GWENDRAETH VALLEY: ‘Once you lose a school, it never comes back’: governors ask Welsh Government to halt closures
Governors at three Gwendraeth Valley village schools facing closure want the Welsh Government to stop councils shutting Welsh-medium schools anywhere in Wales.
They have written to Cabinet Minister for Education and the Welsh Language Anna Brychan asking for a temporary halt on closures, a moratorium, until the government acts on its own plans to protect Welsh-speaking communities.
Ysgol Pontiets, Ysgol Bancffosfelen and Ysgol Carwe are all on Carmarthenshire Council’s latest closure list, along with Ysgol Blaenau near Llandybie.
The letter, signed by chairs of governors Elin Cullen of Ysgol Pontiets, Andrew Barlow of Ysgol Bancffosfelen and Tudur Jones of the Carwe, Gwynfryn and Ponthenri federation, says the council’s policy is “adding further fuel to a bonfire that is already burning out of control”.
Ms Cullen said: “Once you lose a school, it never comes back. And what lies ahead for us in the future?”
She added: “Are more schools going to close? And are more villages going to find themselves in the same situation as us in Cwm Gwendraeth?”
Governors and local councillors at a Save Ysgol Pontiets public meeting at the memorial hall in Pontyates (Image: Save Ysgol Pontiets)Pontyberem is 60% Welsh-speaking, the governors say, the highest in Carmarthenshire
More than half the people in the wards served by Ysgol Pontiets and Ysgol Carwe speak Welsh, according to the governors’ reading of the 2021 Census. In Pontyberem, served by Ysgol Bancffosfelen, it is 60%, the highest in the county, they say.
Their letter quotes Emyr Lewis, a solicitor, retired law professor and Prifardd, the title given to poets who have won the National Eisteddfod chair or crown. He said: “It is well understood that village schools in communities where Welsh is a viable language are absolutely essential to maintaining that viability.”
He added: “This happens rapidly, and once it has happened, it is gone forever. The longer we wait, the greater the loss.”
The Welsh-speaking communities plan campaigners say would have saved the schools
The governors want ministers to act first on the recommendations of the Commission for Welsh-speaking Communities, which reported in 2024. Its main idea was to mark out the parts of Wales where Welsh is most widely spoken, so they get extra support in everything from housing to schools.
The previous Welsh Government agreed to that in principle in 2025, and campaigners argue that had it been in place, closing three schools in neighbouring villages in the county’s most Welsh-speaking community would never have been considered.
Cabinet Minister for Education and the Welsh Language Anna Brychan (Image: Welsh Government)Welsh Government: school places are ‘a matter for local authorities’
In its first reply, the Welsh Government said ministers “cannot comment on school reorganisation proposals, as they might be required to make a decision on them” and that “planning school places is a matter for local authorities”.
Huw Williams, a parent governor at Ysgol Pontiets, said the letter was not asking for comment on the valley’s schools but for “a national, strategic solution”. He said the line that school places are a council matter “obfuscates the working reality that councils work in partnership with central government within national frameworks and funding agreements”.
He said the council had already agreed a grant with the Welsh Government to extend a neighbouring school to take Bancffosfelen’s children, adding: “This decision has apparently been taken even before the consultation itself has begun.”
Mr Williams added: “Plaid Cymru are already coming up to half a year in government and people are beginning to wonder when they will start making decisions that will impact people’s lives for the better. Here they have an opportunity to support Welsh-language communities, before it’s too late.”
What Carmarthenshire Council says about closing the four schools
Clockwise from top left: Ysgol Carwe, Ysgol Pontiets, Ysgol Blaenau and Ysgol Bancffosfelen (Image: Google Maps)Carmarthenshire Council says closing all four would save around £140,000 a year in running costs, and that Bancffosfelen’s hall is structurally unsafe.
Ysgol Carwe’s pupils have been taught at Ysgol Gwynfryn in Pontyates since their own building shut over safety fears in August 2025.
