I try to keep an eye on proposals for new Welsh-medium schools, but here is one that almost slipped under the radar. This report is from Deeside.com
Welsh Medium school places will be available from September 2014 for Nursery and Reception aged pupils for the first time in Shotton and Deeside, in response to public demand
Welsh is taught as first language in Welsh-medium schools, children wishing to join a Welsh-medium school do not have to speak Welsh to attend if they are young enough to learn the language quickly. The numbers of children in Welsh-medium schools has increased steadily in recent years as demand grows.
Parents and guardians with children who will be 3 or 4 years old by 31 August 2014 can apply for a place in a school nursery or reception class for September 2014.
Flintshire County Council has been working in partnership with Menter Iaith and Mudiad Meithrin and this extra provision for Welsh-medium education will be available from September 2014 in the building currently used by Shotton Infant School on Plymouth Street. It will be called:
Ysgol Croes Atti @ Glannau Dyfrdwy
Croes Atti Primary School @ DeesideCouncillor Chris Bithell, Cabinet Member for Education, said: "This is a great opportunity for children in the Shotton and Deeside area to have the benefit of being fully bilingual in Welsh and English, by receiving a Welsh-medium education. Admissions to reception classes for next year open on 30 September, and close on 29 November. Parents applying for nursery places can apply from 6 January 2014. I would urge parents and guardians not to miss out on a place!"
To register your interest, find out more, and to get an admissions pack, please contact Flintshire County Council via the website at www.flintshire.gov.uk or contact the Lifelong Learning Department on 01352 704068 / 704019.
Just to be clear, Ysgol Croes Atti is an existing WM school in Fflint. So it would appear that the new school is, in the beginning at least, going to be a satellite of that school sharing the same head and board of governors. That might well change as the new school fills up.
Here are some pictures of the building. It's old, but it will do.
In terms of capacity, Shotton Infants School currently has an admission number of 50, although its actual intake is much lower than this. This is one of the reasons why it makes sense for it to amalgamate with Taliesin Junior School, which is only a few hundred metres away and has a similar number of surplus places. This means that the new WM school would have an admission number of about 25. It would be the sixth Welsh-medium primary in Sir y Fflint.
9 comments:
Fantastic news for the children and parents of Deeside.
Perhaps in due course the children of Deeside who want a WM secondary education will not find themselves forced to be transported over to Ysgol Maes Garmon in Mold every day (along with all children in Flintshire).
Next step a WM secondary in Deeside...
I don't think the journey to Maes Garmon is so bad compared with the distance other pupils have to travel, Phil. But there will be a need for more secondary accommodation in Sir y Fflint before too long. Maes Garmon has an admission number of 120, but with this new school there will now be six WM schools in the county, with a combined intake of 159.
Maes Garmon shares the same site as Alun School, and I'm not sure there is much room for expansion. The building isn't in brilliant condition, either. So I think it more likely that Maes Garmon would move to a new building on a larger site. I'm not sure that there is yet enough demand for a secondary in Deeside, but there are two small secondaries, Elfed High and Argoed, very close to each other in Buckley, which would be good for both Deeside and Mold. I could well imagine those being amalgamated, and one site redeveloped as a new WM secondary
The thing that surprised me most is that Fflint are going to open Glannau Dyfrdwy with so little fuss. I did check, and it is mentioned in Fflint's WESP. It also says that a survey of parental preference showed that 22% of parents would be likely to sent their children to an existing WM school, but that this would rise to 33% if there was a WM school within 2 miles. It was done by ORS, who are very good. At present, only 5.7% are in WM education. They say they aim to double this figure by 2015. I reckon Buckley/Ewloe is a promising location for the next one.
Normally there is some sort of objection, fight or argument and at present, Sir Benfro, Torfaen and Blaenau Gwent are all dragging their heels, trying very hard not to implement plans for more WM places. But Sir y Fflint seem to be responding eagerly. They deserve some praise for that.
Get a life
Have you ever been to shotton
I don't think you are from Deeside. Next step Deeside should leave Wales...
I don't quite understand the sudden flurry of comments after four months. But be civil, boys.
Have to be like the objectionable one above and go anonymous as can't create a Google account, or anything else.
Speaking as someone who had Welsh as her mamiaith and then that all went to pot when she went to school (in Bangor ... aye) this is really good news. To the objectionable one, I can only say 'Twll dy din di!' You won't understand that, and anyway it will be moderated out by the good providers of this page. Pob lwc gyda;r ysgol newydd,o calon. Mae'n hen amser!
Michael,
I've just come back to this after a long time as the school in Shotton is about to open in September. There's very little info available as to how preparations are going and how many children will be starting.
Just on your points re. secondary WM in Flintshire. It would be a disaster to take WM secondary out of Mold, even if it were to a bigger, new school somewhere else. Mold is the physical and spiritual centre of the WM community in southern Flintshire having genuine 'Bro' communities in outlying villages like Treuddyn, Nercwys and Cilcain, and a large WM community in the town with attendant chapels, pubs, etc. People forget, but Yr Wyddgrug and surrounding area was 'Bro Gymraeg' until the inter war years and major in-migration and language transfer. Furthermore, the remaining WM community (c. 20%) is still 'Bro' now (with the characteristics of a continuous tradition - a dialect, an outlook, etc.) not a new phenomenon in like, say, Monmouthshire or Cardiff. To take Ysgol Maes Garmon (itself something of an institution) out of Mold would be to rip the heart out of the WM community. There is a small but growing WM revival in Mold and nothing should be done to put that at risk. A new, bigger, site for Ysgol Maes Garmon in Mold, fine, but not a move to another town.
Your comment on the Argoed and the Elfed is interesting, and yes perhaps consolidation is an option, releasing a site for a second WM secondary. However, travel from Buckley and Mynydd Isa to Mold is much easier than Flint/Holywell to Buckley, and it is much more sensible to have the next WM secondary somewhere on Deeside to serve Holywell (who currently go over to Glan Clwyd in St. Asaph), Flint, Deeside, Ewloe and Hawarden, Leaving Mold to serve Buckley, Mynydd Isa, The Alyn Valley, and all other Mold communities as it currently does.
I predict that demand at Shotton will grow exponentially from now on, and could, quite quickly become a new centre for WM secondary provision on the A458 axis from Holywell to Hawarden.
To your anonymous posters in January. Yes, I am from Deeside and my ancestors were fishing salmon out of the Dee when they're ancestors were probably stewing sauerkraut in northern Germany somewhere.
Phil Davies
Very nice blog youu have here
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