Approval for Band (B) projects across Wales was recently announced by the Cabinet Secretary for Education Kirsty Williams AM in a statement. She said: “Local Authorities and Further Education Institutions have proposed £2.3bn of projects, which meet the investment objectives of Band B of the Programme. The Welsh Government is committed to supporting all of these projects, subject to approval of business cases.”
In Blaenau Gwent, Band (B) projects that have been put forward by the Education Transformation team include:
Extensive re-modelling of the secondary school estate
A new build 360 place primary school
A seedling school for Welsh Medium provision
Refurbishment of the primary school estate
The projects will be carried out on schools that have been identified by the Council as being priority projects and in need of significant improvement. All the projects will be funded 50/50 by the Council and the Welsh Government.
Cllr Clive Meredith, Blaenau Gwent Council’s Executive Member for Education said:
“In Blaenau Gwent we are big advocates of the 21st Century School Programme and, working with the Welsh Government as part of Band (A), we have been able to make significant improvements to some of our existing school estate, as well as building new schools. This supports our continued commitment to bring educational facilities up to 21st century standards and raise aspirations and standards for all learners.
“We welcome the announcement from the Cabinet Secretary for Education and look forward to working in partnership with the Welsh Government on the exciting projects we have put forward for this next phase.”
Pictured is the new Tillery Street Primary Campus (former Abertillery Primary School), built as part of the 21st Century Schools Programme, Band (A) funding.