Pupils 'left in the dark'

Members of Pontypool Youth Council met council education chiefs in March to hear about the proposals.

But the youth council members say they are the lucky ones - and fellow pupils who will be directly affected by the plan have been given little or no information about their future.

Now Torfaen council is to consult fully with young people in the coming months.

Youth council spokesman Liz Owen, 16, is currently sitting her GCSEs at West Mon school. She said: "As a whole, the youth council felt that pupils that would be affected by the new school had not been consulted enough about what was happening.

"Yet again it seems a decision about our future will be taken by adults who feel that our opinions don't count."

Referring to the meeting, she added: "We feel that Councillor Turner did not take our comments seriously, a problem that occurs far too commonly with many projects concerning Torfaen's youth."

Adding her personal view on the new school, she said: "I'm not sure about the idea. My worry is that it's just about getting Torfaen to look good at the National Assembly by having this big project."

Fellow youth council member Lewis Evans, 16, is a pupil at Abersychan comprehensive.

He said: "As far as I know there has been no consultation with pupils here.

"The council should go into the school and tell pupils about the plans. There is a lot of confusion about the whole thing."

He said the school could be a good idea - if it had a sixth form to encourage pupils to stay on after their GCSEs. The current plan is for no sixth form at the school.

A council spokesman said: "We spoke to lots of young people of all ages in Trevethin and Abersychan when we visited their schools in October. It was good to hear their views and this gave them a chance to write down their comments about the Learning Centre.

"We would like to reassure them that we will be involving young people fully in the consultation as it develops between now and November."