Shropshire Star

£31 million investment announced for Telford school expansions

New classrooms will be built at schools across Telford with a £31 million investment to provide space for more pupils.

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Telford & Wrekin Council has announced it will be spending the money on the borough’s educational estate over the next three years.

Projects will include a major expansion at Ladygrove Primary School in Dawley which will create four additional class bases, plus additional class bases at Priorslee Academy, Newport Junior School and St George’s Primary School.

All are being provided to deal with an increase in the number of parents wanting children to attend the schools.

Burton Borough School in Newport will also see the completion of a new hall and additional class bases by Easter.

The council said that a number of other secondary schools across the borough will see major expansions over the next couple of years, with plans in development.

The money will come from a combination of cash from the Department for Education and Section 106 funding, which comes through the planning process where some housing firms and businesses building in the borough pay a contribution towards local education as part of their planning permission conditions.

Capacity

Councillor Shirley Reynolds, Telford & Wrekin Council’s cabinet member for employment, education and lifelong learning, said: “I am delighted that we have attracted new investment which has resulted in more housing and jobs.

“Telford is a great place to live, work and visit and all this growth means that it is essential that we ensure that our schools have sufficient capacity as our young population also grows.

“We will see further growth in the next two academic years so it is right that we anticipate growth and invest strategically where demand is greatest. This will mean expanding class bases in primary, secondary and special schools.”

Telford is the fastest growing town in the Midlands and has seen thousands of new jobs created and homes built in recent years.

However, the expansion has also had an impact on the town's infrastructure, such as schools.

The council's Building Schools for the Future project saw £200m invested in rebuilding or remodelling every secondary school across the borough but new investment is now required in secondary, primary and special schools to ensure they can cope with anticipated demand.

Further announcements giving detail of individual projects will be made in the coming weeks.