Plans for new school facing opposition over private nursery

Plans for a new all-through school in Abergavenny are set to be considered by councillors, amid opposition over proposals for a private nursery.

A public consultation carried out by Monmouthshire council on the plans for the county’s first all-through school shows most people are against the nursery being privately-run.

Out of 207 people who responded, 117 said they were not in favour of the plans, 35 said they supported the plan and 55 said they agreed with some aspects.

The plan involves closing Deri View Primary and King Henry VIII Schools, and creating the new development on the current site of King Henry VIII from September 2023.

But opposition has been voiced over plans to move nursery education to a private provider.

A report on the public consultation set to be discussed by councillors this week says there is “an absolute intention” to create provision for children from the age of three.

But it says a “non-maintained” provider will offer nursery education for three- and four-year-olds.

The report says a private nursery offers advantages such as a lower ratio of staff to children and more flexibility around opening hours.

However opponents of the plan say the current nursery provision offered at Deri View Primary “meets the needs of the community”.

Deri View school’s governing body is among those to have raised concerns in the consultation, holding “strong beliefs” that nursery provision should form part of the maintained school.

A consultation report said governors had concerns that “no evidence has been presented to suggest children and their families would benefit more from the experiences of a private provider”, adding they believed children would be “disadvantaged by current proposals”.

Governors at Deri View also raised concern that plans to create a ‘new’ school would be lost if the name of King Henry VIII is used – but the governing body at King Henry VIII has “a very strong view” that the name is kept due to its historical context and links with Abergavenny, according to the report.

King Henry VIII’s governing body has also called on Monmouthshire council to ‘revisit’ the plans for a private nursery, but it has offered overall support for the proposal which it says would bring “outstanding facilities”.

The plans for the new school include places for 30 nursery pupils, 420 primary pupils, 1,200 students aged 11-16 and 200 sixth formers.
Specialist provision for children with complex neurodevelopmental and learning needs will also be included, with accommodation for 71 pupils provided.

The council’s children and young people’s select committee will discuss the consultation report at a meeting on Thursday.

The preferred option is to move ahead with the plan, but the committee will also consider alternatives which including making changes to the scheme and abandoning it.