Ysgol Gyfun Cwm Rhymni separation could be considered by Caerphilly council

Ysgol Gyfun Cwm Rhymni’s two campuses are seven miles apart, with the larger Gelli Haf site in Blackwood and Y Gwyndy in Caerphilly.

Both campuses share a head teacher and a single budget but, with pupil numbers rising, education chiefs have urged a change in the funding formula.

But some members of Caerphilly council’s education for life scrutiny committee say proposals to create two individual schools should be considered instead.

Labour councillor Wynne David said on Tuesday: “When Y Gwyndy was built the idea was that they would separate, and I don’t think we’re far off that.”

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Gelli Haf’s current capacity is for 1,293 pupils but its limit is 1,400, while Y Gwyndy, can currently hold 855 but has a limit of 900.

The school’s only sixth form is at Gelli Haf, and Cllr David fears that its sister site, where the Welsh Baccalaureate is taught, will soon “clamour” for its own sixth form.

Plaid Cymru councillor Teresa Parry added: “We’re extremely close to that limit, and I suggest that a discussion about what happens is done rather rapidly.”

The meeting heard that separating the sites would bring financial challenges and some advantages, and that the idea would be raised with the school’s strategy board.

The exterior of Ysgol Gyfun Cwm Rhymni in Blackwood. Pic: Ysgol Gyfun Cwm Rhymni

But finance manager Jane Southcombe said such discussions were “further down the line”, and the council had to look at the short-term situation.

“The school was in a deficit of just under £100,000 for the first time at the end of March,” said Mrs Southcombe.

To date the school has been funded as one school with an additional split-site lump sum to cover head teacher salary, building maintenance, and management costs.

Proposals to withdraw the split-site lump sum and give both sites separate budgets were supported by the committee, with cabinet due to consider the issue in the coming months.

The committee also backed plans to fund the costs of these changes – an extra £114,000 per year – from contingency balances held across the borough’s schools.