EDUCATION history has been made in south Pembrokeshire with the official opening of the area's first Welsh-medium primary school.

Ysgol Hafan y Môr in Tenby was opened on Monday by the minister for lifelong learning and Welsh language, Alun Davies AM.

The school has been established in response to a growing demand for Welsh-medium education in the area, and has capacity for 210 pupils as well as 30 full-time equivalent nursery places.

It currently has 126 pupils on roll and the number is steadily growing. Headteacher Victoria Hart-Griffiths revealed that 95 per cent of pupils at the school are from a non Welsh-speaking background.

Mr Davies congratulated Pembrokeshire County Council on its work in Welsh-medium education, and added: "The Welsh government wants to make it the birthright of every child in Wales to be able to speak and write Welsh."

Ysgol Hafan y Môr opened its doors to pupils in September, and is the result of extensive refurbishment and modification works to the old Tenby junior school.

It is next door to the English-medium Tenby Church in Wales VC Primary School, a new build which also opened last autumn.

Mr Davies was welcomed to the school by the chairman of Pembrokeshire County Council, Councillor Tony Brinsden; headteacher Mrs Hart-Griffiths and chair of governors, Julie Jones.

After unveiling a plaque, the minister toured classrooms and met pupils and teaching staff.

The two schools represent an £8.37m investment in education in Tenby, and were built under the 21st Century Schools programme - a collaboration between Pembrokeshire County Council and the Welsh Government, who are sharing the funding.

Ysgol Hafan y Môr was designed by the county council's in-house design team and the work was carried out by Andrew Scott Limited.