Campaigners make plea to Minister ahead of major demonstration for village schools

Stephen Price

Pupils, parents, governors and supporters of four village schools under threat of closure plan to hold a protest outside a Welsh county hall, with three demands for the local authority.

Taking place at 8.30 on Monday (2 November) outside County Hall, Carmarthen, the protest comes ahead of proposals before the Council’s Cabinet to authorise consultation on the closure of Ysgol Bancffosfelen, Ysgol Pontiets, Ysgol Carwe and Ysgol Blaenau.

The demonstration is being organised by governors and supported by Cymdeithas yr Iaith, who have today asked Education Minister Anna Brychan to take three practical steps to help village schools.

On behalf of Cymdeithas members in Carmarthenshire, Ffred Ffransis explained that they have written to Anna Brychan asking her to take three steps:

The first step from the Welsh language campaign group is to “Restore the grant given to Local Authorities to support small and rural schools”.

Mr Ffransis explained: “This was a very modest grant of £2.5million per annum, distributed to local authorities to help with the extra costs of maintaining village schools, which are one of the few investments made in these communities.

“The grant continued for several years but was stopped in July 2024 by then First Minister Vaughan Gething, as the previous Labour Government ran out of steam and vision.

“Now local authorities have to find the money from their own stretched budgets, and Welsh-speaking village communities are paying the price.”

Step 2 contained in the letter reads: “Remind Local Authorities that the Sustainable Learning Communities Grant (for capital investment) is available to upgrade buildings of village schools as well as for new builds for centralised schools.”

Mr Ffransis commented:  “All recent Education Ministers – Kirsty Williams, Jeremy Miles & Lynn Neagle – have assured Cymdeithas of this, and yet the historic underfunding of village schools remains.

“Upgrading Ysgol Bancffosfelen would be, based on the Council’s own figures, a far more cost-effective proposal in this case, and using the grant to honour the undertaking to upgrade Ysgol Carwe would have been a better solution than cramming pupils into the buildings of other schools.”

The third step calls to: “Promote the use of surplus capacity in certain village schools to set up Welsh-learner clubs and activities for those moving into the village communities.”

Referring to this matter, Mr Ffransis said: “These village schools are the Welsh-language powerhouses of the communities, and we support the calls of Governors to extend their influence from the schools into the communities as part of the Government’s response to proposals from the Commission for Welsh-speaking Communities.”

Two down, four to go?

Falling birth rates have been blamed for two schools closing for good at the end of December, with the four schools – Ysgol Bancffosfelen, Ysgol Pontiets, Ysgol Carwe and Ysgol Blaenau – potentially in line to follow.

A majority of councillors agreed to shut Ysgol Meidrim, which has 22 pupils, and Ysgol Y Fro, which has none, at a meeting on October 14.

Cllr Jean Lewis, who has campaigned to keep Ysgol Meidrim open, said it would be “a loss that will leave a huge impact for generations to come”.

She said only last week the school, north of St Clears, put on a concert for elderly people. And she questioned how people could be attracted back to rural areas if schools shut.

The Plaid Cymru councillor said pupil numbers at Ysgol Meidrim had remained “relatively stable” in recent years and she felt the amount of money that would be saved by closure was very small compared to what would be lost.

Cllr Lewis said governors had put forward alternative options to secure the future of the school but hadn’t been given the chance to put them into practice. “Once a school like this has closed there is no turning back the clock,” she said.

The Plaid Cymru-led authority has repeatedly warned of rising school deficits, falling birth rates, and the vulnerability of small schools – partly because parents in their respective catchments placed their children at other schools.

Addressing the full council meeting deputy leader Cllr Hazel Evans acknowledged that the overwhelming majority who had responded to the proposed closure of Ysgol Meidrim opposed it.

She said the passion shown by governors, parents, Cllr Lewis, and the wider community demonstrated how valued the school was, and that pupils had spoken movingly about it. “These views deserve our respect and consideration,” she said.

