New Primary Schools for the South West of Wokingham
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NEW PRIMARY SCHOOLS FOR THE SOUTH WEST OF WOKINGHAM INVITATION TO SUBMIT PROPOSALS A - Shinfield West - provider_advert_final 21-2-16 1 PROPOSALS FOR TWO NEW PRIMARY SCHOOLS WITH NURSERY & RECEPTION AT SHINFIELD WEST AND SPENCERS WOOD IN THE SOUTH WEST OF WOKINGHAM BACKGROUND Education Vision and Strategy Our vision is for Wokingham Borough to be the most forward looking area in England for education and learning so that we are the best place for children and young people to grow up, learn, develop and achieve. We have high ambition for Wokingham to be a place where families thrive and all children learn and develop well from the earliest years so that they are ready to succeed at school, have excellent foundations for learning and are equipped well for achievement in life, no matter what their background. Every child and young person should go to a good or outstanding school, have access to the best teaching, and benefit from schools and other providers working in partnership with each other to share the best practice as they continue to improve. Wokingham Borough Council (WBC) is responsible for ensuring there are sufficient high quality places for all learners, while at the same time fulfilling our other responsibilities to raise education standards and to be the champion of children and their families in securing good quality education in Wokingham Borough. Our Primary School strategy is key to achieving our aims and has the following objectives: To meet the Council’s key priority to improve educational attainment and focus on all children achieving their potential through the provision of quality primary school provision To ensure that there are sufficient places available for all pupils, in outstanding schools To ensure that parental preferences are met to the greatest possible extent consistent with the elements of this policy To support the delivery of the objectives established in the Council’s Core Strategy and maximise the opportunities that the Strategic Development Locations (SDLs) provide. Growth The Primary School Strategy has identified the need for additional places in Wokingham to cope with a rising birth rate and new housing developments across the Borough. Whilst the rising birth rate is affecting the whole of the borough, new housing, especially from the SDLs, is causing serious and localised problems. Table 1 summarises the projected dwelling completions for the next 10 years and clearly shows that the bulk of the new houses are concentrated in four out of the seven school planning areas. A - Shinfield West - provider_advert_final 21-2-16 2 Table 1: Projected Dwelling Completions 2015- 2016- 2017- 2018- 2019- 2020- 2021- 2022- 2023- 2024- 2025- 2006- School Planning Area 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2026 Earley 103 40 13 23 21 11 11 11 11 11 11 262 North (Wargrave, Remenham, Ruscombe, Twyford, Charvil, 18 37 43 29 27 19 19 19 19 19 19 268 Sonning, St. Nicholas Hurst) South East (Finchampstead, 9 50 94 234 401 401 401 401 401 401 331 3,125 Wokingham Without) South West (Shinfield, Arborfield, Barkham, 85 483 731 699 532 507 517 382 382 222 218 4,761 Swallowfield) Wokingham Town East 242 289 380 270 159 60 19 0 0 0 0 1,419 (Norreys & Westcott) Wokingham Town West (Winnersh Evendons & 120 175 331 351 328 276 158 158 48 38 38 2,022 Emmbrook) Woodley 155 235 202 152 93 64 64 64 48 9 9 1,093 Total 732 1,309 1,794 1,758 1,561 1,338 1,189 1,035 909 700 626 12,951 The effect of the increased housing is also reflected in the Year R Cohort projections for the Borough, see Table 2. Table 2: Roll Projection for Wokingham Borough Borough 2014 2015 2016 2017/ 2018 2019/ 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 /15 /16 /17 18 /19 20 /21 /22 /23 /24 /25 /26 /27 Year R* 2121 2139 2158 2120 2030 2048 2066 2084 2102 2120 2138 2156 2174 AN 2191 2191 2251 2251 2251 2251 2251 2251 2251 2251 2251 2251 2251 3% 2% 4% 6% 10% 9% 8% 7% 7% 6% 5% 4% 3% Variance Table 3: Roll Projection for South West South 2014 2015/ 2016 2017/ 2018/ 2019/ 2020/ 2021/ 2022/ 2023/ 2024/ 2025/ 2026/ West /15 16 /17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 Year R* 253 232 251 218 248 251 255 258 262 265 269 273 276 AN 255 255 255 255 255 255 255 255 255 255 255 255 255 1% 9% 2% 14% 3% 1% 0% -1% -3% -4% -5% -7% -8% Variance A - Shinfield West - provider_advert_final 21-2-16 3 The Strategic Development Locations (SDL) The Wokingham Borough Core Strategy Policy establishes a requirement to provide at least 13,000 new dwellings with associated development and infrastructure in the period 2006-2026. The majority of this new residential development will be in four SDLs: North of Wokingham South of M4 Arborfield South of Wokingham For the South of the M4 SDL, 2,757 