021 at Rhydyfelin Community Centre was attended by around 35 people including local residents and children from nearby schools, the design and access statement said.

The current school would stay open during construction of the new school and demolished after the move to the new building.

The statement said: “The proposed development will significantly enhance the Welshmedium educational facilities for the area, providing a purposebuilt modern building which will enhance teaching and learning at the site, as well as having potential to become a community facility.

“It is considered that the proposed development takes into account its impact on the site and surrounding area.”