Pupils to get replacement classrooms
TEMPORARY UNITS MAKING WAY FOR NEW STRUCTURES
SIX classrooms which were built at a high school as a temporary measure could finally be replaced 20 years later.
John Taylor High School in Dunstall Road, Barton under Needwood, wants to replace the three brick-built units housing six classrooms with a singlestorey detached building that would comprise eight new classrooms.
The current temporary classrooms have been described by the school as “unsuitable for modern teaching methods, with poor insulation, heating and ventilation.”
School bosses have now applied to East Staffordshire Borough Council to allow for the replacement.
The new building will replace the current six classrooms with an additional two to provide study and seminar rooms, which would release space in the sixth form area for dining, as well as male and female toilets and two staff offices, the school says.
A report submitted alongside the application states: “The school has been extensively extended since it was built to accommodate increased pupil numbers with detached blocks of accommodation of varying design character across the site. The site identified for the classrooms is currently occupied by two “temporary”units comprising a total of six classrooms.
“These classroom units are 20 years old and unsuitable for modern teaching methods, with poor insulation, heating and ventilation.
“The replacement spaces will comply with current building regulations and building bulletin guidance and will comprise a single building which will aid access, circulation, and passive supervision.
“The proposal retains the school’s developed area within its existing footprint, without encroaching onto surrounding amenity and formal play areas.
“It will sit over the footprint of the existing temporary classroom units which will be removed once their teaching space can be released.”
The report added: “It is hoped that this statement demonstrates that the replacement classroom block can provide a substantial benefit to the academy and their ability to provide the facilities their pupils and staff deserve.”
If plans are approved in the next few months, work would start from the end of the exams this summer through to the start of the new term in September.