WIREDGOV

Education Secretary Kirsty Williams today officially opened the new Ysgol Panteg, Pontypool.

The new site has been made possible thanks to £20.5 million of investment in three schools in the area, with funding of £10.25 million under our 21st Century Schools and Education Programme. 

The 21st Century Schools programme represents the largest investment in Welsh schools and colleges since the 1960s, and will see over £1.4 billion being invested in the five years to 2019. 

Kirsty Williams said,

“We are committed to provide our students with the best and most inspiring learning environments.  From what I’ve seen today I think your wonderful school is a perfect example of this.

“It is fantastic what we can achieve in partnership with local government and our schools, in terms of bringing together resources to deliver new bespoke facilities for our communities.

“Schools like this one are also crucial to achieving our aim of a million Welsh speakers by 2050. Learning through the medium of Welsh is pivotal to successful language acquisition and provides a building block to the creation of confident Welsh speakers.”

Ysgol Panteg opened in September 2010 with 36 children – that’s why 36 daffodils encircle the school badge on the school sign, with each child planting a daffodil bulb on that first day.

The original buildings were shared with Griffithstown Infant School after which they amalgamated with Griffithstown Junior School to form a primary school on the site.

They outgrew those buildings in 2014 and work began on the new site in January 2016. The new school, which has a nursery and 420 primary places, opened its doors for the first time to pupils on in February this year.

The Cabinet Secretary also took the opportunity to congratulate and thank all involved in creating new school, including the project managers, the design and construction team, Torfaen Council, Wilmot Dixon Construction, Powell Dobson Architects and the school itself.