Councillors of Neath Port Talbot borough are consulting over plans to close Duffryn Afan Primary School, suggested due to concerns over educational standards, falling rolls and because around £230,000 is needed for repairs and maintenance. We disagree with teaching standards being a concern, and the children there are enjoying a very happy and comfortable small school environment where they get extra support and extra time per pupil. Something in a larger school setting they will certainly not obtain. A lot of children who attend Duffryn Primary, do so, not only because it is a community school, but also for various other personal reasons, namely one for example; Smaller pupil/teacher ratio, means a more personal touch to their education. One that clearly is shown by the relaxed atmosphere the children are growing with. It is giving them extra confidence and a better understanding of other children around them and their individual needs. Duffryn Rhondda; A small village in Port Talbot. It has no park, community centre or any other amenity the children can use to mix with others around them. For the village children, this is their most important lifeline in the area. If it is closed, they will have nothing at all to enjoy as a community. As it stands they have after school, and breakfast clubs, and summer schemes in the school grounds, and that will also end if it's closed. A bus will be needed to transport the children to another larger school in a different village which will mean children missing out on extra curricular activities. Other children would attend a school in a different area yet again as a large school setting is not in their child's interests, so the village children would be split up even more so. We wish to save the school in our village from closure for the sake of the future of our children, for the future of the village community, and for the future of our children's children.

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