Cardiff Council has submitted its bid for 21st Century Schools funding to the Welsh Government.
In the light of the Government’s announcement earlier this year that the amount of funding available for investing in schools would be reduced, all local authorities in Wales were asked to look again at their school reorganisation programme of projects to re-evaluate and refocus their plans.
Cardiff originally submitted its bid for 21st Century Schools funding in December 2010, based on the expectation that 70 per cent of the funding would be provided by the Welsh Government with the Council contributing the rest. The bid outlined a number of reorganisation and investment proposals seeking to build on the multi-million pound programme the Council had already committed to schools to develop a viable and successful education system across the city.
However, due to the reduction in funding availability, local authorities are now required to match fund their proposals to the tune of 50 per cent while the timescale for Band A funding has also been changed from 2012 – 2015 to 2014 – 2020.
Cardiff’s £150m 21st Century Schools capital investment programme prioritises the sufficiency of schools across the city and the need to respond to increasing demand for Welsh-medium education, expand primary provision in some areas, reorganise and improve secondary provision and ensure that schools can deliver a full curriculum.
The programme also includes an exciting and visionary investment in Information and Communication Technology which would realise a city-wide infrastructure and learning platform that will enable all children to benefit from ICT and enhance their learning experience.
The bid also reflects the decision of the Council’s Executive to ask officers to bring forward an alternative option for the phased build of a new high school on the site of the existing Rumney High School in place of previous plans to establish a new build secondary school on the Eastern Leisure Centre site.
Cardiff’s refocused submission also includes proposals to establish Oakfield Primary, Meadowlane Primary, and Adamsdown Primary Schools at two forms of entry while Herbert Thompson Primary, Moorland Primary and Baden Powell Primary would be established at two and a half forms of entry. St Paul’s Church in Wales Primary, St Patrick’s Roman Catholic Primary, Radnor Primary, Christ the King Roman Catholic Primary and St Francis Roman Catholic Primary would gain nursery units.
The submission includes proposals to create a new Welsh medium primary school in Grangetown and a new English-medium primary school in Pontprennau. There would also be increased capacity at both Ysgol Y Wern and Coed Glas Primary while the newly federated Michaelston Community College and Glyn Derw High School would be consolidated at 10 forms of entry between the two schools with the potential at Glyn Derw for developing collaborative arrangements with Woodlands High School. Fitzalan and Willows High Schools would also receive initial investment funding for the remodelling of premises. Investment to provide a gymnasium at Corpus Christi Catholic High School has also been proposed .
Executive Member for Education and Lifelong Learning, Cllr Freda Salway, said: “We have had to look again at our future school reorganisation plans in the light of the fact that the funds we thought were going to be available from the Welsh Government will be reduced and the Council will need to find additional match funding.
“As a result, our new bid to the Welsh Government concentrates on ensuring there are sufficient places in schools across the city to meet current and future demand as well as making sure that the our schools are suitable for delivering a 21st Century curriculum.
“However, while we have had to re-evaluate individual proposals, our long term goal of creating a successful, viable education system for Cardiff remains unchanged. We are striving to create learning environments that promote better educational outcomes for children and young people, ensuring that resources are used efficiently and effectively.”
