News

Campaigners protest council plans to remove school’s church status

18 Jul 2026 3 minute read

Protests were held at County Hall, Haverfordwest against the Ysgol Cilgerran changes. Image: Church in Wales

Bruce Sinclair, Local Democracy Reporter

Parents, pupils and staff have protested against council plans to remove church status from a rural primary school.

Supporters of Ysgol Cilgerran’s Church in Wales school staged the protest at a Pembrokeshire County Council meeting, with student-made signs reading “You can’t fix what isn’t broken”, “Leave our VC status alone”, and “Don’t take away our identity for a few £££”.

Back in May, Pembrokeshire County Council voted to remove Voluntary Controlled (VC) status from the Welsh-medium rural school despite 97 per cent of the responses to a consultation having opposed a change which the church describes as ‘entirely unnecessary’.

The Church in Wales has objected formally to the proposal and has warned it will take legal action on the grounds of “public misrepresentation and unqualified legal assertions made by Pembrokeshire County Council officers,” and “discrimination against faith schooling”.

During Pembrokeshire County Council’s full council meeting of July 16, parents, teachers, and students travelled to County Hall, Haverfordwest to protest.

One of the protesters, an ex-pupil and governor, Sarah Moore, has said: “I’m here today because I’m horrified that the council are talking about taking the church status away from our school. The church gave that land for the school over 180 years ago.

“97 per cent have voted against this and yet they’re still trying to do it. If we want our children to stay in a church school, the nearest one is Letterston. So where will these children have that good education that they are getting now?”

Kelly Davies, parent and governor, said: “We feel really strongly as parents, the pupils and the community that we’re not happy about them taking VC status away.

“We have really strong links with the church and the school and the community. It just seems that they’re taking this away from us permanently for no reason.”

The Church has said it has deep concern about what it sees as a pattern of the council’s recent actions regarding Church Schools.

In June, councillors voted to close Manorbier Church in Wales Voluntary Controlled School, which was damaged by a fire in 2022.

The Church says it is taking formal action in this case.

It has also expressed concerns about VC status being lost for Tenby Church in Wales VC school after councillors backed a consultation on penitential education changes in the Tenby area.

A spokesperson for the Church in Wales said: “The entirely unnecessary threat to the status of this much-loved community school has had an impact on children, families, and the wider community. We are not prepared to allow another thriving rural school to lose its treasured character.

“Ysgol Cilgerran has our full support, and we hope that Pembrokeshire County Council listens to the voices of the community it serves, and chooses not to remove VC status.”

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