Council gives the go-ahead to new school

1,200 pupil secondary academy costing £24m is now due to open next year in Ardwick

ANEW £24m Manchester secondary school – set to be run by one of the region’s ‘superheads’ – has been given the go-ahead.

The 1,200-pupil academy in Ardwick will open next year, as council bosses scramble to ease growing pressure on the city’s education system.

It will be built on the former Daisy Mill site on Stockport Road, and sponsored by the Dean Trust, after being given the green-light by Manchester council’s planning committee.

Led by superhead Tarun Kapur, the trust already runs five schools and academies in Trafford and one in Liverpool.

From this September, Dean Trust Ardwick will accept 120 11-year-olds in temporary accommodation on the site and at another of the trust’s schools.

The new site will boast a sports hall, sports pitches including 3G facilities,

An artist’s impression of how the new 1,200-pupil academy in Ardwick will look when it opens fully next year landscaping, car parking and floodlighting.

Manchester town hall announced plans for a new school in the autumn, but under government rules was not allowed to run it itself ; instead having to either create an academy or free school.

Mr Kapur, chief executive at the Dean Trust, said under his leadership, the school would offer ‘an outstanding educational offer based on strong traditional values, clear expectations of behaviour and a relevant academic curriculum’.

It will mean children in Ardwick having to travel elsewhere to classes will have a school on their doorstep.

Following the planning meeting, Mr Kapur said: “Currently all Ardwick children catch a bus to school.

“Our mission is to have local schools for local children and to create a hub for the area that the school community can walk to and receive a quality education.

“This

will

help

to address the shortage of school places in Manchester, but moreover will provide a school of choice for the people of Ardwick to be proud of.

“This is a fantastic opportunity for the city.”

An initial report on the need for the school last September said the city’s baby boom would reach secondary schools this year, with hundreds more places needed by 2020 to plug the gap.

North and east Manchester and Wythenshawe were predicted to run out of places first.

Even when the new school is open, there could be a shortfall in year 7 places of nearly 1,000 by 2018.

‘Our mission is to have local schools for local children’