Plans to build new schools and expand others as borough council seeks to cope with population bulge

Telford & Wrekin Council is setting out its plans for coping with a population bulge of children and the influx of young families taking up space at hundreds of homes being built in the borough.

A masterplan is being drawn up for the development of a new school on the Castle Farm Way/A5 site while a new school is currently being built at the former British Sugar site in Allscott. Plans are also being drawn up to provide an extra 210 primary and 30 nursery places at Lawley Village Academy.

And there are more plans for expansion of school numbers to partly cope with a bulge in primary school age children and make sure they have the spaces available in the secondary system.

Councillor Shirley Reynolds, the cabinet member for children, young people and families said: “Ensuring the right number of school places can be a challenge as the council has no say over the admissions process for academy schools, but with a new primary school in Allscott due to open next year, the development of a new primary school in Priorslee in the next two years, the Lawley Village Academy expansion and a number of secondary school expansions – we are on track to create hundreds of new school places in our borough and ensure that every child has a local school place when they need one.”

Councillor Reynolds said the council has invested heavily in schools, increasing the number of places available in areas where they are needed.

She added: “This approach has paid off, as more families in our borough are being offered places at their preferred schools than the regional and national averages. Our children also benefit from modern, state-of-art facilities that help to enhance their learning.

“As more people are choosing Telford and Wrekin as a place to live and raise a family, we will continue to invest significantly in our school provision."

The school at Castle Farm Way will come with no cost to the council except certain legal fees.

Next Thursday the council's cabinet is being asked to approve the transfer of land to the council in January 2023.

A report to the cabinet reads: "A new primary school is needed as part of the local infrastructure required to support the Castle Farm Way/A5 development.

"Existing primary schools, local to the site, are at their published admission number and cannot easily be expanded to accommodate the number of children anticipated to move into the new development.

"The new school will be developed by the DfE as part of wave 11 of the free school programme. The proposed school will provide an additional 420 primary school places from September 2024.

"The DfE are due to enter procurement imminently."

In line with current legislation, all new schools must be academies, says the report. The Thomas Telford Trust has been appointed by the Regional Director (RD) as the sponsor for the new school. The council plan to lease the land to the DfE who will act as an agent on behalf of the trust.

In Allscott the free school that is being built there will be a new 150-place primary school on the former British Sugar site in Allscott. It will serve up to 470 dwellings being built there.

Construction of the new school is underway and it is due to open in September 2023.

Upon completion of the school building, the land will be transferred to the council and subsequently leased to the Learning Community Trust, who were the successful sponsor.

At Lawley Village Academy, the expansion to provide an additional 210 primary and 30 nursery places from 2024/25, at an estimated cost of £5.8m is also under way.

Separately the council is also conducting feasibility studies on the expansion of its secondary provision. Ercall Wood has been identified to accommodate at least 150 places from 2024/25.

Further expansion options are being explored to provide the additional 150 places required which will likely be delivered by additional temporary classes in a number of schools.

A feasibility study will also be conducted at Southall School to ascertain whether the school can increase its capacity to be able to accommodate 200 pupils, alongside the further development of special educational need hubs as required.

The adopted Telford and Wrekin Local Plan (2018) sets out a housing requirement of approximately 17,280 net new homes up to 2031 and includes allocations for housing including a Sustainable Urban Extension at Priorslee which is expected to deliver around 1,100 new homes.