New special school plans take another step forward

Swansea Council is looking to develop the new school, which is expected to cost in excess of £40m and represents the largest ever investment in special needs education in the city, on land at Mynydd Garnllwyd Road.

Once completed pupils from Swansea's two existing special schools - Ysgol Crug Glas and Ysgol Pen-y-Bryn - would move in to the new state-of-the-art development.

As part of the process the two schools need to be amalgamated although all pupils will remain at their current school until the new one is ready in 2028.

No objections were received to a statutory notice published earlier this year so the council's cabinet has now agreed to the amalgamation from September 2025.

Swansea Council's Cabinet Member for Education, Robert Smith, said: "This is an important step for our plans to provide first class facilities for pupils in Swansea with additional learning needs and at the same time ensure we have enough places to meet demand in the future.

"Again I would like to reassure parents, carers and pupils nothing will change for children now. We have successfully amalgamated other schools in recent years ahead of investing in brand new accommodation. There will be no change to daily routines for pupils at Ysgol Crug Glas and Ysgol Pen-y-Bryn before the new state-of-the-art school is ready to open which will not be until 2028."

Under the proposals the new school would be jointly funded by Swansea Council and Welsh Government via the Sustainable Communities for Learning Programme.

Cllr Smith added: "Ysgol Crug Glas currently has 55 places for pupils with profound and multiple learning difficulties and Ysgol Pen-y-Bryn has 195 places for pupils with moderate to severe learning difficulties and for pupils with severe autism.

"Both are currently run at maximum capacity and both have some buildings that date back to the 1960s which are not seen as suitable for future needs.

"The new school would have an additional 100 places to accommodate a rising demand for special school places in Swansea and reduce the need for some pupils to be placed into independent and out-of-county schools.

"The whole idea is to improve the learning environment for pupils, families and staff with resources such as sensory rooms and specialist therapy rooms, a hydro pool integrated within the school building, more space and better provision for teaching young people life skills and vocational skills and better outdoor areas including external learning environments. Existing services such as the 24 hour curriculum would be retained.

"We'll continue to involve pupils, their families, staff, governors and community members in shaping our proposals as we move forward."