But she said the council had to consider the school’s long-term sustainability, whether the authority was meeting its statutory duty to provide high-quality education, and the wider pressure Carmarthenshire’s education budget was under.

Cllr Evans also said none of the alternative options put forward by governors could guarantee an increase in pupil numbers.

Cllr Alun Lenny, cabinet member for resources, said the county had 3,500 empty school primary school places and that 22 primaries had fewer than 50 pupils. Ysgol Meidrim, he said, was “literally half-empty”.

Unaffiliated independent councillor Crish Davies said she was worried the council was making important decisions shaped by years of funding cuts rather than the needs of communities. Children who attended rural schools, she said, “bring something to distinctive to the fabric of our society”.

Labour councillor Lewis Davies said he felt there was a contradiction in Plaid Cymru’s national position on protecting rural areas and the Welsh language and what was being proposed. Green Party councillor Rob James agreed, and said he was concerned closing small schools might persuade more parents to home-educate their children.

Independent cabinet member Cllr Jane Tremlett said the issues facing small schools had to be addressed and that pupils who moved to larger schools would have new opportunities, including in team sports, and “friendships that will hopefully last a lifetime”.

Council leader Linda Evans said a lot of smaller schools couldn’t host a breakfast or after-school club and that many parents travelled to work. “The days of a school in every village or every other village unfortunately are coming to an end,” she said.

Cllr Evans also said Labour opposition councillors had often asked the administration what it was doing to save money when it came to schools.

Labour councillor Martyn Palfreman said he’d read reports saying smaller rather than larger schools were able to host breakfast clubs and wanted to know how the council was trying to get school deficits more widely under control. Cllr Kevin Madge, also Labour, chimed in on the latter point saying “smaller schools were paying the price” for this.

Earlier in the meeting a majority of councillors voted to close Ysgol Y Fro, Llangyndeyrn. As of September it’s had no pupils on its roll, and Plaid Cymru ward councillor Meinir James said this had reflected the uncertainty felt by parents given that December 31 has been the proposed closure date.

Cllr James read out comments from fellow ward and Plaid member Cllr Tyssul Evans, who said he would have abstained in the vote had he been present given there were no pupils but that supporting closure would have felt like he was “betraying” his constituents.

Plaid councillor Darren Price said he was “flabbergasted” that Labour abstained in the Ysgol Y Fro vote given the absence of pupils and the fact, he said, that Cllr Madge had said in previous meetings that Carmarthenshire had too many schools and asked what the administration was doing about it.

Parents react

Parents of pupils at Ysgol Meidrim said it’s been hard to express how they’ve been feeling in the run-up to the crunch vote on its future.

In a statement before the October 14 meeting of full council, where a majority of councillors decided to close Ysgol Meidrim, they said: “As parents, this is an incredibly emotional and uncertain time for our families and community. Our children are at the heart of everything, and it is their happiness, their wellbeing and their future that matter most to us.

“Over this past year, we have watched our children display great strength, togetherness, and courage that has made us as parents so incredibly proud to witness.

“They have shown us just how much their little school means to them. Through showing great enthusiasm and joy in both the campaign videos that have been created, showing up to peaceful protests supporting their school, with pride and a smile on their face (regardless of the weather – and no amount of rain was going to stop them, that’s for sure).

“As parents, seeing that love and fighting spirit in our children for their school, while knowing that their future at Ysgol Meidrim is uncertain, has been difficult.

“Ysgol Meidrim is so much more than a school that our children go to. It is a place where we’ve seen friendships blossom amongst our children, and families become part of a close-knit community.

“Every child is different, and for some, a smaller, nurturing environment like Ysgol Meidrim can make all the difference in a child’s learning and development. By helping them feel safe, building their confidence and thrive in their education in a way that’s suited to them. Once a school like Ysgol Meidrim is gone, the unique support, relationships and sense of belonging it offers simply cannot be recreated.”