Consultation starts on plans to close four village schools
Four primary schools including Churchstoke are a step closer to closure today after Powys County Council agreed to public consultation.
The council is proposing to close Churchstoke and Llanfihangel Rhudithon county primary schools and Castle Caereinon and Llanbedr Church in Wales schools.
Consultation on the proposals will now start later this month and the schools could close at the end of August 2022, with pupils transferring to their nearest alternative school, if the proposals are approved.
Parents and the local communities have begun campaigning against closure.
A petition started by parents at Churchstoke Primary School and adjoining Little Explorers pre-school, has reached more than 500 signatures in just one day.
During today's Powys council meeting Councillor Michael J Jones pointed out that the Welsh Government presumption was to keep rural schools open.
He said that the village was growing and that the nearest school to Churchstoke was Chirbury across the Shropshire border.
Councillor Phyl Davies, Cabinet Member for Education and Property, said: “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.
“These proposals have not been reached lightly but we have ensured that the best interest of the learners at these four schools were at the forefront of our discussions and decision-making.
“If these schools were to close, then the learners would be attending schools that would be better equipped to meet the requirements of the new national curriculum and that could provide a wider range of educational and extra-curricular opportunities.
Powys County Council 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.
