A Welsh-medium primary school has opened on Barry waterfront as efforts to grow the language continue. Ysgol St Baruc pupils moved into their new building on Monday (24 April), a 420-place facility that has a range of features. The school replaces its old Victorian premises, which offered only half the capacity.
Cllr Rhiannon Birch, Vale of Glamorgan Council cabinet member for education and the Welsh language, said; The new St Baruc school building is a fantastic facility that provides pupils, teachers and staff with the perfect platform for success.
The school’s low carbon features include solar panels and onsite battery storage, air source heat pumps – which use outdoor air to heat the building, underfloor heating and EV charging points in the car park. Inside, there is mechanical ventilation, rather than an air conditioning unit, and a host of innovative teaching aids. The food technology space is large, allowing for more interaction, and includes a full catering kitchen.
There are extensive outdoor spaces, some just off the classrooms, which can be used for teaching, along with hard and soft landscaping for learning and playing. The grounds include a multi-use games area, two grass pitches, a small training field and habitat areas to develop wildlife and encourage biodiversity.
The school is the latest investment in Welsh-medium education by the council and follows the expansion of Ysgol Bro Morgannwg in 2021. We were appointed by Galliford Try to provide our Vector fitted furniture and loose furniture throughout the new school building. Working with the team at Vale of Glamorgan Council and Galliford Try we space planned each room, specified products where required, advised on finish selection and provided samples to ensure the team made informed choices to suit their requirements. We also supplied the AV screens for each classroom which are positioned with our Teaching Wall storage units.
Our Vector fitted furniture range is designed and manufactured in Wales by Ministry of Furniture. Within Ysgol St Baruc we have installed Vector units in each classroom to provide storage and sinks. Some classrooms also have integrated fridges and dish washer units. We also provided kitchen units within the staff / PPA room, Teaching Wall units in classrooms, food technology units with ovens and cloakroom benches with hook boards throughout the school.
“An all round great performance from the design stage to delivery and installation on site. The team assisted in the design phase helping with delivering what the school required within their budget. Throughout the project Ministry where approachable and responsive to any issues we had or extra works required.”
Tim Heneghan, Senior Quantity Surveyor, Galliford Try
It was a pleasure working with Galliford Try and the Vale of Glamorgan Council and we look forward to working together again in the future.