The Sentinel

£1.2M EXPANSION FOR SCHOOL

Popular academy to create new block

- Kathie Mcinnes Education Reporter katherine.mcinnes@reachplc.com

PLANS have been approved for a new £1.2 million teaching block at the city’s most oversubscr­ibed school.

The extension at The Excel Academy, in Sneyd Green, will see an extra six classrooms created and more storage facilities.

It will also reduce the time that pupils have to spend walking from one part of the site to another as more of their lessons will be based in the same building. At the moment, some of the corridors are becoming heavily congested at lessons changeover and break times.

Now Stoke-on-trent City Council has granted planning permission for the new Government-funded block.

The Sentinel revealed earlier this year that 303 families applying for secondary places in September named The Excel Academy as their first choice. With an admissions limit of 210, it meant more than 120 children had to be turned away.

The school has stressed the new block is to cater for its current number of students, rather than to expand its intake.

Principal Darren Bishop said: “Due to the popularity of the academy, we have recently had to introduce temporary mobile classrooms to accommodat­e our students.

“This is not a long-term solution, so we are extremely pleased that planning permission has been granted to extend the current build to provide six additional classrooms and an additional staircase.

“This extension will provide much needed specialist teaching rooms and additional circulatio­n space.”

A design document submitted with the planning applicatio­n for the extension states: “It allows a number of different subjects to be taught within this facility.”

Work on the two-storey extension is expected to start shortly and be finished in time for September next year.

It will be built on the site of the school’s old bike storage shelter, which is being relocated.

To prevent the new building having a negative impact on people living nearby, some of the windows will be ‘non-opening’ to reduce any noise levels. The ground floor will also be built below the level of houses to the west of the site.

Residents have also been assured that a bus stop in Milton Road – alongside the site – will remain in operation during constructi­on work.

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