Mum at school with two pupils slams 'painful' decision to close it
<li>Published5 hours ago</li>
<p>A parent at a primary school with two pupils which is set to close says the council has "forgotten" about children in the village.</p>
<p>Both of the children currently enrolled at Ysgol Y Garreg in Llanfrothen, Gwynedd, are due to move to secondary school in September.</p>
<p>But Sharon Morgan, whose son Samuel is one of the two, said the closure meant other families in the village would not get a chance at the same quality of education her son has had.</p>
<p>Cyngor Gwynedd, the local authority in Gwynedd, said <a href="https://democracy.gwynedd.llyw.cymru/documents/s49295/Appendix%20C%20-%20Ysgol%20Y%20Garreg%20Options%20Appraisal.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">the cost of each pupil, external</a> at Ysgol Y Garreg was £21,471 - "significantly higher" than the county average of £5,998.</p>
<p>It called the decision to close the school "painful, but unavoidable".</p>
<p>Earlier this month, <a href="/news/articles/c5yzrj9vw54o" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">the local authority voted to close Ysgol Y Garreg</a> due to "the very low numbers of pupils who attend" as well as "low projections of future numbers".</p>
<p>But Sharon said more should have been done to try to keep it open.</p>
<p>"It's such a shame – they have forgotten about the children," she said.</p>
<p>"My son learned more in a small village school environment than he ever would have done if he'd had to travel further away.</p>
<p>"I'm worried about those families in the village who have children aged two and three, who won't now get the chance to have the quality education that my son had."</p>
<p>Sharon, herself a former teacher in Gwynedd, said her son and his one remaining classmate had tried to protest against the closure, but claim they were ignored.</p>
