Village school could become Welsh-medium school

Richard Evans Local Democracy Reporter

Conwy County Council is set to launch a formal public consultation on changing Ysgol Babanod Llanfairfechan to a Category 3 Welsh-medium school.

The plans are set to go before the Education and Skills Scrutiny Committee on 22 September 2026 before heading to Cabinet on 6 October 2026.

According to the report, the proposals align with the local authority’s Welsh in Education Strategic Plan (WESP).

The school has gradually increased its Welsh provision since 2008 and has been designated as a T2 dual-language school since September 2022.

Under the proposals, Ysgol Babanod Llanfairfechan would progress to C3 status, a transition process that can take up to 10 years.

Ysgol Babanod Llanfairfechan is currently in a soft collaboration and shares a headteacher with Ysgol Pant y Rhedyn, the junior school in the village and a T2 language category school.

Ysgol Babanod Llanfairfechan has a capacity for 92 full-time pupils and is operating at 90% capacity with nine unfilled places.
Cabinet Member for Education and Skills Cllr Aaron Wynne backed the move.

“Strategic school planning is a statutory duty of the local authority. With this comes the responsibility to ensure that our school organisation is fit for purpose, responsive to changing demographics, and capable of providing safe and appropriate learning environments for our children and young people,” he said.

“Conwy’s WESP sets out its ambitions and targets to increase the number of children and young people accessing their education through the medium of Welsh. This proposal seeks to make changes which will allow us to demonstrate our commitment to the WESP and to make strides towards those ambitious targets.

“I welcome the commencement of the consultation process as an opportunity to gather feedback from stakeholders and communities on this important aspect. Their views will help us shape and agree the best approach for moving forward.”

If Cabinet approves the consultation in October, a formal public engagement will run until January 2027.
Cabinet would then review the feedback in March 2027 to decide on issuing a statutory notice, leading to a final decision in July 2027.

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