PARENTS of children attending all three of Barry’s secondary schools have begun a bid to get all views heard on a proposed £35m shake-up plan.

Their response follows concerns raised by Bryn Hafren comprehensive staff who criticised the Vale Council’s idea to create Europe’s second largest school.

The education authority’s preferred option involves establishing an English-language school of up to 3,000 pupils on the current Barry Comprehensive site - using it and Ysgol Bro Morgannwg and Nant Talwg buildings.

Bro Morgannwg would relocate to the Bryn Hafren site with a new Welsh-medium primary school constructed in the grounds.

Mums Sam Eva, Nia Hopkin and Donna Thomas are urging all of Barry’s residents to express their views ahead of the public consultation, beginning May 11.

They were concerned over the staged transfer of pupils, school size and management structure, unsuitable facilities, the absence of guaranteed funding and pupils making do with second-hand buildings.

They said 21st Century schools would not be created.

Any funding would cover costs, such as £4m to remove asbestos from the Bryn Hafren building, which should fall into a maintenance category now.

They believed subjects would be lost, others oversubscribed and the council had not done its research.

Sam, 43, mum of Olivia, 11, and Maisie, six, said: “People think it’s a foregone conclusion and they won’t speak out.”

She said she was concerned her daughter would be scheduled to attend a completely different school comprising of more than 1,100 boys and new teachers, at the beginning of crucial GCSE years and would be denied access to subjects on the Bryn Hafren curriculum such as dance.

She said: “The girls have the same form teacher throughout and they feel safe knowing they’ve got someone to go to. How can you make this work when the majority of teachers are against it? It’s going to be bedlam, utter chaos. They haven’t thought it through.”

Nia Hopkin, mum of Reuben, 11, and Honor, seven, said: “What worries me most is that they are starting without the funding in place. It’s not an issue to me whether it’s in the north, south, east or west, it’s the silly staged transfer of the children as well as it being on the cheap.”

Donna Thomas, 39, mum of Bethan, 11, Lorna and Rhian, 10, said: “They won’t have an identity in the large school. You are going to have a generation of pupils where the options are reduced.”

Natalie Horsell, 31, whose child attends Bro Morgannwg, said: "When they built the school in Penarth St Cyres they were given £34m to build a state of the art school. Cllr Elmore has said that we will be allocated £33m and with this we have to merge two schools, build a new primary school, move another school to a different site and upgrade dilapidated outdated buildings. I’m not genius but my calculations are not adding up.

Discuss issues on Barry school merger, discussion group https://www.facebook.com/groups/866363393402456/