Primary school to stay open as closure 'wouldn't be in the best interests of pupils'

A primary school in Tonyrefail has been saved after councillors decided not to go ahead with a proposal to close it. The proposal had been to close Tref-Y-Rhyg Primary School, with pupils transferring to Tonyrefail Community School by September, 2025, which would have required the catchment area of Tonyrefail Community School to be extended.

But Councillor Rhys Lewis who is the cabinet member for education recommended they did not take the proposal forward and this was agreed by Rhondda Cynon Taf (RCT)’s cabinet on Monday, December 16. He said, having considered the consultation responses, he differed slightly from the rationale they consulted upon now and that there was a “strong argument” to conclude the process adding that the proposal that they consulted upon wouldn’t be in the best interests of the school, current pupils and future pupils at this time.

Councillor Dan Owen-Jones who represents Tonyrefail East on the council, raised the extensive development that was happening in Tonyrefail and said Tref Y Rhyg Primary was needed now more than ever as the number of pupils would increase three fold in the region of 200 plus. Fellow ward councillor Danny Grehan mentioned the impact the initial decision had had on children in Tref y Rhyg, especially the most vulnerable children who had experienced so much loss and trauma in their already short lives, and who now possibly faced having to relive the whole consultation process once again. To get all the latest daily Wales Online news straight to your inbox, sign up to our newsletter here.

He said that if they decided to go ahead with the closure “the trauma of the uncertainty will bite for many more months – if not for a whole year.” He said he was pretty sure there would be an additional cost of having to transport the children from the new Hafod Wen development and said there was no safe route from the Glyn estate.

He urged the cabinet to “free the school from the clutches of all uncertainty. Give the school a chance to flourish. Next year there will be 70 new houses on the doorstep, then another twenty and ten more in turn, all within easy walking distance, and new children will no doubt join our community in Tref y Rhyg.” Steve Burgess, the chair of governors at the school, said the much of the work necessary to bring the school up to 21st Century Schools standards had already been completed and said care had not been taken by the council in research.

Mr Burgess said the children’s voice and love of the school must come first in considerations, that it nestled at the heart of Tonyrefail East and that everyone had worked hard to make the school a safe place with a warm and welcoming atmosphere for children. He said the process to date had caused “untold distress” and that if cabinet had attended the school they would have seen that the children in the school were “respected and nurtured in order to grow.”

Of the 98 responses to the consultation, only 7 (7.1%) agreed with the proposal, 86 disagreed (87.8%) and five (5.1%) were not sure. The rationale behind the proposals had been that the school had 82 current pupils, below its capacity of 157 and that pupil numbers were projected to further decline to 54 by 2028/29 (65.6% surplus places) and that Tonyrefail Community School already provided the catchment area for the secondary school education of pupils attending Tref-Y-Rhyg Primary School.

The council had said that the proposals were brought forward to “improve education outcomes, and to ensure local schools are sustainable and best placed to deliver a high-quality education and ensure the best use of public funding, under the backdrop of continued financial challenges faced across the public sector.”