A HEADTEACHER says there are no plans to close his school despite Torfaen council proposing to bid for funding to move pupils to a new joint-faith school in the area.

St Alban’s Roman Catholic School’s headteacher, Michael Coady, says the Pontypool school’s faith status means any decision to close the school lies in the hands of the Catholic archdiocese, not the local authority, and the move will only go ahead if it serves the school’s best interests.

Torfaen council last week announced it could bid for £266 million Assembly funding over the next 25 years to transform education in the area - by improving school buildings and closing up to 16 schools to cut surplus pupil places.

Among its proposals is a bid for £30 million to build a new faith school, jointly run by the Catholic and Anglican archdioceses, on an unnamed site sometime after 2017.

Mr Coady, who was contacted by some parents concerned about the school’s future last week, said moving St Alban’s into a joint-faith school could turn out to be in its best interests, because many of its buildings are ageing.

"The prospect of having a new £30 million school and perhaps working more closely with the Church in Wales schools is not unattractive - provided the nature of St Alban’s as a Catholic school is protected and enhanced," he added.

Mr Coady praised Torfaen council for being inclusive of the faith sector in its proposals, but said impending public sector cuts made it difficult to see where the funds would come from.

Director of schools and colleges for the Catholic Archdiocese of Cardiff, Anne Robertson, said any plans regarding the school’s future would be consulted upon with everyone associated with the school.

She said if the move goes ahead, the archdiocese envisages the school remaining as St Alban’s but with an Anglican element adding to the board of governors - although discussions are at an early stage and dependent on funding.

Director of education for the Monmouth Anglican diocese, Cannon Keith Denison, said the nearest Anglican school to Pontypool is in Cardiff, so a joint-faith school would boost Anglican education in the area.

"It would be a clear, visible sign of the two churches working together," he added.