Cardiff Council has announced that Kier has been selected as the preferred bidder to construct new accommodation for Ysgol Cynefin, formerly known as The Court School.

The £23m project will increase the capacity of the school by relocating and rebuilding it across two sites.

One is to be located on land to the south of Fairwater Primary School in Wellwright Road; the other will be south of Pen Y Bryn Primary School in Dunster Road, Llanrumney.

This will utilise land at the current St Mellons CiW Primary School, following its relocation to new-build accommodation located at the St Edeyrns development.

Delivered under Cardiff Council and the Welsh Government’s B and B Sustainable Communities for Learning Programme, planning for the scheme was approved in July and the new name of the school was also announced.

Ysgol Cynefin translates to ‘habitat school’ and was chosen by the school and key stakeholders to encompass the relationship between people and the natural world, and how connecting people to surroundings can shape a sense of identity and wellbeing.

The new school will grow from 42 to 72 places, with 36 pupils on each site from the 2025-26 academic year, helping to meet the city’s demand for primary-age specialist provision.

Both sites will boast a range of comprehensive facilities including multi-use games areas, sports and soft play areas, sports pitches, and horticultural areas.

The development will include:

• Construction of two new single-storey school buildings at each of the Fairwater and Llanrumney sites
• Creation of new outdoor amenity areas, multi-use games areas, play spaces, and sports provision
• Landscaping, car parking, drainage, and associated works
• Demolition of the existing buildings associated with the St Mellons Church in Wales Primary School (Llanrumney site)

A spokesperson for Cardiff Council said: “Cardiff is currently embarking on a revolutionary transformation of additional learning needs provision and the new Ysgol Cynefin is part of these significant plans to address the shortfall in places required across the city.

“Awarding the contract to build the new school sites is the next milestone in the delivery of this exciting and much-needed provision. “By relocating and rebuilding Ysgol Cynefin over two sites, improvements can be made to the standard of facilities while providing more places for children in need of specialist provision.

“In addition, the co-location the school with two mainstream primary schools will not only allow for sharing of good practice between schools, but will also help to support opportunities for pupils to benefit from mainstream environments.”

The co-location of the new school with mainstream primary schools has also provided investment to the neighbouring schools.

Pen y Bryn Primary School next to the Lanrumney site and Fairwater Primary School next to the Fairwater site, will both benefit from outdoor enhancements including funding towards edible playgrounds, forest school areas, outdoor classrooms, external sports provision, and playground equipment.

Construction of Ysgol Cynefinis expected to start this autumn.