Help Save Pontrhydyfen Primary School From Closure

Now we have only 7 days of our consultation period left and so I am writing to show you all a little of what we are up against. The council claim to have an enormous bill for building maintenance at Pontrhydyfen Primary School. They claim a figure of over £650,000. They want to replace the gate that every child has passed through for the last 100 years. It has withstood 2 World Wars, the Lusitania’s and Mauretania’s maiden voyage, the birth and death of Richard Burton (did you know he was a Pontrhydyfen lad?), closure of the pits, men landing on the moon, the list goes on. But now the council says our gate needs replacing and that it will cost them (you the tax payer really) £3,500.00 but as they don’t have the money they will close the school, THIS IS MADNESS. Our gate will last another 100 years, it is painted, it closes and it has character. Leave our gate and our school alone.

Happy New Year to you all.
I have a confession to make, this is not the first school closure my daughter has had to face. Three years ago Neath Port Talbot Council closed Duffryn Afan Primary School where my daughter was the last child to enrol, there was not a lot of resistance against the closure as there was only 22 children attending. She is still only 6 years old and the disruption to her education may not be regained but this time we are fighting.
Thank you
Malcolm Bell

We had a very good meeting with a packed hall and many valid points raised with the council. We hope the council will listen to our concerns, but we must keep the momentum going, can I ask you all to share it again on Facebook and Twitter.
Thank you
http://www.southwales-eveningpost.co.uk/support-school-campaigners/story-25196289-detail/story.html

As our consultation period continues we have our first and only meeting with the Director of Education for Neath Port Talbot Borough County Council on Tuesday 2nd December at 6pm at Pontrhydyfen Primary School.
This will be the only opportunity for the council to see the fierce opposition to their plan to close our school.
I urge you to attend and if at all possible spend just one hour to pack our hall to show the council that our children and future generations deserve this school within their community.
Please help us show the strength of feeling by attending on Tuesday at 6pm.
Thank you.

As we approach 800 signatures the children of Pontrhydyfen Primary School have put into song their feelings about the threat of closure.
https://vimeo.com/109987437
Hopefully you will enjoy it, after you have wiped away a tear or two, pass it on and show it to as many people as you can. We hope that this will raise awareness of our fight to keep Pontrhydyfen Primary School open for our children and future generations.
Thank you
Malcolm Bell

If any of you who are local to the school I would like to invite you to attend a public meeting at the school this afternoon at 4:30. Paul Hinder from the council will be there to discuss the community impact if the school closes. This maybe the only opportunity the community have to express their views. If you have a little time, please come.

Firstly I must say a BIG thank you to all 406 of you, and in just 5 days....fantastic!
Secondly and much more importantly the report on our follow up visit from Estyn has been published today (7th October) and........I quote
"Pontrhydyfen primary school is judged to have made sufficient progress in relation to the recommendations following the core inspection in March 2012.
As a result, Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education and Training in Wales is removing the school from the list of schools requiring significant improvement."
This is yet further proof that this school deserves to be saved, we are not failing , we are not empty, we will not be closed!

Wow, an excellent start, over 100 signatures in less than 24 hours.
Unfortunately I was at the Neath Port Talbot Council Cabinet meeting this morning and the Proposal was passed, which mean that the Council will now consult on the school closures.
We must re-double our efforts and keep passing along the message to get more signatures!
Thank you one and all.