Council agrees ‘difficult’ decision to close school

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Rhydri Primary School will close in July, after Caerphilly County Borough Council deemed falling pupil numbers meant the school would be unable to balance its budget.

Parents previously mounted a marketing campaign aimed at attracting more families to the school, in Rudry, but ultimately council chiefs decided those efforts fell short.

Staff will be supported to find other placements, while pupils in the catchment area will transfer to St James Primary School, in Caerphilly, unless parents opt to apply elsewhere.

The move to close the school has proved controversial, with critics arguing the council should have done more to make the school viable.

At a cabinet meeting, on Wednesday April 16, council leader Sean Morgan described the decision to close Rhydri Primary as “difficult”.

“I know how hard everyone has worked to try to keep the school resilient,” he added.

Cllr Carol Andrews, the cabinet member for education, noted there had been ten objections to the closure during a final round of consultation.

Most of those objections focused on claims the council had not “encouraged” the parents’ marketing campaign, suggested Cllr Chris Morgan, who asked why this was the case.

Sue Richards, a senior education officer, said the council would have been unable to support a marketing campaign “that would promote one school at the deficit of another”.

Cllr Morgan asked what would happen to Rhydri Primary’s pupils and staff if the school closed.

Paul Warren, another senior officer, said the council recognised the school community had gone through a “period of anxiety”.

A “Team Around the School” approach would support pupils’ transition to new schools, he explained.

Director of people services Lynne Donovan added the council had already met with staff “collectively and individually” without wanting to “pre-empt” a decision.

If the school closed, she told cabinet members ahead of their final vote, then officers would meet again with staff after the Easter holidays “to talk with them about the options”.

Cllr Shayne Cook asked why pupils would move to St James – and heard this was because both primaries feed into St Martin’s Comprehensive School, and there was “adequate capacity” at St James.