Cardiff Council is moving forward with plans to meet the growing demand for additional Welsh-medium and English-medium primary school places in and around the Butetown, Canton, Grangetown and Riverside areas.
A detailed study based on demographic projections, current residential populations and current shortfalls indicates that an additional 2 Form Entry (60 places per year) Welsh-medium and 2 Form Entry English-medium community school places for Grangetown and Butetown are required in order to meet the projected shortfalls of places.
The Cabinet will be asked to approve a report which will allow Council officers to engage with communities in each of the four wards to gauge opinion and receive feedback on a number of identified sites which could potentially provide additional community primary school places in the Grangetown and Butetown areas.
Cabinet Member for Education and Lifelong Learning, Cllr Julia Magill said: “Delivering high quality educational opportunities to the children and young people of Cardiff is a priority for us and part of that aim, is to ensure we use capital resources to build in excellence in educational standards and have enough school places in the right areas to meet local demand.
“Our research and projections show that the number of school pupils entering Reception will continue to increase until at least January 2016. We need to meet the projected shortfall with an addition of 60 English-medium places per year for Grangetown and an addition of 60 Welsh-medium places per year for Grangetown and Butetown. For Welsh-medium provision this means we are proposing a school twice the size of that put forward by the previous administration.”
The sites which are being considered have taken a number of factors into consideration including; site location and proximity to pupil population, impact on established services and facilities, traffic and transport issues and suitability with regard to Welsh-medium or English-medium including sites near to other local established primary school provision.
Cllr Magill continued: “We recognise the necessity for a long-term solution that supports high educational attainment and meets the communities’ needs. It’s important that residents in the local communities and all other stakeholders are a part of this solution and help us find the right location for the schools. The feedback will be used to shape formal proposals for a statutory consultation later in the year.”
