Further discussions are to take place about where pupils from Tenby VC School will go while its roof is rebuilt after failing when it was less than 10 years old.

Tenby VC School, a 3–11 English-medium primary school with an additional Learning Resource Centre (LRC) provision, was built in 2016.

Just a few years after its build, there were reports of water ingress.

In November 2024, a £75,000 feasibility budget to look at ways of tackling roof leaks at Tenby’s VC school, including a complete new roof, was backed by members of Pembrokeshire County Council’s Cabinet.

The council implemented a series of urgent health and safety measures to mitigate immediate risks, including the installation of 510 ‘acro’ props to support vulnerable roof areas and the full closure of the Early Years/Playgroup wing, along with regular inspections.

At the November 2025 Cabinet meeting, members received a report detailing the findings of the feasibility study, with a favoured option of the replacement of entire roof, backing tenders for the works being sought.

It was warned there would need to be a “a comprehensive decant strategy” for pupils to go elsewhere while the works took place.

At the June 2026 Cabinet meeting, in a report presented by Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Education and Regeneration Cllr Paul Miller, members were asked to approve the award of a Pre-Construction Services Agreement (PCSA) for Stage 1 of the Tenby VC School Roof Replacement Project following tendering; Morgan Sindall Construction the most successful applicant.

Stage 2 construction contract will only proceed following a separate formal approval based on market tested packages, validated cost plans, and an assessment of value for money, a report for members said.

Members were also asked to consider which decant strategies are to be considered for detailed feasibility, in order to enable the roof replacement works to take place.

Seven initial options have now been narrowed down to five the report said.

Options include: decanting the whole school to Saundersfoot CP and Stepaside Schools while retaining Tenby VC as a separate entity at a cost of some £0.5m a year; distribute Tenby VC pupils across multiple local schools across the wider Tenby cluster; decant to nearby comprehensive Greenhill School which currently has 302 surplus places; establish a modular village at the northern boundary of Greenhill School, a self-contained modular village adjacent to Heywood Lane, comprising nine classrooms and associated facilities for Tenby VC; and a hybrid model combining the modular village and Greenhill accommodation.

Two earlier options of a modular village on alternative council owned land in Tenby and a modular village on the Tenby VC site have been discounted.

Members agreed to further consideration on the ‘decant’ strategy, subject to a more detailed feasibility exercise, a final decant proposal be brought to Cabinet for consideration, along with the setting aside of up to £75,000 to support the final proposal; Cllr Miller saying there were, in effect, two options for the building: to replace the roof “or don’t, and effectively abandon that site”.

“A roof completely failing on a 10-year-old building is completely bad news, but we have 180 children being educated in a building that is no longer fit for purpose, and we have to get on with it.”

A further report will be brought to Cabinet at the conclusion of Stage 1 to seek approval for entering the Stage 2 construction contract.