Background - Gwynedd Council have decided to close multiple small village schools in order to build a huge monstrosity that will take many very young children an inordinate length of time to get to along narrow country lanes.
The 'project' would have gone ahead without consultation had it not been for The Friends of the Children of Llwyngwril (join them on Facebook)
Sue williams is a governor and parent at Llwyngwril school, one of the wonderful small schools in question.
Sue's Fantastic Letter!
I am writing to give my opinions on the above proposal and in the first instance to express my opposition to the proposal.
I will first respond point by point.
1.2 There cannot be any certainty that the school will open on 1st September 2013 however you intend to close the 3 schools in August 2013. If the schools have been closed and the new school is not ready what will happen to the pupils?
2.2 A capital grant has not been received from the Assembly Government. This is a lie and a deliberate attempt to mislead. Nor will the grant be available from April 2012. It is concerning to note that Seimon Williams was seeking reassurance on the degree of certainty of the funding on the day before December’s Full Council meeting. A meeting was then held on the 13th January 2011 between Gwynedd County Council officers and members of the Assembly’s Capital Funding team. What was the outcome of that meeting? How certain are you that the grant funding will be released to Gwynedd in the financial year 2012-13? Councillors need to be aware that the offer of funding is conditional on the SUCCESSFUL completion of the statutory procedures.
2.3 Why will the council be starting work on the project before the Minister has made his decision? If the Minister says no then money will have been wasted.
2.4 I do not understand what a selective agreement is .When do you intend to move forward with the land purchase and what is your budget?
You do not have planning permission on the Llanegryn site. When do you intend to apply for this? What might be the difficulties with obtaining planning permission in this location in the National Park? How long might the planning process take if there are objections? Have you got any examples of suitable school designs for use in a National Park? If yes then why did we not see them in the consultation meeting? What we were shown was misleading and irrelevant.
Is there a possibility due to planning matters that the location of the school has to be moved back to Bryn Crug?
2.4 ii) You talk about links between the school and the local community and seeking to ensure that the school represents and serves its community. Which community are you talking about? Llwyngwril, Llanegryn, Bryn Crug and Abergynolwyn are 4 rural villages. They are not close together in distance and they are certainly not one community and you have failed to recognise this. How will the school represent and serve its community? How will it be a community based resource? As far as public transport is concerned Llanegryn is only served by an infrequent bus service which has been reduced even further since December 2010. How are no car or one car families where a partner is out at work going to be able to use this resource?
2.4 iii) You note that the sustainability of Ysgol Pen y Bryn should not be impacted. However you base your area school figures in 2.5 on including primary age pupils who already attend other schools. So if you are not taking them from Pen y Bryn where are they coming from? Below is an email from Seimon Williams regarding pupil numbers.
Evidence to show how the figure of 95 pupils is arrived at. Evidence was presented to the statutory consultation meeting at Ysgol Uwchradd Tywyn on 27 January. In essence, 107 primary age pupils currently reside within the four catchment areas, 89 of whom attend one of the three schools, or 83% of eligible pupils. The proposed opening date for the new school is September 2013. The three schools anticipate that 80 pupils (including 6 nursery pupils) would otherwise attend one of the three schools
on that date. Schools are required to provide places for eligible pupils and to provide additional capacity of 10% to accommodate extra pupils. It is therefore reasonable to design the new school to accommodate around 95 pupils.
These figures differ from what is in the consultation document. Why? There is certainly confusion between the total number of pupils in 2013 and how many places the school is being designed for.
2.6 Therefore if you only have 80 full time pupils and 6 nursery pupils how can you talk about and use an allocation figure for 95 pupils??? With only 80 full time pupils how will you afford for the Headteacher to have non contact time? If you try to keep your promise of a 50% non contact headteacher will we have a classroom assistant teaching the pupils for 50% of the week? It is important to remind you that one of the reasons for schools reorganization was headteacher workload. If you cannot afford a part non contact head then the job will not be an attractive one and how will you then manage to recruit a headteacher?
I am very happy with the education being provided in Ysgol Llwyngwril. Why would I wish for my child to be educated in larger mixed age classes where the Headteacher still has a large teaching commitment?
2.7 How will the new school inspire the pupils? Pupils are inspired by excellent teaching and support staff and by parents and community members who can visit and support the school. They are further inspired by projects such as “Sense Of Place” which took the children out into their village to learn about biology, history, geography and to meet and hear stories from local people all within walking distance. Ysgol Llwyngwril pupils were able to take a short walk from their school to take part in projects with experts on their local beach. That is what I call inspirational. I know because I was fortunate enough to be there.
Where is the detail here about the new building? What are the requirements of the BREEAM construction measures? What green technologies will the school use?
Ysgol Llwyngwril already provides a range of ICT facilities provided with funding from the local community.
2.9 The Council’s transport policy is a very poor document which does not address many important issues. How has the Council taken account of section 53 of the Children Act 2004? How has the council given the wishes of the children (who would have to travel on school buses) due consideration? How does the authority satisfy itself that contracted arrangements are safe? Are there processes are in place to monitor contracts? Does the council risk assess embarkation and disembarkation points? What is the council’s policy on seat belts? What is the council’s policy on CRB checks on drivers? What training do drivers receive? Do you use supervisors on school buses? None of the answers to these questions are in the Council’s policy. Parents are justified in showing concern about the safety of their children on school buses. As a parent I am delighted with the work the Assembly is doing on the new Learner Transport Measure and at the same time disgusted with the offer of a supervisor on the bus for one term. Why is the council not looking at a) the cost of a supervisor on the bus permanently and b) paying proper attention to the financial implications for the council of the Learner Transport Measure and c) recognizing that the kind of matters that the measure is trying to address should be addressed by the council NOW?
