The new Centre for Learning and Wellbeing will provide education for 60 pupils aged 11 to 16
PLANS for a new special education school in Barry have been unanimously approved by Vale of Glamorgan councillors.
The Centre for Learning and Wellbeing will accommodate 60 full-time pupils aged 11 to 16 and will cost around £4.4m.
The special education school will be built at a former council depot on Court Road, Barry.
The approved site for the Centre of Learning and Wellbeing at Court Road, Barry. 
The approved site for the Centre of Learning and Wellbeing at Court Road, Barry.
“We have always been committed to providing excellence in Education to the children of the Vale of Glamorgan,” said Coun. Lis Burnett, Vale of Glamorgan Cabinet Member for Education and Regeneration.
“I am really, really pleased that what we can demonstrate is a commitment to our children, that whatever the challenges they face, that whatever their educational needs, we will fight to supply the correct type and quality of education that they deserve.”
The proposed Centre for Learning and Wellbeing will include suitably sized classrooms, a main hall for sports and dining, as well as breakout areas for pupil interventions.
It will also feature external play areas, a multi-use games area and habitat areas to help develop nature-based skills.
It is hoped that the new Centre for Learning and Wellbeing will also provide education for children experiencing ‘school significant mental health issues’ and anxiety which precludes them from attending mainstream schools.
This will come in the form of a ‘hub provision’ and virtual online curriculum, managed by the Centre for Learning and Wellbeing staff.
The school is expected to receive £3.3 million funding from the Welsh Government through the 21st Century Schools Programme.
Additionally, a Specialist Resource Base at Gladstone Primary School will support the Centre for Learning and Wellbeing as a ‘satellite’ of Penarth school Ysgol Y Deri from September 2021.
This will accommodate around 10 pupils.
The Centre for Learning and Wellbeing was proposed as a direct result of increased need for specialist education in the area.
Currently, special education between 11 and 16 is handled by Y Daith – a specialist learning centre which splits Key Stage 3 and 4 pupils across two sites in Barry and Cowbridge.
Y Daith will officially be discontinued in September 2021 but the site at Amelia Farm Trust in Barry will be rebranded as the Centre for Learning and Wellbeing until the new school is built.
Existing pupils will continue to attend the former Y Daith site under the management of Ysgol Y Deri.
A proposal has also been approved to increase capacity of Ysgol Y Deri to accommodate an additional 150 pupils and construct a new building in Penarth by January 2023.
Council Leader Neil Moore said: “It’s an obvious situation – we have to increase our supply of this type of accommodation and education.”
Approximately 60% of current pupils being transported to Y Daith are based in Barry, so it is thought the new site at Court Road will offer a more central location.
The Centre for Learning and Wellbeing is expected to be completed by January 2023.
