Wales’ Education Minister, Leighton Andrews, was in Croesyceiliog has officially opened an £8.7m building for Crownbridge Special School, with £5.4m of the funding coming from the Welsh Government.

Built by Kier Construction, the new state-of-the-art school building will house a variety of health and medical services, providing pupils aged 3 to 19 with a first-class learning environment to help them reach their full potential.

The building is an exemplar of a centre of excellence and innovation for pupils, teachers and the local community, with a BREEAM Excellent rating. It will provide flexible facilities that are fully fit for purpose and will help ensure effective curriculum delivery for the SEN sector.


The school's facilities include a purpose-built hydrotherapy pool, as well as dedicated space for physiotherapists, speech therapists and occupational therapists to work with pupils. The school also benefits from a non-class based space, incorporating soft fittings, lighting and sound equipment.

Speaking at the opening, Mr Andrews and head teacher Lesley Griffiths thanked Kier and the project team for all of their efforts, in particular the raising of funds to enable the purchase of a specially designed swing for the pupils.

The Minister continued: "The Welsh Government is committed to providing the best 21st Century learning environments for our learners; this commitment is reflected in the £5.4m funding that we have provided towards the cost of this project."

(CD)