Minutes

Councillor Evans asked:

I have been led to believe 6, year 6 primary pupils at Clytha have been left without a place in their catchment school (John Frost) and their second choice Bassaleg High is also full. I gather there are no places this side of the river, and parents have been told to reapply and wait until the end of April. Does the cabinet member believe this is acceptable, if not, what does she intend to do about it?  Why hasn’t adequate secondary school places been provided, after all these housing developments have been built?

Councillor D Davies responded:

At present, there is an overall sufficiency of school places across the city. However, as the population of Newport continues to grow, so does its forecast pupil numbers. As a result, in March 2024, Cabinet approved Newport’s future investment plans for the education estate under the next wave of the Sustainable Communities for Learning scheme. The Strategic Outline Programme, valued at in the region of £110m, has received support from Welsh Government and will include additional secondary school capacity equivalent to 700 English-medium places and 500 Welsh-medium places by 2033.