New homes prompt expansion for Peterborough village school
The new classrooms will be funded using contributions from housebuilder Allison Homes.
Duke of Bedford Primary School in Thorney is set to be expanded by Peterborough City Council.
The school, located on Wisbech Road, will be expanded to allow the school to be able to increase its number of pupil admissions to 45 from the current 30.
This rise in admission numbers is set to be met by the instillation of two mobile classrooms as well as a further classroom within the school building.
A spare classroom was adapted to allow a ‘bulge year’ class of 15 pupils into reception for September 2024 and as this class ages through the school, the council has said that there is a need for additional accommodation.
The work would need to be completed in advance of the September 2025 intake of pupils and would therefore requires a contract for the order of the mobile units to be entered into no later than the end of April 2025.
The city’s council’s cabinit has been asked to approve the provision of the extra classrooms at its next meeting on Wednesday (April 16).
Cabinet papers state: “The council has a statutory duty to provide a school place for every child living in its area of responsibility who is of school age and whose parents want their child educated in the state sector. To achieve this, the council must keep the number of school places under review and take appropriate steps to manage the position where necessary.
"The demographic data demonstrates the need for increased places at this school following a housing development in Thorney. As a result, additional classrooms are required to accommodate the demand for pupil places.”
The project would be funded using the Community Infrastructure Levy contributions from Allison Homes, following their housing development in Thorney and Basic Need Grant funding which is within the gift of the council to allocate.