The Council is treating with contempt parents’ genuine concerns by having such a poor policy and offering a supervisor for one term. Who will decide whether the supervisor continues for more than one term?
Ieuan Wyn Jones has said that “it would be madness to have children as young as four or five upwards on a bus with just a driver.”
How does the council propose to time its school bus service? If it arrives for the start of the school day and leaves at the end of the school day then those using this transport will not be able to attend breakfast club or any after school activities. The Urdd in particular is seen as promoting and improving pupils Welsh. What will be the impact on the Welsh Language of the pupils if they cannot take part in Urdd activities? Will you be providing transport for the nursery pupils? If you do not then you are effectively withdrawing provision of nursery education. How have you taken into account the goals in Iaith Pawb to increase the number of under fives with sufficient exposure to the Welsh?
Why would I wish for the pupils’ day to be extended by adding on the travelling time? The children enjoy walking and cycling to school and therefore their health benefits. What are the effects on the children’s health of an extended school day and travelling on a bus to school?
3.3 For how long will the council continue to provide transport to the area school?
3.5 At present Nursery education is provided in the villages where parents and pupils can walk to school. If they are a no car or a one car family with the partner out at work then they will no longer have access to the nursery provision. Is this not discrimination against the less well off?
4 What is the breakdown of the potential job losses as a result of the closing of the 3 schools and the opening of the area school? The dedicated staff should be treated with more respect by the council. They are facing losing their jobs and it is clear that you are not communicating effectively with them about the decisions the council is making. What will you do to help the people who are losing their jobs?
Appendix A Again you numbers are confusing. Here you say there will be over 90 primary age children living in the catchment area of the new school. Seimon Williams tells us that it is less than 90. Should we believe any of the figures?
Professor John Salt, the Director of the Migration Research Unit at University College London said birth rates reached their lowest point in 2001.There is also recent evidence of a shortage of primary school places in more urban areas which could have an effect on inward migration. How up to date are the council’s population projection figures?
Appendix B .Transport costs of £64,000 are referred to here, a figure which has been used since this process began nearly 2 years ago. Why have current prices and forecasts not been used? This figure is an irresponsible underestimation of a key cost in the whole reorganization process. It is vital that the council provide a current transport cost and a prediction of future cost including the rising price of fuel, the cost of the supervisor for more than a term and the effect of the Learner Transport Measure legislation.
With doubt over the pupil numbers and the accuracy of costs particularly transport and fuel, there has to be doubt over the accuracy of the proposed savings. Have you considered the rising cost of electricity?
Where can we see the proposed cost of the required highways work to provide safe access to the school?
With the savings in doubt is the area school really providing value for money for the tax payer? If there is money available it should be invested in green technologies in the existing schools. This will address rising fuel costs and reduce the council’s carbon footprint.
Other comments.
How has the council taken account of its own CO2 policy with regard to transporting of children both on school buses and in cars? How will Gwynedd achieve and maintain a 20% reduction in transport carbon emissions by 2013 by building the area school?
You make reference in the document and in the consultation meeting to the decisions that Governors of the new school will be taking. As a Governor of Ysgol Llwyngwril and fully aware of the increasing workload and responsibility would it not be wise for the council to consider that Governor recruitment may be a problem?
Re Impact of the Proposal. You have mentioned in the meeting how you will help Bryn Crug village. It has already been noted that the opening of the area school could impact negatively on the individual communities. The Impact reports on Language and Community made recommendations .How does the Council propose to implement these?
The Impact Assessments referred to the ESTYN report of 2003.A pledge was given in June’s consultation meeting that the adviser (Dylan Bryn Roberts) would be contacted to ask him whether the contents of the latest ESTYN report (December 2009) had altered his findings. What was his response?
Surplus places are another matter driving this process.
The capacity figure for Ysgol Llwyngwril appears too high in view of the way the building is currently used. Since the measurements and calculation were last made there has been an increase in the amount of space taken up by ICT equipment and also more space used for the Foundation phase. I have already asked for the capacity figure to be re calculated. It is important to note that Ysgol Llwyngwril does not have empty classrooms.
It is very likely that the proposed area school will have significant surplus places as there is no guarantee that Llwyngwril children and Bryn Crug children will attend the school. They may attend Ysgol Friog and Pen y Bryn respectively.
Headteacher recruitment has only been a problem in Llwyngwril since the consultation process began. We had a problem recruiting 2 years ago after our Headteacher of 5 years moved to a larger school closer to her home. The council have also made it difficult for the potential new headteachers to gain the necessary NPQH. They cannot apply to be headteachers without it and there is a shortage of teachers with this qualification in Gwynedd. Any headteacher recruitment problems are of the councils own making. What are the council doing to help potential Headteachers gain the NPQH qualification?
Staffing protection costs. The cost for the safety net is equal to the cost of transporting the pupils to the area school. So to get rid of one cost you have to add on the transport cost .And the transport cost will continue to rise.
So in conclusion my wish is for the children of Llwyngwril to be educated in Llwyngwril. I do not wish for public money to be wasted on a project which is poorly thought out and inaccurately costed. And without a doubt the whole process has been a shambles and itself a huge waste of money. Gwynedd Council should be ashamed of themselves.
Suzanne Williams, Parent and Governor
Yes the Council may publish my response
COED Y GWEDDILL
LLWYNGWRIL
LL37 2QJ
