St Paul's to continue exploring options for expansion
Councillors in Hounslow last week agreed plans to invest more than £54 million to provide more primary school places, giving parents across the borough more choice of where to send their children to school.
The plans will see 15 primary schools expanded to help meet the demand for places across the borough.
Cllr Steve Curran, cabinet member for education and housing at the council, said:“The growth in the demand for places we are looking at for the next few years is huge, and there is no corner of the borough that is unaffected.
“Local schools are incredibly popular and we are determined to try to make sure parents are able to get a place at their local school.
“These plans will help us make sure parents have a better choice of places to send their children for years to come.
“We have selected these schools for a number of reasons, such as demand in the area, whether the site has capacity to expand, and if the works can be completed without unmanageable disruption.
“All of our schools understand the need we have to provide school places for our children and we’ve discussed with them how the expansions can also bring additional benefits to both pupils and staff.”
The council consulted on expanding 17 schools across the borough, but two sites – St Paul’s CE Primary in Brentford, and Wellington Primary School in Hounslow – have been withdrawn.
Hounslow has seen a rapid increase in the number of school-aged children in recent years and, in order to provide the capacity to give these children the education they need, the council has been creating extra places at schools that have the potential to expand and where demand is highest.
Since 2008 the council has increased the number of places across the borough, adding individual classes (known as ‘bulge’ classes) and completely expanding a school.
More classes have already been provided for this the current academic year to meet the increasing demand for places across the borough. This has seen almost 800 additional school places added across 24 primary schools, as well as extra places have been set up for children with special education needs.
The cabinet report is available here.
December 11, 2012