£31m investment in schools to increase capacity
Telford & Wrekin Council will be investing £31m in the borough’s educational estate over the next three years as demand for places rises because of continued growth.
Telford is the fastest growing town in the Midlands and the council’s success at attracting significant inward investment has created thousands of new jobs in the borough resulting in an increasing workforce.
This success has resulted in families wanting to come to Telford, recognising that the Council has proactively managed changes in the community and ensured that a wide choice of school places is available for young families.
This has also meant that significant investment in the borough’s infrastructure has been necessary and schools are no exception to this. Primary schools have seen significant growth in recent years and this is now starting to have an impact on secondary numbers.
The Building Schools for the Future project saw £200m invested in rebuilding or remodelling every secondary school across the borough but new investment is now required in secondary, primary and special schools to ensure they can cope with anticipated demand.
Projects include a major expansion at Ladygrove Primary School in Dawley which will create four additional class bases: additional class bases at Priorslee Academy, Newport Junior School and St George’s Primary school, all to meet the growing demand for places in local schools.
Burton Borough School in Newport will see the completion of a new hall and additional class bases by Easter this year and a number of other Secondary schools across the Borough will see major expansion over the next couple of years with plans in the development stage for this investment.
Councillor Shirley Reynolds, Telford & Wrekin Council’s cabinet member for Employment, Education and Lifelong Learning, said: “I am delighted that we have attracted new investment which has resulted in more housing and jobs.
“Telford is a great place to live, work and visit and all this growth means that it is essential that we ensure that our schools have sufficient capacity as our young population also grows.
“We will see further growth in the next two academic years so it is right that we anticipate growth and invest strategically where demand is greatest. This will mean expanding class bases in primary, secondary and special schools.”
The investment will be funded by a combination of basic need cash from the Department for Education and Section 106 funding.
Further announcements giving detail of individual projects will be made in the coming weeks.
