WORK is to start on setting up a governing body for a new Welsh-medium school in Gwent – and recruiting pupils. 

The primary in Monmouth is to open in refurbished classrooms at English-medium Overmonnow School, which will remain open, from September next year. 

But the plans have been delayed after Monmouthshire County Council, which originally planned to start Welsh-medium provision in the town from this September, announced in June it wouldn’t proceed with that plan due to a struggle to recruit a teacher. 

The council’s Labour-led cabinet formally agreed to take the next steps in establishing the school when it met this week. 

Conservative opposition leader Richard John said his group supports the development of Welsh-medium education in Monmouth, and due to the 37 mile round trip to the nearest Welsh medium school, in Abergavenny, he felt “families don’t really have a choice between English and Welsh-medium education at the moment”. 

He asked how the council intends attracting pupils, saying: “What steps are you taking to maximise appeal of the new school and make sure parents realise they do have that choice and it does open in September next year?” 

Cllr Martyn Groucutt, the cabinet member for education, said a marketing campaign has been launched and it will run alongside nursery and primary school admission rounds, aimed at families in the Monmouth cluster. 

He said he and council staff had attended an event at Monmouth Leisure Centre and staff will also be in attendance at this weekend’s Usk Show to promote Welsh-medium education and letting people know provision is coming to Monmouth. 

There is also a Welsh-medium promotion group that meets monthly and is attended by “key Welsh-medium education organisations”. 

Cllr John, who represents the Mitchell Troy and Trellech ward on the outskirts of Monmouth, also asked what consideration had been given to naming the school, and Cllr Groucutt said the authority will work with its Welsh education forum and Monmouth Town Council, following the “success” of a poll the local council conducted in Abergavenny which demonstrated support for retaining the King Henry name for its new 3-19 school. 

Cllr John said the school isn’t intended to only serve the town of Monmouth, but Cllr Groucutt said wider interests would be represented by the Welsh education group and ultimately the decision will be made by the county council. 

The cabinet was also reminded of the only objection the authority had received to the propsosal, which was from the Wye Valley Community Council, which said it feared a new school could attract pupils away from existing schools, already under pressure from falling rolls, and it didn’t see a Welsh-medium school as necessary as Welsh is taught as a second language at existing schools. 

The cabinet agreed to establish the 3-11 Welsh-medium primary, which is intended to grow by a year group each year, from September 2024 at the Overmonnow site and for officers to establish a governing body. 

It was also agreed home-to-school transport will only be provided to Monmouth, with new pupils from the area no longer eligible for free transport to Ysgol y Fenni in Abergavenny. 

Council leader Mary Ann Brocklesby said: “I’m delighted we are going ahead with this, it’s really important to encourage the Welsh language and offer the opportunity to learners of Welsh-medium education.”