Powys school closures: Mother criticises council's 'awful' timing

A mother has criticised a council's "awful timing" as it considers closing four rural schools.

Powys council's cabinet has been asked to approve a consultation on the closures when it meets on Tuesday.

"These children are already displaced from the school environment due to Covid and now on their return the will be informed that their school is up for closure," Janine Phillips said.

The council said it wanted to offer children "the best possible start".

The schools affected are Castle Caereinion Church in Wales School in Welshpool, which the council says has 23 pupils, Churchstoke County Primary School in Montgomery with 36, Llanbedr Church in Wales School in Crickhowell with 40 and Llanfihangel Rhydithon County Primary School in Llandrindod Wells with 37.

The council has a 10-year strategy to transform education in the county, including improving learner entitlement and experience, access to Welsh-medium provision and provision for learners with special educational needs.

If the proposals are given the go-ahead, the schools would close in August 2022 at the earliest.

Mrs Phillips, 45, and her family moved to from Newport to Crickhowell four years ago, in part because she wanted her son, now seven, to attend Llanbedr Church in Wales School.

She said she had so far put off telling him his school may close: "He'll be heartbroken.... that's his safe haven place," she said.

She said it was a "phenomenal" school in a "thriving rural location".

She said parents had started a petition and been emailing the council about their concerns: "We're concerned with the mental health and wellbeing of our children," she said.

"On Monday, Powys County Council started a campaign for the health and mental wellbeing of the children in the county - a few hours later they said they were looking to close four small rural school, including my son's.

"I feel that the timing is absolutely awful as these children are already displaced from the school environment due to Covid and now on their return the will be informed that their school is up for closure.

"We are devastated by this news, we need our voices to be heard."

Powys council said it was looking to "reconfigure and rationalise the primary school provision in the county".

Councillor Phyl Davies, cabinet member for education and property, said: "These proposals have not been reached lightly but we have ensured that the best interest of the learners at these four schools were at the forefront of our discussions and decision-making.

"If these schools were 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."

Changes to the Welsh Government's School Organisation Code brought in in 2018 mean closing a rural school should only happen after councils have done "everything they can" to keep it open.

On Friday, Education Minister Kirsty Williams confirmed pupils aged three to seven would be back at school from 22 February, along with some older children on vocational courses.