The county’s schools are also heading for a combined £16.4m deficit by next spring, according to council finance papers, which tie part of the fix to having fewer school buildings.
Cabinet is due to decide on 2 November whether to go out to formal consultation on the four closures. Full council voted last week to close Ysgol Meidrim and Ysgol Y Fro at Christmas.
The governors’ letter in full
Sent to Cabinet Minister for Education and the Welsh Language Anna Brychan by the chairs of governors at Ysgol Bancffosfelen, Ysgol Pontiets and the Carwe, Gwynfryn and Ponthenri federation.
Dear Minister
We are governors of three neighbouring schools in Cwm Gwendraeth that are facing a consultation which threatens to lead to their permanent closure.
We are writing to urge you to place a moratorium on the closure of any Welsh-medium school, until you and the Cabinet have implemented the principles to which you have committed as a Government, based on the recommendations of the Welsh Communities Commission.
We earnestly request that you and your fellow Ministers do not delay any further, and that you proceed without delay to take the steps recommended by the Commission, in order to safeguard our communities and our language.
You are undoubtedly aware of the importance of Cwm Gwendraeth, not only to the Welsh character of the county, but to the survival of the language on a national level.
Among the communities of the former South Wales coalfield, it is here that the highest concentration of Welsh speakers is found. According to the 2021 Census, the percentage of Welsh speakers in the wards served by Ysgol Pontiets (Glyn) and Ysgol Carwe (Llangyndeyrn) exceeds 50%, while Pontyberem, the ward served by Ysgol Bancffosfelen, has a population that is 60% Welsh-speaking, the highest percentage in the entire county.
While we fully understand the County Council’s need to take action in the field of education, it is astonishing that their policy involves targeting Cwm Gwendraeth and closing village schools in one of the strongholds of the Welsh language. We greatly fear the consequences, especially in communities where English-medium educational options are ubiquitous, and where many parents are already choosing them.
The situation here in Carmarthenshire clearly encapsulates the need to implement the Commission’s recommendations without delay, ensuring that policy decisions across various sectors, but particularly in education, are carried out with the central, long-term objective of securing a future for Welsh as a community language.
To quote the solicitor, Prifardd, and Professor Emeritus Emyr Lewis:
“It is well understood that village schools in communities where Welsh is a viable language are absolutely essential to maintaining that viability. Without them, there is a real danger that everyday Welsh life will wither to such an extent that it can no longer be said that a Welsh community exists there.
“This happens rapidly, and once it has happened, it is gone forever. The longer we wait, the greater the loss.
“A moratorium would serve several purposes, including:
- Providing an opportunity for the Welsh Government and county councils to engage in joint strategic planning on how to implement what they all claim to support, namely, the sustenance and maintenance of the Welsh language as a community language, while viewing schools as valuable assets in that context, rather than as problems.
- Reassuring parents and pupils that there is a political commitment to finding ways to safeguard these valuable community assets for the benefit of both the community and the Welsh language, thereby fostering confidence in the future of the schools themselves.
- Signifying that the protection of the Welsh language (and Welsh-speaking communities) is a core national objective, a cause that transcends narrow ‘policy areas’.”
This is not a matter for consultation. You have already acknowledged that we are facing a crisis. Our Welsh-speaking communities are shrinking to an unprecedented extent and are confronting unparalleled challenges across a wide range of areas. Carmarthenshire County Council’s policy is adding further fuel to a bonfire that is already burning out of control; urgent intervention is required before the whole situation is reduced to ashes.
We therefore trust that you and your fellow ministers will be prepared to act effectively and decisively, in line with your own principles and objectives, by declaring a moratorium on school closures until an appropriate policy is in place, in accordance with the recommendations of the Welsh Communities Commission.
Should you wish to discuss this matter further, we would welcome the opportunity to meet with you. We look forward to hearing from you.
Yours faithfully,
Andrew Barlow, Chair of Governors, Bancffosfelen School
Elin Cullen, Chair of Governors, Pontiets School
Tudur Jones, Chair of Governors, Carwe Gwynfryn Ponthenri Federation
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