Welsh government opens primary school in Pontypool

The Welsh government has announced the opening of a new school in Pontypool as part of its commitment to expanding the provision of Welsh-language teaching facilities.

Ysgol Panteg primary school has been relocated to a new site offering a nursery and 420 primary places, created using a share of a £20.5 million government funding pot allocated to the development of three schools in the area.

The school opened in 2010 with only 36 students, with its original buildings shared with Griffithstown Infant School. After this, the school amalgamated with Griffithstown Junior School to form a primary school on the site, but outgrew those buildings in 2014 and commenced work on the new site in January 2016.

The development of the new-look Ysgol Panteg aligns with the Welsh government's strategy of reaching one million Welsh speakers by 2050, as learning through the medium of the Welsh language is a vital method of making this a reality.

It coincides with the announcement that £3.9 million is to be provided by the government towards a total project cost of £7.8 million to build a new build 420-student Welsh medium primary school in Cardiff.

Located on Lewis Road in Splott, the school - which will also offer 80 nursery places - is being developed in response to rising demand for Welsh medium education in Cardiff, with funding for the development to be provided through the flagship 21st Century Schools and Education Programme.

Education secretary Kirsty Williams said: "It is fantastic what we can achieve in partnership with local government and our schools, in terms of bringing together resources to deliver new bespoke facilities for our communities."