Councillors asked to agree Welsh language school’s new name

Twm Owen Local Democracy Reporter

A proposed name for a new Welsh-medium school is to be put to councillors this week. 

Responsibility for naming schools rests with the full council, but Monmouthshire County Council says it always consults governors and has sought the views of the temporary governing body of the “seedling” school it is establishing in Monmouth. 

The school is set to open in September this year and will become the council’s third primary teaching through the medium of Welsh.

Proposal

The proposed name is Ysgol Gymraeg Trefynwy, which translates as Monmouth Welsh School, though a report for the council claims the word “primary” – which in Welsh is “cynradd” – is included in the name. 

The school is to open in refurbished classrooms as a seedling school at English-medium Overmonnow School, which will remain open. 

The seedling model means in its first year the school will have pupils in nursery, reception and potentially year one and a year group will be added each academic year until the reception / year one cohort reaches year six. 

It will then be a fully fledged primary school for children aged three to 11.

Other names

The other names considered for the school were Ysgol Bro Mynwy, which the council says, translates as Monnow Vale Welsh Primary School and Ysgol Glannau’r Gwy, translated as Banks of the River Wye Welsh Primary School.

Again the council report has inserted “primary” into the English translations despite that not being included in the Welsh names. 

The report states Ysgol Gymraeg Trefynwy is the preferred option as the school is to serve Monmouth town and the wider community which includes Usk and Raglan. 

It also states consideration was given to “the fact that the school is already known unofficially as Ysgol Gymraeg Trefynwy and this name was used for the purposes of the school admission round.” 

Crucial

Councillors will be asked to agree Ysgol Gymraeg Trefynwy as the name when they meet at County Hall, in Usk, on Thursday, February 29, and will be told a name is crucial to “allow the next stage of planning for the new school to begin in earnest”. 

The council has already advertised for a headteacher and the report says the successful candidate will need to prepare documents and policies as part of their job in establishing the school. 

The report states: “As part of this remit, work to develop the ‘branding’ of the new school is vitally important, including the designing of school signage and logos, school uniforms etc. Evidently this work is dependent on the determination of the new school’s name.” 

Monmouthshire’s two existing Welsh medium primary schools are Ysgol Gymraeg Y Fenni in Abergavenny and Ysgol Gymraeg Y Ffin, which translates as the Border Welsh School, in Caldicot.