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New Welsh language school plans get go-ahead

Mari Grug
BBC News
BBC Road near entrance to Ysgol Calon Cymru, with white sign with red letters on the right bearing the name of the school and saying croeso-welcomeBBC
The fully Welsh-medium school at the Builth Wells campus of Ysgol Calon Cymru will be the first of its kind in mid and south Powys

Plans to establish a Welsh-medium only school have been approved amid concerns that Welsh-language pupils at mixed language schools are being let down.

Powys councillors approved the plan after a report concluded that establishing the school at the Builth Wells campus of Ysgol Calon Cymru, a bilingual secondary comprehensive, would improve secondary school provision in Welsh.

It noted there were "significant concerns about the level of provision available to Welsh-medium learners in the area".

Under the plans, the campus would be Welsh language only from 2029, with pupils who learn in English moving to the school's redeveloped Llandrindod Wells campus eight miles away.

Over decades many pupils have travelled out of Powys to go to Welsh schools and the report to the council's cabinet said the range of subjects available in Welsh "varies significantly" and the curriculum offer was "increasingly limited" for Welsh speakers.

Iwan Price from Llanwrtyd Wells used to have an 80-mile (128 km) round trip to go to a Welsh school, Ysgol Maes yr Yrfa in Carmarthenshire, because of the lack of a Welsh-medium secondary school in south Powys.

"Sadly, 37 years to this day, we are still waiting for a Welsh-medium high school in Brecon and Radnor," Iwan said.

Iwan Price in navy hoodie and olive green jacket. He has short grey hair and facial hair.
Iwan Price is pleased his sons will be able to go to a Welsh-only secondary school

He said his parents drove him to and from school every day as "both of them are Welsh speaking and they wanted us to have the opportunity to study through the medium of Welsh".

Iwan now has two children and he welcomed the decision, saying the school - which would cater for pupils from primary school age up to Year 9 - would "give them more benefits, being fluent in both languages".

Rhys Field in butcher shop wearing a green apron and navy jumper. He has a red beard and moustache and wears glasses.
Rhys Field says "nobody" in Builth Wells is calling for a new Welsh-only secondary school

But the prospect of sending children from Builth Wells to Llandrindod to learn in English "makes no sense" according to Rhys Field, a butcher in the town.

"Nobody speaks Welsh around here anymore, nobody is calling for a new Welsh school," he added.

"And what about the additional costs of buses to take kids to Llandrindod and back?"

The council's Plaid Cymru group leader Elwyn Vaughan said there had been "a desire for years to ensure Welsh-medium education provision in this part of Powys".

He added that this would mean fewer children having to travel vast distances to get their education in Welsh out of the county.