The Peterborough Evening Telegraph
SCHOOL TO DOUBLE IN SIZE
A Peterborough primary school is to double in size to help ease the pressure for places in Stanground.
Oakdale Primary in Oakdale Avenue will expand from 210 to 420 pupils, while the number of spaces at Stepping Stones Nursery at the school will grow from 17 to 30 as part of a £5 million expansion.
The school will also get new play areas, a new on-site pick up and drop off area and onsite car parking.
The expansion was approved by Peterborough City Council’s planning committee on Tuesday. Committee chair and Stanground South member Cllr Chris Harper said: “All the councillors in the ward welcome this.
“It’s something we desperately need but we have to make sure we get it right.
“Like the rest of Peterborough we are desperate for school places. St Michael’s in Cardea and Southfields have doubled in size but we are still under pressure.”
School headteacher Ilona Wrigley said the school will gain a community room, nursery, large central library and will double the size of its hall.
She added: “The most important thing is that we can now offer more places per year group in our very popular school to serve the local area.”
The first new intake will be in September 2018 with 60 places available in Reception.
Parent presentations and tours begin in November to find out about the school and new building. One condition attached to the planning approval was no works can begin until Highways England receives the full details of what the access to the school will be.