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Ysgol Gynradd Pontsenni
Sennybridge C. P. School
Sefydlu Ysgol Pontsenni / Establishing Sennybridge School
Sennybridge School
The new building had been built by 1939 but the opening was postponed because the Ministry of Defence had earmarked the possibility of using the building as a military hospital to go with the planned camp in Sennybridge. That was not the case and the Senior School was opened on the 8th April 1940 for the older children from the primary schools in the Sennybridge area who had not managed to gain a place in the two Grammar Schools.
Before this educational offering was provided these children had to stay in their primary schools until the school leaving age of 14 - the statutory age at that time. So, to create a school, pupils aged 11 to 14 were brought from schools in Defynnog, Crai, Aberpedwar, Trecastle, Pentre'r felin, Trallong and Llanfihangel Nantbrân. (Cilieni School was under consideration to close at the time). It is interesting to note that Pierce Roberts was appointed in advance and due to the delay in the opening date he had to teach on supply in Pentre’r felin for a short time. (Prior to his appointment as headteacher he taught at Ysgol Nercwys, Denbighshire).
It was a school for older children until 1947 when Ysgol Defynnog was closed and the children transferred there. From now on it was an all-ages school and so it was until Brecon Modern High School was opened and established in the old building of the Grammar School on Cradoc Road in 1958 (under the conditions of the Education Act 1944 it was recommended to raise the leaving age to 15 and this was implemented in 1947). This meant transferring the older children from Sennybridge to Cradoc Road, Brecon, turning Sennybridge School into a primary school again.
In the years since then the school has attracted pupils from outside the area of Sennybridge as the other rural schools closed in turn.
There is one extremely interesting chapter in the school's history that can be eye-opening for the current pupils. In 1940 children from Halstow Road Senior Girls School, Greenwich, London were transferred there. Originally the children went to Hastings but after Dunkirk they were moved to Sennybridge. The stage and the woodwork room were refurbished for them. It must be remembered that individual evacuees in addition to these were pupils at Sennybridge School.
Up until 1988, Sennybridge School was an English medium school. After much discussion and many meetings involving parents, the community and the Council, a Welsh stream was established in the school in September 1988 with a class of 10 pupils, aged 4 – 6 years old. By 1995 the number of Welsh classes had increased to two classes and by 2023 there were 3 Welsh medium classes and 2 English medium classes.
T. Glyn Powell, Glansenni, Pontsenni
(Former Headmaster of Brecon High School)
(Deacon at Trinity Welsh Calvinistic Methodist Chapel, Defynnog and
Tynewydd Welsh Calvinistic Methodist Chapel,Trecastle)
Many thanks to Mrs Gwerfyl Minchin of Brecon for her help in providing the information about the Welsh stream.
Ysgol Pontsenni
Roedd yr adeilad newydd wedi ei adeiladu erbyn 1939 ond gohiriwyd yr agoriad oherwydd roedd Y Weinyddiaeth Amddiffyn wedi clustnodi’r posibilrwydd o ddefnyddio’r adeilad fel ysbyty milwrol i gyd fynd â’r gwersyllt y bwriadwyd ym Mhontsenni. Nid felly y bu ac agorwyd yr Ysgol Hŷn Ganolog ar yr 8fed Ebrill 1940 ar gyfer y plant hŷn o ysgolion cynradd cylchdaith Pontsenni nad oedd wedi llwyddo ennill lle yn y ddwy Ysgol Ramadeg.
Cyn darbaru yr arlwy addysgiadol hwn roedd y plant yma yn gorfod aros yn eu hysgolion cynradd tan oedran ymadael ysgol yn 14 oed – yr oedran stadudol y pryd hynny. Felly i greu ysgol fe ddeuwyd disgyblion o 11 i 14 oed o ysgolion Defynnog, Crai, Aberpedwar, Trecastell, Pentre’r felin, Trallwng a Llanfihangel Nantbrân. (Roedd Ysgol Cilieni dan warchai i’w chai ar y pryd). Diddorol nodi i Pierce Roberts gael ei benodi ymlaen llaw ac oherwydd y gohiriad yn nyddiad yr agoriad bu rhaid iddo gyflenwi ym Mhentre’r felin dros dro. (Cyn ei benodi roedd e’n dysgu yn Ysgol Nercwys, Sir Ddinbych).
Fel ysgol i blant hŷn y bu tan 1947 pan gauwyd Ysgol Defynnog a throsglwyddo’r plant yno. O hyn allan roedd e’n ysgol bob oedran a felly y bu nes agorwyd Ysgol Uwchradd Fodern Aberhonddu a’i sefydlu yn hen adeilad yr Ysgol Ramadeg ar Heol Cradoc yn 1958 (Dan amodau Deddf Addysg 1944 fe argymhellwyd codi oedran ymadael i 15 a gweithredwyd hynny yn 1947). Roedd hyn yn golygu trosglwyddo’r plant hŷn o Bontsenni yno gan droi Ysgol Pontsenni yn gynradd eto.
Yn y blynyddoedd ers hynny mae’r ysgol wedi denu disgyblion o du allan i gylch cyfyng Pontsenni wrth i’r ysgolion gwledig eraill cau yn eu tro.
Mae yna un bennod hynod o ddiddorol yn hanes yr ysgol gall fod yn agoriad llygad i’r disgyblion presennol. Yn 1940 fe drosglwyddwyd plant o Ysgol Halstow Road Senior Girls School, Greenwich, Llundain yno. Yn wreiddiol fe aeth y plant i Hastings ond wedi Dunkirk fe’u symudwyd i Bontsenni. I’w cynnal yma fe ail- wampiwyd y llwyfan a’r ystafell gwaith coed ar eu cyfer. Rhaid cofio y buodd ifaciwis unigol yn ychwanegol at y rhain yn ddisgyblion yma.
Hyd at 1988, roedd y disgyblion yn derbyn eu haddysg yn bennaf trwy gyfrwng y iaith Saesneg. Wedi cryn drafod a llawer o gyfarfodydd gyda rhieni, y gymuned a’r Cyngor, sefydlwyd ffrwd Gymraeg yn yr ysgol ym Medi 1988 gyda dosbarth o 10 disgybl, 4 – 6 oed. Erbyn 1995 roedd nifer y dosbarthiadau Cymraeg wedi cynyddu i ddau ddosbarth ac erbyn 2023 roedd 3 dosbarth cyfrwng Cymraeg a 2 ddosbarth cyfrwng Saesneg.
T. Glyn Powell, Glansenni, Pontsenni
(Cyn Brifathro Ysgol Uwchradd Aberhonddu
Diacon yng Nghapel Y Methodistiaid Calfinaidd Triniti, Defynnog
a Chapel Y Methodistiaid Calfinaidd Tynewydd, Trecastell)
Diolch hefyd i Mrs Gwerfyl Minchin o Aberhonddu am yr hanes
am Y Ffrwd Gymraeg.
Ysgol Pontsenni / Sennybridge School
