Welshpool will fight to save sixth form

Welshpool is preparing to fight to save its sixth form after a town county councillor said that it was in very grave danger of being lost.

Cllr Graham Breeze was briefing town councillors at this week’s full council meeting and said that the Powys County Council plans would see Welshpool and Llanfyllin’s sixth forms close in favour of a new central facility in Newtown.

However, he pointed out that there were 150 students currently at Welshpool sixth form and another 130 at Llanfyllin, with every one spoken to indicating they would have gone to Shrewsbury or Oswestry to study rather than Newtown, where there are currently only 50 sixth formers.

Cllr Breeze asked the Town Council to give the issue some serious thought as he believes the exodus across the border would lead to many not returning to work or live in the town.

“It’s a very serious situation and one that we at Welshpool High School, where I am a governor, are hugely concerned about,” said Cllr Breeze.

Cllr Sally Fitzgerald labelled the suggestion as “mental”, while Town Clerk, Richard Williams, pointed out that the plans are going out for consultation this autumn.

Powys County Council wants to transform its underperforming sixth form offering through two specialist centres in Newtown and Brecon, but the suggestions have already been met by a substantial public backlash.

Cllr Alison Davies said that sixth forms have to offer at least 30 subjects which schools are currently struggling to do. She said that she supports Welshpool’s “growing and thriving sixth form”, but called for “sensible ideas because the status quo is not providing the pupils with enough”.

Cllr Richard Church, who sits on the Powys cabinet, declined to share his preference but pointed out that the Newtown campus would not be at the town’s high school, but a “separate and freestanding institution”.

“We are shedding sixth formers in huge numbers to Shrewsbury from Montgomeryshire,” he said. “The results that are being delivered in Powys are simply not good enough. We are not providing young people with the opportunities that they need so we have to do it better. But I won’t express my firm view on it until after the consultation has been completed.”

Cllr Phil Pritchard called the proposals “a scandal” and said “we have lost everything” in Welshpool, referring to the library and Neuadd Maldwyn council offices.

“The situation here is absolutely abysmal,” he said. “They have a bloody cheek to even consider something like this, when the numbers say this is where they ought to be located. They don’t give a damn about Welshpool.”

Town Mayor, Cllr Phil Owen, stood firmly behind the high school and underlined that Welshpool was the worst funded school in Powys, and the second worst in Wales.

“My position as trustee on Friends of Welshpool High School, and I have worked with a lot of those sixth formers who are an excellent bunch of kids,” he said. “The county’s failure of sixth form education is not the fault of the schools. Let’s have some more funding for the school I say.”

The councillors will await further news on the consultation with a dedicated item on the issue to be added to a future meeting for full debate. They also expect a public consultation to be held.