Grandmother vows to 'fight all the way' to save special needs unit at Old Colwyn school

A grandmother is fighting to keep a primary school’s special needs unit open so her granddaughter can continue to thrive.

A consultation is underway on plans to axe a resource unit which caters for pupils with moderate to severe learning needs at Ysgol Sŵn y Don, in Old Colwyn.

Parents of children who attend the unit alongside the mainstream school were told before the Easter holidays it was closing at the end of the summer term.

But Conwy Council has since backtracked saying a full consultation will now take place.

Yvonne Davies, whose nine-year-old granddaughter Chloe attends the school, says it’s vital the special needs unit is retained.

Yvonne, who is a special educational needs support worker herself, said: “My sister has special needs and I saw my mother fight for her to get an education, and I’m now doing the same for Chloe – it isn’t right.

“Just because a person has additional learning needs it doesn’t mean they shouldn’t receive a decent education – they are human beings.

“If the unit were to close then it means the children will be split up and sent to other units in Conwy.

“They would be taken by taxi all over the place and then taken back to the school for lessons in the mainstream part of the school, as Chloe who has moderate learning difficulties attends the mainstream school too.”

Yvonne who says Chloe sustained brain damage at birth, says her granddaughter has thrived at Ysgol Sŵn y Don.

“She loves the school, for the first time in her life she has made friends, which is so important.

“Her reading and writing has come on, and she is now doing the times tables.

“She has learnt more in the last 18 months at the school than her whole education life.”

She added: “At a school where 42% of the pupils have additional learning needs – which is way above the national average of 19%, where 70% of the children are eligible for free school meals it’s simply scandalous the Local Education Authority is thinking of closing the resource base and I and other parents will fight it all the way.”

Old Colwyn Cllr Cheryl Carlisle who is the disability champion for Conwy Council, said: “Chloe and her friends deserve an education in their locality.

“It’s not acceptable that these pupils who need routine, should be separated and put in various units across the county, and in a school where so many of the pupils have additional learning needs it’s a nonsense to even think of closing it.”

The council has not disclosed why it wants to close the unit.

A Conwy Council spokeswoman said: “The learning resource unit at Swn y Don remains open; a consultation on its future is scheduled.”

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