Council says there are no plans to close Kymin View

Claims an education shake-up would see a primary closed and a Welsh medium school open it its place are “speculative” a council has said. 

A petition to ‘Save Kymin View School’ has been signed by more than 280 people amid claims Monmouthshire County Council is proposing the school close and the recently established Welsh medium Ysgol Gymraeg Trefynwy move into the building. 

However a spokesman for the county council said while it is drawing up plans to address surplus places in the Monmouth area it has made no firm proposals as yet, and when it does publish plans they will be in line with strict Welsh Government requirements on allowing parents and the wider community the chance to comment as part of a consultation. 

The petition, which claims the council’s Labour-led cabinet will propose a statutory consultation at its October 15 meeting, has been started by

Xavier Turner, who is standing as Conservative candidate in the Monmouth Town Council by-election for the Wyesham ward due to take place on Thursday, July 24. 

His petition states: “The council is proposing that Kymin View would close and that Ysgol Gymraeg Trefynwy (Monmouth’s Welsh-medium primary school), which is currently based at Overmonnow, would move into the Kymin View site.   

“This would force Wyesham families to transport their children either on a 14-mile round trip to Llandogo or across the Wye Bridge every day to attend another Monmouth primary school, but Osbaston only has about a dozen surplus places, so only Overmonnow would have spare capacity.” 

The petition, in support of the Wyesham school which had 129 pupils at the time of its most recent inspection in March 2024 and a nursery, states taking action could “stop this proposal before it reaches the formal consultation stage”. 

At the county council’s July meeting Conservative opposition leader, Mitchell Troy and Trellech councillor, Richard John asked director of education Will McClean if he agreed Ysgol Gymreag Trefynwy is “where it needs to be”. 

Mr McLean said the Welsh medium had been established as a “seedling school” with the intention of growing by a class every year and its future is linked to how the council addresses surplus places in Monmouth, with around 200 empty places in local primaries. 

Mr McLean said: “I think it will be a complex and challenging period of time as we work through the potential options. No decisions have been made and there are no formalised proposals as yet. We want to work with the four schools and community in Monmouth to make sure we come to a position that is reasonable, very well informed and we are able to advance.” 

The strategic director acknowledged “limited flexibility” in the code governing school reorganisation in Wales and said it was important the council “get our proposals right before we start that formal process.” 

A spokesman for Monmouthshire County Council said the claim it would close Kymin View and move Ysgol Trefynwy to its building “is entirely speculative and there is currently no preferred option.” 

The spokesman said officers met with headteachers, staff and governors from Kymin View, Osbaston Church in Wales Primary, Overmonnow Primary and Ysgol Gymraeg Trefynwy on July 8 to share “relevant data with them and explain the rationale to consider the surplus places and the need to plan accordingly” 

The spokesman said: “It was made clear to attendees that there was no preferred option at this time. 

“When further consideration has been given to the position of the four schools we will engage with them prior to any formal process of consultation beginning. This process is set out in two defined stages under the Welsh Government’s School Organisation Code and takes approximately four to five months to complete.  Any school impacted by any future proposals will be a full participant in the process.” 

There are two other candidates in the Wyesham ward by-election they are independent Jim Lin Jenkins-Jones and Reform UK candidate Robert James Andrew Kavanagh.