new houses have planning consents and are being delivered. In order to ensure sufficient infrastructure, two of the planning consents include land allocated for two new primary schools. The details of these are as follows: : Shinfield West – the school will be built by the developer and will be 2 Form Entry/420 places (with potential for expansion to 3 FE / 630 places). The new school is scheduled to open in September 2018 (dependent on the completion of 200 houses as set out in the S106 agreement). Wokingham Borough Council granted outline planning permission October 2012 (reference O/2010/1432) for the development of 1200 new homes and 150 specialist houses, a district centre, retail centre, a new relief road and a new primary school. The developer has full consent (RM Reserved Matters) for 69 new homes and is expected to submit a RM application for the next phase of development (including the school) early in 2016. Spencers Wood – this school will offer at least 1 form of entry with options to expand to 3FE. The earliest that this school will open is September 2018 but is likely to be later. Wokingham Borough Council granted outline planning permission on 22 July 2014 (reference O/2013/0346) for the development of 900 homes and a primary school. A - Shinfield West - provider_advert_final 21-2-16 4 Need for places and phasing From a place sufficiency perspective and in order to integrate the new schools with the development of the new housing and community needs, initially only one new school will be required and so Shinfield West is scheduled to be completed by 2018 and the Spencers Wood school is likely to be required from 2019 or later. These dates will be kept under review as the new housing develops. However, the latest place projections for the south west of the borough indicate that up to 30 reception places will be needed in the Shinfield area from September 2016 or 2017. The place projections will continue to be monitored over the next few months as the primary admissions process proceeds but as a contingency the council is preparing options to open the new school using temporary accommodation at the former Ryeish Green school site in Shinfield from September 2016 or 2017 onwards. School Organisation Wokingham Council seeks to ensure that the organisation of new and existing schools is sustainable and meets the needs of the local community. To this end, the council is developing a strategy for school collaboration and organisation and wishes to see the new schools in the south west work collaboratively with other local schools to support the existing and new communities. The Council is also keen to introduce innovative models for delivering and managing schools. A - Shinfield West - provider_advert_final 21-2-16 5 In the first instance, the Council wishes to appoint a provider to open a new primary school (currently referred to as Shinfield West) in the south west of the borough. This will be in temporary accommodation at Ryeish Green from September 2016 (Phase 1) or September 2017 tbc and will then move to a new school building from September 2018 (Phase 2). However, the Council’s preference is to appoint a provider who is capable of running both the Shinfield West and Spencers Wood schools. Any providers so interested will be required to provide an explanation of how they will work with the council to achieve this aim and that they have the potential to do so. The second school (currently referred to as Spencers Wood) will open either in September 2019 or later as required by the need for places. Providers who are interested in running just one school are also welcome to apply. SHINFIELD WEST - SCHOOL SPECIFICATION: Phase 1 - Temporary Accommodation As part of a detailed feasibility study, two options are being considered for using existing accommodation on the former Ryeish Green school site. The school will need to accommodate one form entry/30 reception places for 2016 and a further class in September 2017. Phase 2 - New School Location - South of the M4 SDL- (outlined in Red) A - Shinfield West - provider_advert_final 21-2-16 6 The school site covers an area of approximately 2.5 hectares situated in the South of M4 development. In addition to the school building itself, a variety of different uses are accommodated, including a staff car park, hard surfacing to accommodate play and circulation space, playing pitches, a Multi-Use Games Area (MUGA), habitat area with pond, and related landscaping to be shared with the community (see Planning Application: C/2013/2495) The proposed school would connect to the proposed Shinfield neighbourhood centre via an attractive footpath and cycle route providing a convenient and accessible visual and physical link from the local centre to the school, facilitating linked trips and a greater level of car parking and convenience.