The Council Leader and Cabinet Member for Education and Young People have visited the works site for Ysgol Cambrian in Clydach Vale – to see the impressive new Additional Learning Needs (ALN) school that is being built. Works are entering their final stages, with the school set to open this autumn.
Councillor Ann Crimmings and Councillor Sharon Rees visited on Thursday, September 24, to tour the future 3-19 setting, welcomed by the site team of project contractor Morgan Sindall Construction. This important investment, to create Rhondda Cynon Taf’s fifth ALN school, is being delivered through Welsh Government’s Sustainable Communities for Learning Programme.
The Cabinet Members were joined by Executive Headteacher of the new school, Aron Bradley, School Lead, Nicola Clark, and Cllr Mark Norris, Cabinet Member and Local Elected Member for Cwm Clydach.
The first-class, modern building will have 23 classrooms plus supporting spaces, including a hydrotherapy pool and a wellbeing centre. Find out more details on our website. The investment responds to the increasing number of ALN learners in Rhondda Cynon Taf, along with the growing complexity of pupils’ needs, and capacity pressures at the four existing ALN schools.
Many internal areas of the new building are nearing completion, with final finishing works now progressing. Completed areas are undergoing a thorough cleaning, along with other preparations for staff and pupils to move in. Upper-floor areas have moved into a final finishing phase, while work continues on the ground floor, including the specialist facilities and hydrotherapy pool.
Externally, good progress is being made with tarmac surfacing, kerbing, fencing and landscaping work, along with the installation of play equipment which is advancing well. Work is also continuing in relation to retaining walls, the on-site drainage infrastructure, roof terrace paving, and external canopies.
Over the coming weeks, key milestones will include the completion of all construction work, the commissioning of the hydrotherapy pool, and the installation of specialist equipment such as the electronic trampoline.
Work has also recently been completed to upgrade a small 4G sports pitch on the adjacent football ground site, managed by Cambrian Village Trust. The work was funded within the school development, to resurface the pitch, install a shock-pad, renew the fencing, and add in a footpath. Pupils attending Ysgol Cambrian will be able to use the facility during the day-time, with the Trust managing the site for community use during the evenings and weekends.
Ysgol Cambrian will provide support to pupils with autistic spectrum disorders, severe learning difficulties, profound and multiple learning difficulties, social, emotional and behavioural difficulties, and sensory impairments.
Councillor Sharon Rees, Rhondda Cynon Taf Council’s Cabinet Member for Education and Young People, said: “These are very exciting times for Ysgol Cambrian, and I was delighted to visit the construction site to see the fantastic development, as work enters its final phase. The new building and outdoor areas are so impressive, with facilities that are purpose-built for pupils with Additional Learning Needs. The school will play a key role in supporting learners and families, while transition events have been supported to help future pupils and their families prepare for their move to the new setting.
“The Council has brought forward this ambitious investment in response to a growth in learner numbers across its four existing ALN schools over a number of years, while pupils’ needs are also becoming more complex. We’ll also be investing in a new teaching block at Buarth y Capel in Ynysybwl, the ALN satellite site for Ysgol Ty Coch – and this important project recently received planning permission in August. These follow a £1.5 million extension being delivered at Maesgwyn Special School in Cwmdare during the last academic year, while a new Early Years ALN setting has opened in Tonyrefail.
“I’m delighted to see Ysgol Cambrian in such an advanced stage of its construction, and I’m sure it will become a school that the community will be proud of for generations to come. I’d like to thank the Council’s contractor Morgan Sindall, for their continued dedication in delivering the project.”
Councillor Ann Crimmings, Leader of Rhondda Cynon Taf Council, added: “Investing in our schools continues to be a key priority for the Council, and seeing yet another setting nearing completion shows our commitment in action. In partnership with Welsh Government, we delivered seven new school buildings in 2024 and 2025 alone – and now we’re focusing on the next round of projects in a £414 million funding commitment for the years ahead.
“Ysgol Cambrian is the first of those projects, and it will be followed by a new school for the Glyn-coch community – Ysgol Gynradd Glyn-coch – opening early in 2027. We’re also designing and developing new teaching blocks for St John Baptist Church in Wales High School in Aberdare, and Buarth y Capel in Ynysybwl – while planned investments for two of our Welsh Medium schools, Ysgol Cwm Rhondda and Ysgol Llanhari, are also making important progress.
“It was brilliant to visit Ysgol Cambrian on Thursday, and I’m sure the learners and their families will be impressed by the new setting. The Council will soon communicate the school’s opening arrangements, once they are finalised.”
Find out more about the Council’s major investment in schools across Rhondda Cynon Taf through our #TransformingRCT webpages.
Posted on 25/09/2026