Sixth form hub should be in Welshpool, not Newtown!

By Elgan Hearn, Local Democracy Reporter

Councillors have asked why a sixth form college would potentially have a campus in Newtown, when Welshpool could be a far better option.

At a meeting of Powys County Council Learning and Skills yesterday (Friday), councillors and lay committee members received a presentation on the outcome of a strategic review into post-16 education in the county. The review has produced three options to consider.

These will be subject to a two-stage “engagement” process which will allow people to give their views on the proposals over the next six months.

Option three is the preferred way and could see a sixth form college set up with one board of governors and management team across two sites in Brecon and Newtown.

Plaid Cymru’s Cllr Bryn Davies, who represents Banwy, Llanfihangel and Llanwddyn, pointed out that for many school pupils in the north of Powys, Newtown is a distant place.

Cllr Davies said: “In our part of the country we are just as far from Mold in Flintshire, which is near the seaside, than Newtown.

“Wrexham is close, Oswestry and Shrewsbury are also closer for most of the population in the northeast. The only central location in the north I can see at the moment for this is in Welshpool, which was the old (Montgomeryshire) county town.

“It would be much more suitable for an English medium sixth form.”

He asked whether this could be put forward as a potential option to be considered.

The question of why Brecon and Newtown had also been asked earlier in the meeting by Liberal Democrat Cllr Chloe Masefield, who represents Crickhowell with Cwmdu and Tretower.

The number of pupils attending other six forms across Powys are mostly larger than the 18 at Brecon High School and the 46 at Newtown High school.

Committee chair, Cllr Gwynfor Thomas (Conservative), said: “There is somewhere in the region of 150 pupils in Welshpool (actually 132 from the report) and 123 in Llanfyllin. Are we confident that all those will move to Newtown?”

Powys Independents’ Cllr Gareth E Jones (Builth Wells) also wondered whether new school buildings would need to be built to accommodate the sixth forms?

Marianne Evans explained that Brecon and Newtown had been chosen as the sixth forms could also work with NPTC group of colleges who have campuses in both towns.

Ms Evans said: “Our vocational colleagues are in the same area, and we can work with them and provide that blended offer.

“This is providing opportunities for young people to look at going down that different pathways to the traditional A-levels, so we do feel it’s a clear opportunity in Brecon and Newtown of bringing providers together.

“I think that new builds or using existing sites is something we’ll have to look at as part of evaluation all three options of where we can develop.”

She added that there “is a reference” in the council’s £300 million Strategic Outline Programme (SOP) to the Welsh Government’s Sustainable Communities for Learning’s programme for a “potential post-16 development”.

The Welsh Government asked local authorities to submit their proposal and outline a “rolling programme” of proposals for up to nine years.

This document was agreed by the Liberal Democrat/Labour Cabinet a year ago.

Recommendations from the committee will be added to the report which is expected to go before the cabinet for a decision to later this month to start the engagement process.