The school sits at the heart of a vibrant community which depends on it
Fears have been raised that closing Llanfihangel Rhydithon primary school would leave too much of Radnorshire without a school.
Powys County Council’s cabinet discussed the future of Llanfihangel Rhydithon primary school in Dolau, between Llandrindod Wells and Knighton at their meeting on Tuesday, February 9.
The school is over-subscribed, it has 37 pupils and a capacity for 36.
The council’s report stated that closing the school could save £59,000 a year.
Adult Social Care and Welsh language portfolio holder Councillor Myfanwy Alexander said: “The thing that’s startled me looking at the map is the distance, that’s an awful lot of Radnorshire without schools in it.
“I would ask officers to assure me that this sort of strategic view of where we need to have education, has been taking into account here?”
Head of Transformation and Communication, Emma Palmer, said: “We have done extensive modelling to look at where every pupil lives, and also our forward projections.”
She added that the acceptable length of time it takes for children to travel to school, had also been looked at.
The county councillor for the area, Councillor Hywel Williams believes closing the school would have a bad effect on pupils’ education as well as the community.
Councillor Lewis said: “Llanfihangel Rhydithon school has an impressive performance record, having been rated good in all categories in its latest Estyn report, and classed green in the latest categorisation standards.
“It’s the only school situated between Crossgates and the English border.”
“For the majority of pupils the closest school would be Crossgates.
“I would strongly challenge the report which suggests moving them to a school only classed adequate in its latest Estyn report, and yellow in the national categorisation standards.”
He added that young families were moving back into the area and that the projected pupil numbers in the report did not reflect the “picture on the ground.”
Councillor Lewis said: “The school is at full capacity but there is room to expand up to 49 places by converting a store room into a classroom.”
He also pointed out that any moves to sell the building could involve “lengthy legal discussions.”
This is because the car park has been given to Dolau Recreational Association on a 90 year lease. They run the village hall there.
Councillor Lewis said: “The school sits at the heart of a vibrant community, the sustainability of the village as a lively and proactive community is reliant on the retention of the school.”
Portfolio holder for housing, planning, economic development, Councillor Iain McIntosh asked for clarity on the car park lease, in case the authority wanted to sell the building or land.
Ms Palmer said that she would have to seek advice from colleagues in the property section.
Education consultant, Geraint Rees told cabinet that there was “no scope for growth” at the school.
Mr Rees believed that the whole point of a consultation on the school closure proposals would be to test information in the report and to see if they: “hold water, and can be improved in any way?”
The cabinet voted unanimously to start the statutory process of closing the school on August 31, 2022, with pupils transferring to their nearest alternative school.
In 2020/21 each pupil at the school costs £6,306 which compares with the Powys average of £4,264.
