No replacement faith school in St Edeyrns

In January 2020, Cardiff Council agreed plans to effectively build a new faith school, by doubling the size of St Mellons Church in Wales Primary and moving it to a new site on a new housing development at St Edeyrn's. The project would be part of Band B of the 21^st Century Schools Programme (2019-26) and would aim to complete by September 2021.

Despite being a voluntary controlled faith school, St Mellons' admissions policy permits up to 100% of pupils to be selected on religious grounds and the school is committed to continuing to teach denominational religious education. The current Church in Wales scheme of work for RE between Nursery and Year 6 requires that almost 90% of teaching time is dedicated to Christianity.

Religious discrimination in admissions to the school will end from 2024/25 when admissions are administered by the council, in line with community school policies.

Update: On 23 January 2020 Cardiff Council Cabinet agreed to the proposal.

Cardiff Council should grasp this opportunity to create a new inclusive community school to serve all families attracted by the St Edeyrn's development.

Section 14 of the Education Act 1996 requires local authorities in Wales to ensure that the schools planned in their area are "sufficient in number, character and equipment to provide for all pupils the opportunity of appropriate education".

No More Faith Schools is a national campaign coordinated by the National Secular Society and with supporters from a broad social, political and religious spectrum. We're dedicated to an end to state funded faith schools. We would like all schools to have an inclusive community ethos, free from any religious discrimination, privilege or control.

We help people challenge new faith schools, particularly where they have discriminatory admissions rules and where there are proposals for inclusive alternatives.

This consultation has now closed.