Here is the text of an open letter for the attention of Cardiff Council, sent on 21 September 2026.
Dear Chris Weaver and Cardiff Council Cabinet,
It was very encouraging to hear your comments in the Council on 26 June 2026 regarding your desire to ensure equity for every child in the city in access to Welsh-medium education.
Welsh-medium All-Age School (3-19) to serve Butetown, Grangetown and surrounding areas
- As we await the publication of the results of “Engagement on sustainable growth of Welsh-medium secondary provision”, we wish to state publicly that it is in your hands to rectify decades of structural discrimination against the most multicultural communities of the city and the nation in the context of the progression path of Welsh-medium education from nursery to sixth form. There is still a dire under-representation of some communities, whether geographical or cultural, in Welsh-medium education. Only by securing the fourth secondary school as part of an application for funding to establish a Welsh-medium All-Age School (3-19 years old) to serve Butetown, Grangetown and surrounding areas will you be able to have the possibility of reversing this social injustice.
Callaghan Square land
- We also note the comments of your predecessor Huw Thomas MS about the fourth Welsh-medium secondary school and his reference to a potential site between Butetown and the city centre (in the Senedd chamber on 16 June 2026, and quoted in a Nation.Cymru article on 17 September 2026). The location is absolutely ideal in the sense that it is on the doorstep of the communities of Butetown and Grangetown. We very much hope that you continue to develop the case for establishing the fourth Welsh-medium secondary school and a dedicated sixth form on Callaghan Square as a hub for a multi-site campus to include new primary streams together with resources for the whole community. We therefore express great concern that the Welsh Government is apparently considering abandoning the idea of allocating the land to establish the school with the aim of selling it for private purposes. This emphasises the critical urgency for you to submit a formal application for this land to the Welsh Government. Only you as an administration have the power to work together with the Welsh Government to earmark this land, or otherwise secure another suitable site at the heart of the community, for the benefit of the children and young people of south Cardiff rather than private interests.
Protect Ysgol Gyfun Gymraeg Bro Edern
- In addition to establishing the fourth Welsh-medium secondary school as part of the All-Age School, we expect an unequivocal commitment that you will protect Ysgol Gyfun Gymraeg Bro Edern which is at the heart of the east Cardiff community, and commit to upgrade the school’s resources to a high-quality building that is fit for teaching purposes in the twenty-first century. In accordance with one of the main cornerstones of the Curriculum for Wales, a community Welsh-medium secondary school is needed at every compass point of the city.
With the local elections in May 2027, this is your chance as the current administration to show that you are serious about delivering for the families of south Cardiff, to invest in Welsh-medium secondary schools in the north, the west and the east of the city and to show, in a very practical way, that the Welsh language belongs to everyone, from all backgrounds.
Sincerely,
- Catrin Dafydd
- Matthew Ford
- Carl Morris
- Emily Pemberton
- Osian Rhys
- Llywelyn ap Gwilym, co-organiser of Parents of the Bro Edern Catchment Area
- Siôn Llewelyn Jones, chair of Cell Caerdydd, Cymdeithas yr Iaith