Pembrey School’s new building officially opened

Pembrey School’s new building has been officially opened by Carmarthenshire County Council’s Leader, Cllr Darren Price at a ceremony attended by children, teachers and staff on Wednesday, 17 July 2024.

The brand-new, £8.25M primary school building has been constructed on land adjacent to the old school site and has a capacity for 270 primary pupils, aged 3-11, and 30 nursery places. This scheme has been delivered as part of the Welsh Government and Carmarthenshire’s Sustainable Communities for Learning Programme, Band B investment.

The building was constructed by local contractors, TRJ (Betws) Ltd.

Replacing the former school building, this new site now incorporates a Flying Start facility (previously located in a separate mobile classroom) under one roof.  It has transformed the education provision in the Pembrey area by providing state-of-the-art facilities and accommodation for pupils and staff as well as a learning environment suitable for education in the 21^st century.

Delivering this modern and new facility for both the school and community of Pembrey is being achieved over two phases; with the first phase seeing children, teachers and staff occupying the new school in February 2024, following the half-term break.

Work on Phase 2 is progressing well, with the demolition of the former school building to build a sports pitch for community use, a multi-use games area (MUGA), a forest school for outdoor learning and associated landscaping and infrastructure works.

On completion, the new sports pitch will be transferred to Pembrey and Burry Port Town Council to replace the community facilities lost on the land where the new school is located.  The pitch will be used by the school during school hours and available to the community outside these hours.

Aneirin Thomas, Head of Education and Inclusion Services for Carmarthenshire County Council said:

This new school is a fantastic, modern resource for our staff and our learners to have a wonderful experience.

It is important to emphasise that this state-of-the-art asset is for the community, and I am sure that the community will benefit from using the building, playground and sports field after school hours.”

Cabinet Member for Education and Welsh Language Cllr Glynog Davies said:

This first-class development is an excellent resource for the children, teachers, staff and indeed, the whole community of Pembrey.

Despite the significant financial challenges facing the authority, we want to do all that we can to improve the learning environments across the county. I am sure that everyone will be happy in this school.”