School’s £5.25m expansion revealed
A HUDDERSFIELD school has released designs for a ten-classroom extension to relieve cramped conditions.
But there are calls for local people to make their views known as the extra space for 150 new pupils at King James’s School in Almondbury will inevitably lead to heavier traffic on surrounding roads.
Plans for the new study block are expected to be discussed at a forthcoming meeting of Kirklees Council’s Strategic Planning Committee.
And while there is much support for the scheme from parents of pupils at the school, there is also an acceptance that narrow roads and lanes near King James’s will become further clogged with cars during drop-off and pick-up.
Bernard McGuin, a Conservative councillor for Almondbury, said the large-scale extension - costing £5.25m - would not be an easy sell to residents living near the school who already complain about the volume of traffic.
He added: “I would hope the planning committee will scrutinise this application very carefully and make as much mitigation as possible for the affected people of Almondbury.
“I don’t want to go over old arguments about the closure of Almondbury Community School. Their buildings and grounds would have been ideal for a joint school but it is not to be.
“King James’s have taken on the task of educating children from an enlarged catchment area on a cramped campus.
“I again urge people to comment to make their views known. I believe people will want to see a safe journey, particularly on foot, to King James’s.”
The proposed classroom block marks the latest stage in the contentious saga of education in Almondbury staff having to be employed for longer at extra cost.
Some crossing staff were also shielding during the pandemic and would be at greater risk as they would come into contact with a lot more people, he said.
“My understanding is the staff won’t be going back next week but will still be paid,” said Clr Wilkinson (Lab, Sowerby Bridge). Clr Megan Swift (Lab, Town) said the council itself had after Kirklees Council took the decision in 2019 to shut the secondary phase at neighbouring Almondbury Community School (ACS).
The new building at King James’s will create 30 additional planned places from September 2021.
Over time this will translate to 150 secondary places at the school - equating to five year groups with an additional 30 places - swelling its pupil numbers from 900 to 1,050 as it takes youngsters from ACS.
Planners say it is not possible to extend the school. The new block is to be created on land currently occupied not paid for school crossing patrols for a long time. These had been funded by the Calderdale Schools Forum up until now but the forum was financially unable to do it this time, she said.
Clr Paul Bellenger (Lib Dem, Greetland and Stainland) said the issue was concerning. “Unsupervised children running across the road isn’t safe. Can we look at people volunteering if finances are the reason why we are losing the service?” by temporary accommodation.
Some parents writing on social media have queried why millions are being pumped into expanding King James’s when the former ACS is sizeable enough to accommodate the growing school roll.
They have suggested that it would be logical to close King James’s and move the school to the ACS site.
Clr McGuin said he was aware of that commentary and agreed that the King James’s campus was cramped.
However, he pointed out that a multimillion pound private finance initiative (PFI) attached to ACS would become the responsibility of any academy taking it on, which is Kirklees Council policy.
“King James’s problem is that they don’t have an ideal place where they are sited. It’s an old 19th century school and a very cramped site.
“But even newer facilities have narrow corridors, which is not ideal in this Covid situation. The King James’s campus has got massive fields but I don’t think they’ll be allowed to expand any more. If you look at both sites and facilities then the former Almondbury Community School is more modern and spacious. However, the PFI will prevent use of it.”