Parents plan protest over super-school proposals

Alec Doyle – Local democracy reporter

Parents fighting plans to close their school as part of proposals to create a new £55 million catholic ‘super-school’ in Flintshire are planning to march on the county council.

A protest has been organised by the St Davids School Action Group on Tuesday, July 2 at 10am outside Flintshire County Council’s new Ty Dewi Sant headquarters in Ewloe to oppose the catholic school reorganisation.

Currently under consultation, the proposals by the authority and the Diocese of Wrexham would see St David’s Catholic Primary School closed down alongside two other catholic primary schools – St Anthony’s in Saltney and St Mary’s in Flint.

Decision

The proposals would also confirm the closure of St Richard Gwyn High School in Flint, where a new catholic all-through super-school for pupils aged 3-18 would be built.

The consultation runs until July 18 but the parents and parishioners of St David’s Action Group plan to show councillors the strength of their opposition to the scheme before any decisions are made.

“We are concerned that councillors are not getting the full picture,” said action group spokesperson Sarah Cunningham. “We feel councillors have been given inaccurate information – for example during the early discussions it was suggested that St David’s is a school in a financial deficit but it is not.

“That is the kind of detail that could sway a councillors’ decision.”

Concern

Parents of pupils with additional learning needs at St David’s are also concerned that moving to a bigger school would not be able to provide the standard of education, care and attention they currently receive at St David’s.

“The consultation documents provided do not sufficiently or clearly assess the impact of closure on ALN pupils,” said Alice Bennett, the mother of a St David’s pupil with additional learning needs.

“My son previously attended Ysgol Bryn Gwalia where he struggled significantly. Since moving to St David’s, a smaller, caring, and inclusive school environment, he has thrived, socially, emotionally, and academically.

“The proposed move to a much larger super-school environment would, in my view, be deeply damaging and completely unsuitable for his needs.”

In the consultation documents published by the council and the diocese, it states: “Those pupils with ALN will lose access to provision offered in the Saltney and Mold areas.

“However, the ALN provision in the new school will be considered during the design development process and will likely be enhanced beyond the current offering in Flint with new state-of-the-art facilities and additional resources available.”

Inaccurate

Flintshire County Council denied that inaccurate information had been distributed during the process.

“All figures, statistics, and materials referenced in the consultation document were the most accurate available at the time of its preparation and publication,” said a spokesperson, as noted and referenced on page 8 of the consultation document.

“We can confirm that, as of today, St David’s Catholic Primary School is not currently in a financial deficit. However, its reserves are extremely low and with ongoing funding pressures this position could change in the near future.”