Another brand new school and hundreds of extra places

Plymouth is poised to add another brand new, purpose built school as part of the latest plans to increase the number of school places on offer in the city to cope with the growing population of primary-aged children. 

Under the plans set to be approved by Cabinet, known as the Basic Need programme, consultation will begin to push ahead with the expansion of three city schools and the construction of a new school in Derriford. This investment of almost £9m will see the creation of an additional 135 school places by September 2015.

A further £2.475m could also be put into the Basic Need pot to build a brand new school at Knowle Primary, which had originally been ear-marked to receive extensive renovation works to replace heating, water and electrical systems, plus other structural works, with an estimated cost of £2.52m.

The report highlights it would be cheaper, more efficient and much better for pupils and staff to demolish the existing 1950s building and replace it with a brand new, purpose-built construction, which would include a nursery.

To move forward with the plans Cabinet will recommend that Full Council amend the Capital Programme to incorporate this change, which would see funds switched from the schools maintenance budget to the capital budget. However, £500,000 would remain in the maintenance budget to enable schools requiring improvements to bid for a share of the cash.

The new build at Knowle Primary would be constructed alongside the existing school until it was completed in September 2015. The existing school buildings would then be demolished and the vacated space used to create new sports and recreational areas. The new school would be a two form-entry (two classes per year) with a capacity of 360 pupils, plus early years childcare for under fives.

Councillor Nicky Williams, Cabinet Member for Children and Young people, said: “We must seize this opportunity to create a brand new, custom built school for the North West area of the city, with an additional nursery attached. Quite simply it’s a no brainer – we can either spend money to bring the existing building up to scratch, which is no longer fit for purpose, or spend less to create a fantastic new building for pupils, staff and the surrounding community.”

The report also looks at how the Council can manage the increasing numbers of primary aged children across the city from September 2015, 2016 and 2017. The highest need for additional school places has been in the North West, North East and Central, South East and Plympton areas of the city.

On-going investment now means the majority of need will be satisfied in all areas except the North East and Central and Plympton areas. Therefore to meet this latest demand, Cabinet is set to approve plans to begin consultation to expand six city schools from September 2015 including: Widewell, Woodford, Holy Cross RC, Woodfield, Pennycross and St Peter’s CE Primary School.

In addition, Laira Green Primary, Victoria Road Primary and Woodfield Primary will be consulted on whether they could provide ‘bulge classes’ should they be required. This will mean adding an extra class of 30 pupils or half class of 15 pupils above the schools’ usual capacity for one particular year group, which will move through the year groups until pupils go onto secondary education.

Investment required for these expansions could see Woodford and Widewell Primaries receiving almost £1.9M each and Holy Cross receive just over £800,000. The new build at Derriford previously announced would receive almost £4.4M including land purchase. 

Councillor Nicky Williams, continued: “Having excellent schools is such an important part of a city’s structure. We are very proud of our schools and investing in their future is essential if we are to maintain our high standards and encourage families to raise children in Plymouth.

“The Basic Need programme ensures we can offer our growing population the best possible education in fit-for-purpose schools that inspire our children to achieve in life. Almost 90 per cent of children received their first choice of primary school last year, which is a good result when compared nationally. Our ultimate aim is that no matter where a child lives, they can expect excellent education from a first class local school.”