Full steam ahead for new school building!

11 November 2011

Work has recently begun to construct a brand new replacement primary school on the site of Cwm Ifor Primary School in Penyrheol, Caerphilly.

Minister for Education Leighton Andrews joined Caerphilly County Borough Council's Cabinet Member for Education, Leisure and Lifelong Learning, Cllr Phil Bevan today (Thursday 10th November) on a visit to the site to see the works taking shape.

They were joined by pupils from Cwm Ifor Primary School and the main contractor Kier Western on their visit.

The Minister said, "I was delighted to be there to mark the beginning of a new era for Cwm Ifor Primary School. The £4.04 million we have invested in this project, together with the funding from the council, will allow this school to go from strength to strength.

"Cwm Ifor is yet another excellent example of government at all levels working together – the collaboration that is at the heart of our 21st century schools programme. I'm sure that the new building will provide pupils and staff with a first class learning environment fit for the 21st century, and I look forward to seeing the project take shape."

This £6million project will come to fruition thanks to grant funding from the Welsh Government totalling £4.04million, with the remaining funding coming from Caerphilly County Borough Council.

Cllr Phil Bevan said, "This brand new school building will provide a wonderful learning environment for our youngsters. This project forms part of our wider commitment to providing first class educational facilities for generations to come, and I greatly look forward to seeing this project progress over the coming months".

The new school will be innovative and learner orientated in design, with a greater emphasis on informal learning areas.

Kier Western Finance Director, Nick Jones, said: "We are delighted to be building the new Cwm Ifor Primary School in Caerphilly and to join the school, the Education Minister and the Council to celebrate the start of this exciting new project. It was wonderful to see some of the future pupils here too and we are looking forward to working closely with the school as the structure goes up - the end result will be a building which we believe will transform their learning experience."

The current Cwm Ifor Primary School building was built in the 1950's and is a sprawling site with an end-to-end distance of 226.5m. The brand new Cwm Ifor Primary School looks set for completion ready for pupils to move into at the beginning of the 2012/13 academic year.