Date set for new school opening in Cornwall

AN opening date has been set for Cornwall’s newest secondary school. Perranporth’s very own secondary school is a step closer to becoming a reality, after a site has been secured.

The seaside town was chosen to have one of 21 new free schools announced by the Government almost 18 months ago.

At present, pupils in the resort on the county’s north coast go to either Richard Lander or Penair, in Truro, or Tretherras or Treviglas schools, in Newquay. Department for Education bosses said the new school, which will provide up to 1,350 places, will help to alleviate pressure on the four already oversubscribed secondary schools that Perranporth children currently attend.

When built, the new school will also take on pupils from surrounding villages and towns like Goonhavern and St Agnes. Now Cornwall Council has confirmed a site for the new school has been identified and secured at Liskey Hill, which is the main road into Perranporth from Truro. It is also the road where the village’s primary school is already located.

The new school is being delivered by the Department for Education as part of its Wave 14 Free School Programme. The school is something Cornwall Council bid for with the Government in 2020, having first carried out a feasibility study the year before as a way to see how the pressure on schools in Truro and Newquay can be eased off.

It comes as there has been a 6% increase in the birth rate in Cornwall over the past decade – meaning more secondary places are needed in coming years – as well as an increase in the number of children needing school places of around 1,000 each year – including those moving into the county. Forecasts show that in 2022/23 there will be an additional 192 primary school aged children in the St Agnes and Perranporth area, and there will be an extra 188 secondary pupils.

The local authority said the new school will open by September 2025 and will be part of Truro and Penwith Academy Trust, which supports 29 schools across Cornwall, including schools in Perranporth, Mithian and Blackwater. Dr Jenny Blunden , chief executive of the academy trust, said: “This is a very significant step towards the opening of a new 11-16 secondary school to meet the needs of our north coast communities.”

In 2019, Cornwall Council announced its support for local trusts to bid to the free school programme for a new secondary school in the north coast area as part of its school place sufficiency strategy across the Truro and Newquay area.

Cllr Barbara Ellenbroek, Cornwall Council Cabinet member for children and families, said: “The new school in Perranporth will provide brand-new local education facilities to the rural communities in and around St Agnes, Perranporth, Goonhavern and Cubert. It will also create capacity in the Newquay and Truro secondary schools to meet the growing demands in those areas, including from the new Langarth Garden Village.”

A spokesman for Cornwall Council said the next phase of the project will focus on design and access for the school.