PARENTS of Ysgol Pontfadog school pupils were left disgusted after their children’s last week of school was disrupted by removal work as the school prepared to close for good.

The Ceiriog Valley-based school closed its doors for the last time on Friday after 110 years.

What was supposed to be a week of goodbyes and celebrations for the pupils was disrupted however, as removal workers on behalf of Wrexham County Borough Council (WCBC) were accused by pupils and parents of taking away furniture, including tables, from the classrooms throughout the final week while lessons were still ongoing.

The removal work left parents frustrated, with one describing the situation as traumatising for the children.

Angharad Corley-Jones said: “It’s awful. It’s absolutely heartbreaking.

“Because they’ve been moving things out while the kids have been here, some of them have been traumatised.

“From beginning to end it’s been thoughtless. It’s been rushed, nobody’s been listened to, right from the beginning of the consultation to now.

“They knew what they wanted to do, they had more than 1,300 objections and just disregarded everyone’s opinions, and just carried on.

“They’ve just traumatised a school full of kids, because they couldn’t wait a week to remove things. It’s cruel. It’s so unsettling for children, especially the ones who are too young to understand what’s going on.”

The Leader:

The classrooms on the final day at Ysgol Pontfadog

Elizabeth Williams, mother of one of the school’s pupils, said: “As a parent, I’m disgusted.

“The classrooms have been left like this during their last day of school, and it’s their right to at least have their last week before they start making the place look like this. All they wanted was to have a proper last week of school.

“Their school should have remained their school until the end.

“That’s all they had to do is let their school remain their school until 3.15pm on Friday, and they couldn’t even do that.

“It’s a lack of respect for the children.

“The children should be allowed to learn without people coming in and disrupting them by taking furniture.

“The place looks a mess, it looks like it’s been ransacked. How can you expect children to sit here and learn in these conditions?

“My son has autism, and he hasn’t wanted to come to school with this going on.

“He’s been transitioning to his new school – why would he want to come back to this?

“He’s been here since he started school, and he can’t enjoy his last day because he can’t deal with everything going on here.

“It’s just shocking – why can’t they have done it over summer.

“The teachers should be able to teach the kids – how can they do their jobs in a classroom with hardly any tables.”

WCBC Councillor for Glyn Ceiriog Trevor Bates felt disappointed with the way the situation was handled.

“It’s simply not acceptable,” he said.

“To take tables from under the kids is just awful.”

“I’m very disappointed. It could have been handled a lot better.

“They could’ve closed the school a few days earlier if they desperately needed to remove things by today. It’s just not good enough.

“The staff weren’t even made aware of who and when they were coming.”

WCBC has been approached for comment.