Barry to have £4.5 million building for vulnerable learners

Vale of Glamorgan Council agreed to the plans for the Centre for Learning and Wellbeing - set to open in 2023 on the Council's Court Road site - which will replace the existing Pupil Referral Unit and offer students state-of-the-art facilities.

The centre will cater for secondary school-age pupils, while another resource for primary pupils already established at Gladstone Primary School is to be made permanent.

Both facilities will be managed by the Council’s special school Ysgol Y Deri and adopt a trauma-informed approach to supporting students.

Until the new building is completed, secondary pupils will continue being supported within existing provision at Cowbridge and Amelia Farm Trust.

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Vale of Glamorgan Council Cabinet Member for Education and Regeneration, Cllr Lis Burnett, said: “This is a significant investment that will help support some of our most vulnerable learners within a caring and understanding setting.

“The trauma-informed approach recognises that a pupil’s behaviour can be the symptom of an earlier negative experience.

"The aim is to address the source of that experience to help the individual overcome the issues that are affecting them.

“As the County’s special school and a leading institution in its field, we feel Ysgol Y Deri is perfectly placed to manage these modern educational facilities.”