Castle Caereinion Church in Wales School will close next year after Powys County Council’s Cabinet approved a recommendation to press ahead with plans.
The Council said it is looking to reconfigure and rationalise the primary school provision in the county as part of its Strategy for Transforming Education in Powys 2020-2030 and has proposed closing Castle Caereinion Church in Wales School from 31 August 2022.
As a result, some of the county’s smaller schools are closing or under threat, and today appeared to be the end of the road for the campaign to keep Castle Caereinion’s open.
At today’s meeting, it was reported that just 21 objections were received, so the cabinet today considered the objection report but approved the proposal to go ahead with closure from August 31, 2022, with pupils to attend their nearest alternative school.
Cllr Phyl Davies, Cabinet Member for Education and Property, said: “After carefully considering the objections, Cabinet have approved the proposal to close Castle Caereinion Church in Wales School.
“We are committed to transforming the learner experience and entitlement for our learners and we will achieve this by delivering our Strategy for Transforming Education in Powys 2020-2030.
“Our strategy is ambitious, exciting and we believe it will give our learners the best possible start they deserve. However, as we start to implement it, we will be faced with significant decisions as we look to address some of the challenges facing education in Powys which include the high proportion of small schools in the county, decreasing pupil numbers and the high number of surplus places.
“This decision has not been reached lightly. Not only was it robustly challenged by senior leaders within the council at every step, but it was developed with the best interest of the learners, who have been at the forefront of our discussions and decision-making.”
But there was better news for Churchstoke Primary School with councillors deciding that it should remain open.