Ceredigion County Council’s Cabinet will be presented with a 142 signature petition against moving Plascrug School in Aberystwyth to the Welsh medium for its youngest pupils.

Plans to change the education of youngsters in four Aberystwyth schools to Welsh only were concocted last year, and in March the authority posted statutory notices that the change to foundation classes will begin in September.

In May last year, councillors agreed to begin the consultation process to change the medium of language to Welsh in the Foundation Phase in Comins Coch, Llwyn yr Eos, Padarn Sant, and Plascrug schools.

It is also proposed Comins Coch School and St Padarn’s are able to admit three-year -old pupils on a part time basis.

A consultation ended in November, with the comments - the majority of which were against from parents who responded - presented to Cabinet members in February.

The final statutory notice period on the plans ended on 29 March, with more parents lodging further objections, alongside a petition from parents at Plascrug which will now be considered by Cabinet members on Tuesday, 14 May.

The 142 signature petition, which organisers say was signed “predominantly by parents or carers of pupils” said that they were “concerned that this is not the best way to teach very young children.”

“Children learn better through their mother tongue, and non Welsh speaking families will not be able to support their children with developing reading and writing skills at home to compliment the teaching in school,” the petition said.

“The majority of schools in Ceredigion are Welsh medium so there are plenty of options available for Welsh speaking families to have their children educated through the medium of Welsh.

“Plascrug is one of the few schools that offer bilingual teaching.

“We fully support children being taught Welsh and support bilingual teaching and want teaching in the Foundation Phase to be in Welsh and English.

“We wish the school to retain its present policy of bilingual teaching across all ages and year groups.”

If the plans are given the go-ahead, nursery classes would begin in the Welsh medium in 2024, with reception classes to follow in 2025, Year 1 in 2026 and year 2 in 2027.

“By September 2028 Year 3 pupils would have a sound foundation, especially orally, and would be able to build on those skills whilst also developing their skills and education through the medium of English,” council documents said.