£7.4m new school to help increase Welsh speakers
A£7.4m new primary school will be built on Barry Waterfront and is set to open in September 2021.
Ysgol St Baruc Welsh medium primary school will move to the new building and extend its capacity from 210 places to 420 places, along with 96 nursery places.
The new school plans come as the Welsh Government aims to have one million Welsh speakers by 2050.
Currently Welsh medium primaries in Barry are under-subscribed with a total of 295 places available.
But a council report says there would need to be “significant investment” in Welsh education in order for the council to meet Welsh Government’s target.
The report said: “The proposal to increase the capacity of Ysgol Sant Baruc provides the council with the opportunity to increase the annual number of Welsh medium places by 30 whilst also placing a Welshmedium primary school at the centre of the newly established housing development to facilitate growth within a new community.”
A total of 261 people responded to a consultation on the plans – and 232 of them backed the move. Only 25 opposed it.
The current Ysgol Sant Baruc has no canteen or dining facilities and there is no chance of expanding the existing school site, a consultation report says.
The report said: “Ysgol Sant Baruc comprises a main Victorian building and a two classroom block built in
the 1980s. The school is on a very confined sloping site with no prospect of substantially increasing the site to meet 21st century schools standards.
“The school currently uses the dining facilities at the adjacent High Street Primary School as there is no catering provision at the school. In addition, the classrooms vary in size ranging from a pupil capacity of 23 to 30 children.
“The smaller size classes are too small to accommodate the schools admission number of 30 children. It is not possible to replace the school with a new build at its current location due to restricted outside space.”
Plaid Cymru councillor Ian Johnson, whose ward includes the current school site, said: “We are all very pleased that the proposal for a new Ysgol Sant Baruc on the Waterfront has been agreed by the Vale council, and look forward to its opening in Autumn 2021.
“89% of respondents to the consultation were in favour, and there were no statutory objections to increasing the number of pupils at the school.
“The Waterfront community in Barry will have a genuine 21st century school at its heart, meeting the growing call for Welsh medium education in the town.”
This is the first time a local authority in south Wales has taken the decision to build a Welsh-medium primary school to serve a new housing development.
Cllr Lis Burnett, cabinet member for education at the Vale council, said: “This is a pivotal moment for Welsh medium education in the Vale of Glamorgan.
“Demand for Welsh language schooling in Barry has increased by more than a quarter in the last 10 years. The decision taken today will see a new state-of-the-art facility that not only meets this demand but provides capacity for the future.
“As a council we are committed to helping Wales hit its target of one million Welsh speakers by 2050. Providing first class learning environments for Welsh language schooling is one of the ways in which we will get more parents to recognise the benefits of a bilingual education.”