Plans to expand primaries in drive to boost pupil places
TWO PRIMARY schools in West Yorkshire could see pupil numbers double if £5.7m plans to provide more than 300 new classroom places are approved by senior councillors tomorrow.
Bradford Council’s executive will consider proposals to increase pupil numbers and expand the premises at All Saints’ CE Primary School in Ilkley, and Poplars Farm Primary School in Bradford.
The project is the latest stage in the authority’s ongoing work to ensure there are enough school places available across the district to meet demand.
Extra demand for primary school places has been increasing in recent years due to an unprecedented baby boom. The council has already created an extra 8,500 places since 2010.
Councillor Imran Khan, Bradford Council’s executive member for education, said: “These latest proposals reaffirm our commitment to ensure that our schools have enough places to be able to meet the demand they have from parents.
“No matter where our young people grow up in the district we want them to be able to attend a good local school.
“We have already created thousands of places to meet the rising demand and we will continue to respond when we need to ensure children have access to the best possible education.”
All Saints’ CE Primary is set to increase its pupil admission number from 45 to 60, meaning its capacity will increase from 315 to 420 over seven years as the larger year groups move through the school.
The admission number at Poplars Farm Primary is set to rise from 30 to 60, which will see its capacity double from 210 to 420.
The expansion work is estimated to cost £2.1m at All Saints’ and £3.6m at Poplars Farm. The projects will be funded through Basic Need Funding, which Bradford Council has secured from the Department for Education.
Consultations to pave the way for the plans for both schools were launched in November last year.
The report to the executive says the number of pupils who need a school place fell slightly across the district in 2017 but is set to increase from September 2018 onwards.
The council aims to have a five per cent surplus of places to ensure families coming into the district can be placed in a local school.