New primary school planned for Sutton (From This Is Local London)

New primary school planned for Sutton

10:41am Thursday 2nd February 2012 in Education By Matt Watts

A new primary school could be opened on the former Stanley Park High School site

A new primary school is set to be opened to ease the borough’s school place crisis.

The former Stanley Park High School site in Carshalton has been earmarked for a new school providing four forms of entry for four and five-year-olds.

The school could open by September 2013, when it is predicted up to an extra eight forms of entry – the equivalent of another 240 pupils – will need to be created.

The new, four-form entry facility is likely to use the existing school building to allow it to open sooner.

It was feared the site could have been sold for housing, after it was vacated earlier this month for pupils to move into a new state-of-the-art £50m facility.

But now the council’s executive committee is due to consider the proposal to keep it for educational purposes, as a primary school.

Councillor Kirsty Jerome, executive member for education and schools at Sutton Council, said: “This is an ideal opportunity to provide some of the extra primary school places we so desperately need in Sutton.

“If the executive committee agrees, over the coming months we will be getting some more detailed proposals together and looking at the ways to best use the land.

“Space is a serious issue in planning extra school places across London, so we are fortunate to have the opportunity to consider re-using these school buildings – many of which are still in good condition.”

The interior of the existing buildings would be renovated if the plan was given approval, with some of the temporary buildings demolished.

The news follows the announcement last week Cheam Common Infant School will provide places for 30 extra children from September this year, after Sutton Council granted it planning permission to build a new classroom.

The demand for school places in Sutton also hit the headlines earlier this month, when Sutton chief executive Niall Bolger wrote a letter to other London councils asking for support to increase primary school class sizes from 30 pupils to 32.