Last single-sex secondary schools in Wales to merge despite job loss fears

The two last single-sex secondary schools in Wales will merge despite concerns about job losses and the impact on pupils.

Caerphilly County Borough Council cabinet members voted, on Wednesday December 11, in favour of closing Lewis Girls’ School, in Ystrad Mynach, and gradually transferring pupils to Lewis School Pengam, which is currently boys-only.

Members of the teaching union NASUWT demonstrated outside the council’s headquarters ahead of the cabinet meeting, holding signs that said “education deserves stability” and “say no to school closure”.

NASUWT claims the council has failed to convince the union that staff will be protected.

“We have yet to be reassured that this merger with Lewis School Pengam will happen fairly and without significant job losses or changes to teachers’ working conditions,” NASUWT general secretary Dr Patrick Roach told the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

Neil Butler, the union’s national official for Wales, said it was “not acceptable for members to not know what is going to happen in terms of job losses and how their working conditions will be affected”.

“The changes are being brought in ahead of any of the planning that needs to be done to ensure that quality education can continue to be provided in the transition,” he added. “Many questions remain unanswered.”

Inside the council chamber, union representative Caroline Webber spoke on behalf of the staff of Lewis Girls’ School.

She called the plan to close a “high performing” school “flawed and detrimental”, and claimed it “undermines the goal of [achieving] the best outcomes for students”.

Ms Webber said staff were affected by the ongoing uncertainty, and were “disappointed” with the amount the council had engaged with the two schools’ pupils.

She said officers should have “come in to speak to them” about the proposals rather than ask students to “fill a form in online”.

Council officers defended the level of engagement, noting hundreds of pupils at Lewis Girls’ School had reportedly seen a presentation on the proposals, as well as school council engagement on both sites.

This was backed up by Lynette Denton and Chris Parry, the headteachers at the girls’ and boys’ schools, respectively.

Mr Parry accepted it had been a “difficult time with higher levels of anxiety and concerns expressed by people at both schools”.

The “motivation” for the merger was “how best we can serve the community”, he added.

Addressing job uncertainty, he told the meeting he wanted to be “absolutely categorical” that “we do not foresee a situation currently where there are job losses here”.

The merger could even become a “recruitment situation, not a job loss situation” because the schools are “short” of staff, Mr Parry added.

Ms Denton said her school will “answer all concerns very quickly for the staff and the children” following the decision to merge the two sites.

Lynne Donovan, Caerphilly’s head of people services, said the council had been unable to “pre-empt” the final decision on the merger, but would meet with staff of both schools “next week” and wanted to “ensure continued involvement for them”.

This could include helping some staff relocate elsewhere “should they want to”, she added.

Following the decision, Cllr Carol Andrews, the cabinet member for education, said: “This decision will deliver significant benefits for pupils and staff at both schools and will align our school provision with other local authorities across Wales”.

She added that the council would “work collectively to ensure there is a smooth and well-managed transition in the interests of all pupils, staff and parents”.

The transition will take place on a phased basis from September 2025 to 2027.