Schools set to strengthen ties following pupil and Estyn support

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Plans to strengthen ties between two Abertridwr schools are reaching the final stages.

Caerphilly County Borough Council’s cabinet members are expected to approve a new federation deal for Cwmaber Infants and Cwmaber Junior Schools later this month.

The arrangements are expected to be in place for the start of the next school term, in January 2025.

Federation is a type of partnership in which each school would remain separate but share a single governing body.

The two schools have been “collaborating” informally since September 2020 and share the same headteacher.

It is hoped the move will “improve performance and narrow the attainment gap for deprived pupils”.

The governing bodies of each school put forward the federation plan, and a public consultation on the proposal was held in the autumn.

Only a small number of people took part – including governors, staff, parents, a pupil council, and Welsh school inspection agency Estyn – and just one of those responses was against the proposal, according to a council report.

Supporters of the federation deal said the collaboration to date had been “successful and benefits all stakeholders of the two schools”.

They said it “makes sense to bring everyone together when making decisions” by moving to a more formal federation, in which the schools would “work together to improve and enhance the learning environment for all pupils”.

Estyn said it believed a federation arrangement would “at least maintain the standard of education provision and outcomes for pupils in the area”.

Caerphilly Council also reported a meeting of the schools’ joint pupil committee, comprising ten children, concluded they were “in support of the proposal”.

The objector to the federation plan, meanwhile, told the council “both schools should have their own board of governors”.

The proposal to push ahead with the federation of the two schools has won the support of the council’s education committee, and cabinet members are expected to make a final decision on the matter at a meeting on Wednesday December 11.