17/10/2022

The contract to construct a new £6million primary school to be located at the St Edeyrns development, has today been awarded. 

Delivered by Halsall Construction on behalf of Persimmon Homes, the new primary school will be the first provided as part of Cardiff's Local Development Plan (LDP) and will become the brand-new home forSt Mellons Church in Wales Primary School, which will relocate from its current site inLlanrumney.

The new build school will serveparts of Pontprennau and Old St Mellonsand be located east of the Pontprennau link road. It will be a 1 formofentry, accommodating 210 pupils including a 48 place part-time nursery with the opportunity to expand to a 2 form entry (420 place) in the future. There will be a community facility linked to the school with private entrance and interconnecting entrance providing benefits to the wider community.

Work will commence in January 2022.

Cabinet Member for Education Employment and Skills, Cllr Sarah Merry said: "This is an exciting milestone for the school which when complete, will provide staff and pupils with a modern, state-of-the-art learning environment to inspire.

"The housing development at St Edeyrns is already very popular, generating a significant increase in the demand for school places in the area. The new school will have a community focus providing opportunities for local people to access facilities as well ensuring availability of school places."

The current St Mellons Primary School in Llanrumney is in the process of establishing a new nursery provision which will provide 32 part time places and will be open for pupils from September 2022.

Applications for nursery places will open on Monday January 24 and can be completed via the admission website:https://www.cardiff.gov.uk/ENG/resident/Schools-and-learning/Schools/Applying-for-a-school-place/Nursery/Pages/default.aspx

Headteacher Jane Marches said: "Everyone at St Mellons CIW Primary is very pleased to hear that plans for our new school are progressing. As we celebrate this new chapter in the school's history, we will be building on a foundation of many happy memories of school life in Llanrumney and Old St Mellons.

"We look forward to growing and to all the opportunities this will offer our pupils, families and the local community. We hope to be a key facility at the heart of the community and will be keen to welcome all to our school family."

"In the meantime, we are also excited to be establishing new nursery provision, providing the youngest members of our community with the chance to join our St Mellons Primary School family."

Relocating St Mellons Primary School to the new build school at St Edeyrns is astrategic solution to rebalance primary school provision in parts of North East Cardiffdue to the issue ofsurplus primary school places in the Llanrumney area and the need for additional places in Old St Mellons and parts of Pontprennau, when the St Edeyrn's housing development is complete.

Cllr Merry added: "The relocation of St Mellons Church in Wales Primary School, presents an exciting opportunity to pupils and staff, providing them with excellent facilities for the future. It will also help address the problem of surplus places in Llanrumney, which has placed a significant strain on school budgets in the area."

St Edeyrn's is a development in the North East of the city as part of Cardiff's Local Development Plan (LDP), which sets out the infrastructure required to facilitate and sustain the city's growth up to 2026.

It was agreed that the school would be built by the developer, Persimmon Homes, as part of the planning agreement with the Council, and funded through Section 106 contributions.

Lee Woodfine, Managing Director at Persimmon Homes East Wales, said: "We are delighted that the new primary school at our St Edeyrns development has today taken this significant step forward.

"We are proud to be delivering this tremendous new facility for the children of St Mellons, Pontprennau and Llanrumney.

"Our St Edeyrns development continues to be a huge success and hundreds of families are already enjoying living there, many of which are first time buyers taking the first step onto the property ladder.

"This project has always been focussed on creating a new community. As well as the primary school there will be local shops, allotments and a community orchard."

Subject to procurement, construction of the new school is expected to be ready for occupation inby Easter 2023.