EDUCATION chiefs are proposing to close Carmarthenshire’s only council-maintained nursery school, in Ammanford, and lower the admission age at two adjacent primary schools.
Currently 81 pupils aged 3-5 attend Ammanford Nursery School, which a council report said “uniquely” provides full-time education compared to the rest of county. All other nursery provision in council-maintained primary schools, it said, was on a part-time basis.
No final decisions have been made about discontinuing the nursery school and changing the admission age at Ysgol Bro Banw and Ysgol Gymraeg Rhydaman from 4-11 to 3-11, and the public would be able to have a say if the proposals were taken forward.
Parents can transfer their Ammanford nursery children to a primary school when they are four, or keep them at the nursery school for another year.
The report said the rationale for change was to achieve a consistent approach to education across the county. Members of the council’s education, young people and Welsh language scrutiny meeting heard more about the proposals at a meeting on June 24.
Cllr Glynog Davies, cabinet member for education, said there would be capacity at Ysgol Bro Banw and Ysgol Gymraeg Rhydaman if the proposals were implemented from September 2026, and that the reorganisation and consultation processes would be “very thorough”.
If the nursery school is discontinued, its pupils would receive their education under the governance of Ysgol Bro Banw and Ysgol Gymraeg Rhydaman, or an alternative school based on parental choice, on a part-time basis.
The nursery school currently occupies a wing of the larger Ysgol Bro Banw and is also very close to Ysgol Gymraeg Rhydaman. “You can walk from one to another in less than a minute,” said Cllr Davies.
Cllr Betsan Jones said that as an Ammanford Nursery School governor who lived in the area, the proposal to close it caused concern for parents and staff, although she said she understood the rationale behind it.
The meeting heard that discussions have taken place with the headteachers and governing bodies involved and that there was support in the main.
Should cabinet decide to press ahead with the plans a six-week consultation would take place in September and October. A further decision would then need to be made by cabinet early next year, with another chance for people to object. Full council would then make a final decision early next summer.
Committee chairman, Cllr Emlyn Schiavone, said Ammanford Nursery School had been set up by the former Dyfed County Council, along with a nursery school in Pembrokeshire and another in Ceredigion. Referring to the current proposals, he said: “I am surprised it has taken so long to get to this point.”
Cllr Davies said: “It has taken time to reorganise. The aim is to be fair with everybody and give every child the same opportunity across the county.”
Committee members also discussed a council proposal to change the admission age from 4-11 to 3-11 from September 2026 at four other primary schools: Ysgol Cwrt Henri, Ysgol Llanbydder, Ysgol Y Tymbl, and Ysgol Y Ddwylan.
Cllr Davies said declining pupil numbers in the county were a concern and that the council hoped to address this by offering a minimum of 10 hours non-statutory education per week to three-year-olds at the four schools. This proposal would, if taken forward, also be subject to consultation.
All children in Wales are entitled to a minimum of 10 hours per week nursery education at settings including a school, day nursery or Welsh-language provider Mudiad Meithrin, from the term after their third birthday. There can be gaps in provision though – particularly in rural areas – and this is what the admission age change at the four schools aims to address.
Cllr Davies said there was no guarantee how popular the move, if agreed in due course, would be among parents. But he said the council was confident it would succeed. “Sometimes you have to take a gamble and hope that it will prove its worth,” he said.
