Ysgol Gyfun Gwynllyw
Torfaen County Borough Council, in collaboration with Monmouthshire County Council, Newport City Council and Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council has been working towards significantly remodelling, refurbishing and expanding Ysgol Gyfun Gwynllyw since 2007.
Ysgol Gyfun Gwynllyw is in a unique situation in Wales with one school serving so many local education authorities. More than half the pupils that attend live outside Torfaen. It has been providing good quality Welsh Medium Secondary Education to the Pan Gwent area since the early 1990's but all four authorities have now recognised the need to jointly invest to improve the school site and plans are underway to ensure current and future needs are met in the most cost effective way.
Every child has the right to receive their education in Welsh in accordance with their parents' wishes. The aim is to ensure that no child is refused admission in the short to medium term at Ysgol Gyfun Gwynllyw, to improve the teaching/learning environment, and to improve the educational outcomes for pupils.
The total investment in the school will be £12.1m, funded jointly by the four education authorities and assisted by a £3m grant from the Welsh Assembly Government. The funding agreement with other authorities is unprecedented in terms of capital projects and will hopefully pave the way for future collaborative ventures between local authorities, particularly in terms of education.
This investment will primarily be to increase the capacity of the school to 1,100 pupils through building two new permanent blocks and removing the demountable buildings, and will address urgent refurbishment to the existing main buildings. While the investment is substantial, it is not enough to address all the school's needs, therefore a priority programme has been agreed that focuses on improving the educational environment for pupils and staff.