Progress made on new Catholic primary school in Peterborough as name is revealed

Progress is being made on a new Roman Catholic primary school in Peterborough which is set to open in September 2022.
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The school at Hampton Water was given the go ahead by the city council in January despite vocal opposition from local residents who described it as “discriminatory” for being able to prioritise pupils on faith over location, while there are concerns over increased traffic coming from the A15.

Some city councillors also formally challenged the decision but their objections were overruled.

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The authority has now revealed a timetable for the project after being the go ahead by the Department for Education to take ownership of the design and construction of the new 630 pupil school, which it has revealed will be called St John Henry Newman VA RC Primary School.

Protests in 2019 against the new Catholic primary schoolProtests in 2019 against the new Catholic primary school
Protests in 2019 against the new Catholic primary school

The three form of entry primary will initially open to Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 pupils and will also have a 26 place nursery, although the opening date for the latter has yet to be decided..

The project is being 90 per cent funded by the Government - which has given its backing to the school - with the council having to pay the rest.

The maintained voluntary aided school will be the first state-funded Catholic school in England for more than 10 years and will be run by the Diocese of East Anglia.

It will be sited at Aqua Drive in Hampton Water,

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The school’s selection criteria will see it select 80 per cent of its pupils based on faith and 20 per cent on location if it is oversubscribed, although its governing body will review the selection process every year.

Under the council’s proposed timetable for the new primary, it will appoint a contractor for the building works in October with a planning application submitted in March 2021.

It is anticipated that a planning decision would be made three months later, and if the plans are approved construction would begin in July.

The council hopes to have the school handed over by the developers in July 2022 ready for its first pupils two months later.

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The ownership of the buildings will then be transferred to the diocese, however, the playing field will remain under the council’s ownership with the two parties entering a 125 year lease.

Cardinal John Henry Newman was canonised in 2018 at a ceremony conducted by the Pope after being credited with curing a man’s spinal disease and a woman’s unstoppable bleeding.

Born in London 1801, he become an Anglican priest and a leading theologian. He died in Birmingham in 1890.

In total, 3,050 dwellings are to be delivered at Hampton East as part of a major expansion of the area.

It already has one school at the site, Hampton Lakes Primary, which when fully completed will accommodate 420 children and a 26 place nursery.