The Children and Young People Scrutiny Committee are scheduled to meet to discuss the provision for children and young people with additional learning needs, and a proposal to extend the age range of Ysgol Gymraeg Coed-Y-Gof to include nursery-age children. The meeting will also cover the usual formalities, and review the way forward.

Additional Learning Needs (ALN)

The committee is scheduled to undertake a pre-decision scrutiny of the provision for children and young people with additional learning needs. According to the report pack, this scrutiny will set the strategic context for ALN provision. The report pack includes several appendices:

• A report on ALP in Cardiff (Appendix 1 - ALP in Cardiff).
• A map of current ALN provision in November 2025 (Appendix 2 - Map of current ALN provision November 2025).
• Recent and projected take up of specialist places (Appendix 3 - Recent and projected take up of specialist places).
• A map of proposed provision for Phase 1 (Appendix 4 - Map of proposed provision Phase1.8Dec).
• A Single Impact Assessment (Appendix 7 - Single Impact Assessment) and Child Rights Impact Assessment (Appendix 7a - CRIA).

Ysgol Gymraeg Coed-Y-Gof Age Range Extension

The committee will be asked to note and agree the output of a report regarding the proposal to extend the age range of Ysgol Gymraeg Coed-Y-Gof from 4-11 to 3-11, by establishing a Welsh-medium nursery unit as part of the school from September 2026. The report pack indicates that no objections were received during the period for seeking objections.

The report pack includes a draft cabinet report (Appendix A - Draft Cabinet Report) and several appendices:

• A cabinet report from 18 September 2025 (Appendix 1. Cabinet Report - 18th September 2025).
• The published statutory notice (Appendix 2 - Published Statutory Notice).
• Data analysis (Appendix 3 - Data Analysis).
• A Single Impact Assessment (Appendix 4 - Single Impact Assessment).

The report pack notes previous issues raised by the scrutiny committee, including:

• Consultation: The committee requested that the consultation be extended beyond statutory consultees to include parents/carers, staff, children and any other relevant groups in the wider community around Ysgol y Gof.
• Travel and Congestion: The committee requested that traffic colleagues be spoken to about potential congestion problems around the school, and the wider community area, and report back to the committee.
• Demand for places: The committee requested that updates on the demand for places be regularly reported to the committee to ensure that they are able to review and support monitoring of school places. The committee also asked for assurances that should a 4th Welsh Medium Secondary school be considered, a different area be considered (not just in the North of the City).

The report pack states that the reason for the recommendations in the cabinet report are:

To establish provision for nursery-age learners at Ysgol Gymraeg Coed-Y-Gof, to support progress towards Outcome 1 and Outcome 2 of the Welsh in Education Strategic Plan:

• Outcome 1 of the WESP sets out the Council's intention to increase the number of nursery children/ three-year-olds receiving their education through the medium of Welsh.
• Outcome 2 of the WESP sets out the Council's intention to increase the number of Reception Class children/ five-year-olds receiving their education through the medium of Welsh.

The recommendations set out in the cabinet proposals are to:

• Approve the proposal to extend the age range of Ysgol Gymraeg Coed-Y-Gof from 4-11 to 3-11 by establishing a Welsh-medium nursery unit as part of the school from September 2026.
• Authorise officers to take the appropriate actions to implement the proposal.
• Authorise officers to publish the decision within 7 days of determination of the proposal.

The following people have been invited to attend the meeting:

• Councillor Sarah Merry, Deputy Leader of the Council and Cabinet Member for Education.
• Melanie Godfrey, Director of Education and Lifelong learning.
• Richard Portas, Programme Director for the School Organisation Programme.