NEARLY two-thirds of people who took part in a consultation to merge Llanfyllin High and Primary Schools back the proposal.

At Thursday’s Full Council meeting councillors will discuss the consultation report before passing on their recommendations to the Cabinet.

The Cabinet is expected to make a decision at their next meeting on March 12.

This will start the process of publishing statutory notices to close both schools from August 31, 2020.

And on the next day, September 1, 2020, open a fully bilingual all through school from the age of 4 to 18.

Combining the schools would address falling numbers at both sites, which are predicted to drop from 844 pupils in January next year to 702 by January 2023.

The consultation took place from the end of November 2018 to the end of January 2019.

The proposal of establishing the new all through school was supported by 63 per-cent with 29 per-cent against and eight per-cent “don’t knows”.

Education portfolio holder, Cllr Myfanwy Alexander (Independent – Banwy), said: “We have a visionary set of curriculum proposals in Wales, but their delivery will be challenging.

“High schools and primary schools will need to work together ideally to deliver the Donaldson model.

“Primary school project style teaching will reach into the lower years in high school.

“And areas such as practical science in primary schools, will require access to facilities and specialised staff which will be very challenging for stand alone primary schools.

“This is a way forward to ensure primary school provision in the Llanfyllin area and it’s been inspiring to see the level of vision people have.

“They want to make this school the centre of their village, the centre for their economy and the centre of local thriving.”

The reasons for the amalgamation include:

Providing a more sustainable model for delivering primary and secondary. Welsh and English medium education in Llanfyllin.

More efficient provision of education.

To provide robust leadership.

Improve quality of education.