ABSTRACT
Grant-maintained schools for both England and Wales were introduced through the 1988 Education Reform Act and, by 1993; it was felt that the Department for Education and Science was not an appropriate body to deal directly with the growing number of such schools in England. Thus, the 1993 Education Act established the Funding Agency for School which was to take over this responsibility and others from the Department. The first and only Welsh private school to be re-established as a grant-maintained school was St. Brigid's School, Clwyd. The proposals were published in May 1995 and the school became grant-maintained in September 1996. The publicity generated by the 1993 Education Act led a secondary teacher living in Usk to consider the possibility of opening a new school which would serve the local children and also act as a focus for the town.
