37. GREATER

For the purpose of planning school places, the Greater Northampton area comprises Northampton town as well as the neighbouring areas to the south, west and north served by Campion, Caroline Chisholm, Moulton and Roade Schools.

Current position There are thirteen secondary schools in the area. Nine are located in the town of Northampton. Campion School serves villages to the west of the town including the new development at Upton. serves Wootton, Wootton Fields and until 2013 the new settlement of Grange Park. Roade School serves the villages to the south of the town. Moulton School serves the villages to the north of the town, including Brixworth. The combined capacity of the secondary schools is 2,130 pupils per year group. in the town and a further 862 pupils per year group in the rural schools.

There are 49 primary schools in the town and 32 in the rural area. The combined capacity of the primary schools is 2,370 pupils in each year group in the town and a further 910 pupils per year group in the rural schools.

There are five special schools in Northampton – one primary school for pupils with behaviour, emotional and social difficulties, one primary school for pupils with severe and profound learning difficulties including autism, one secondary school (11-16 ) for pupils with significant, severe learning difficulties including autism, one secondary school (11-19) for pupils with severe, profound multi sensory learning difficulties including autism and one all-through school for pupils with significant, severe learning difficulties including autism.

For pupils who require other specialist placement there are 12 resourced provisions and 5 unit provisions. The combined capacity of special schools is 420 pupils. The combined capacity of unit and resourced provision is 229 pupils at primary phase and 45 pupils at secondary phase. These special schools serve Northampton, Daventry, South and West Northants.

Enrolment rates Historically, around 85 per cent of four year olds in Northampton town are enrolled in the maintained primary schools. Primary Schools in the Campion, Moulton and Roade areas admit significant numbers of pupils from Northampton (around 3 f.e. 2 f.e. and 3 f.e. respectively), which brings the enrolment rate for the Greater Northampton area up to 93 per cent. It is likely that most of the remainder go into the private sector.

Overall, secondary year groups are similar in size to primary, but this masks considerable movement within the area, which includes:

A large number of pupils from outside the town area obtaining places at Northampton School for Boys; Migration to Campion, Moulton and Roade from the town.

Planned growth Northampton is designated as a growth area. The latest Regional Spatial Strategy proposes a target of some 40,000 dwellings to be completed between 2001 and 2026. Between 2001 and mid-2008, a total of 9,500 dwellings had been completed. The table below indicates the principal sites currently under consideration for major housing developments.

Table 1: Large Sites (500 or more dwellings)

Sites No. of Units Comments Buckden Fields 1250 Dallington Grange 3500 Pineham Barns 625 Princess Marina 550 Ransome Road/Nunn 2000 Mostly flats, but additional places Mills may be needed if the mix of dwelling types changes St Crispin’s 1000 Close to completion. Timken 500 Under construction Upton 1000 Under construction Upton Lodge/Norwood 2500 Farm Upton Park 800

Sites for approximately 15,000 dwellings still need to be found to meet the Government’s target by 2026. A number of large sites have been put forward by developers. The location of growth will be determined over the next few years as part of the town planning process.

Pupil numbers Since the two-tier system in Northampton became fully operational in 2004/05, the primary roll in the Northampton and Moulton areas has been fairly stable around an average of 14,200 and 1,500 respectively. However, the aggregate primary roll in the Campion, Caroline Chisholm, Moulton and Roade areas has increased substantially from approximately 3,700 in 2004-05 to 4,330 in 2009-10, mainly because of the impact of the housing developments at Grange Park, Wootton Fields and Upton. The total area primary roll was 20,139 in January 2010 (close to 2,900 per year group).

Numbers in the secondary schools across the area have been fairly stable between 16,800 and 17,000 from January 2005 to January 2010. Although the roll at Caroline Chisholm and Moulton Schools has increased over this period, this has been counteracted by a fall in the roll in the town schools and at Roade School.

The effect of growth and a rising birth rate The state of the housing market makes prediction difficult, but it is likely that the annual rate of housing completions in the area may stay at the recent average of around 1,300-1,400 completions a year. In addition, the annual number of births in

Northampton town has recently increased quite significantly from 2,446 in 2003-04 to 3,091 in 2008-09.

We would expect to see primary numbers increase immediately. Indeed, it is likely that the match between pupil numbers and places available will be very tight from September 2010, with a particular pressure point in the town centre. Secondary numbers are expected to increase from around 2011/12.

New primary provision Buckden Fields – The proposed 1,250 dwellings will generate around 40-50 pupils per year group. A site for a primary school has been reserved and should be funded from developer contributions.

Dallington Grange – A development of 3,500 homes will generate around 100-140 pupils per year group. Two sites for primary schools of 2 f.e. have been reserved on the master plan for the development. One is co-located with the proposed secondary school (see below). Funding should be from developer contributions.

Pineham Barns – The proposed 625 dwellings will generate around 20-25 pupils per year group. A site for a 1 f.e. primary school has been reserved and should be funded from developer contributions. The establishment of a school at Pineham will require careful consideration, so as not to produce any negative impact on neighbouring schools in Briar Hill, West Hunsbury, Upton and .

Princess Marina – The proposed 550 homes are expected to generate some 15-20 pupils per year group. It is expected that pupils from this development will attend the extended St Luke’s CE Primary School or Millway Primary School.

Ransome Road/Nunn Mills – The existing plans propose mostly flats and apartments which are expected to generate some 5-15 primary pupils per year group. The development is now expected to require a new primary school, due to the pressure on places in the centre of the town.

St Crispin’s – This development is close to completion. It is expected that the 30- 40 pupils per year group will be accommodated in the enlarged St Luke’s CE Primary School, which opened in new buildings on the St Crispin’s site in Spring 2008.

Timken site – The proposed 500 dwellings is expected to generate around 15-20 pupils per year group. It is expected that the pupils from this development will find places in the neighbouring schools in .

Upton – The proposed 1,000 homes will generate around 30-40 pupils per year group. Upton Meadows Primary School opened in September 2006. An extension of the school to 2 f.e is proposed to open in September 2013.

Upton Lodge/Norwood Farm – The proposed 2,500 dwellings will generate around 75-100 pupils per year group, around 3 f.e. Two primary school sites need to be reserved, although it is possible that consideration will be given to building one 3 f.e. school. The expectation is that the school will be funded through developers’ planning obligations.

Upton Park – The proposed 800 homes will generate around one f.e.. A primary school site has been reserved on the masterplan. The expectation is that the school will be funded through developers’ planning obligations.

Town Centre – This area is expected to experience rapid growth in the primary-age population due to a recent increase in annual births and continued in-migration. Further places are likely to be required, e.g. enlarging Castle Primary to 2.f.e.

New secondary provision Around 30,000 homes remain to be constructed by 2026. The projections indicate that by 2021, pupil numbers are likely to be around 400 pyg in excess of current capacity. However, the roll is expected to continue to increase after that.

Sites for a new secondary school have been reserved on the Dallington Grange and Upton Park developments. The County Council has stated a preference for the next secondary school to be established on the Dallington Grange development, as it provides for a better balance of school places between the new developments and the areas served by Duston and Campion Schools. The school is expected to open in the second half of the next decade.

It is likely that at least one and probably two further new secondary schools will be required to accommodate the growth up to 2026. The location of these will depend on the location of the urban extensions that have still to be determined.