New boys' secondary school plan for Kettering

Southfield School is seeking the views of members of the community regarding their proposal to set up an 11-16 boys' comprehensive free school in the Hanwood Park East Kettering development.

It would be called Hanwood Park School.

The schools says the application is in response to the demand for a high performing boys school in Kettering comparable to Southfield which caters for girls aged 11-16 and boys from 16 to 18.

The new school will help to ensure that there are a sufficient number of secondary places to meet the needs of children that are already in primary education and the growing population into the area.

Earlier this year, we told how the county is facing a school place crisis if urgent action is not taken.

Chris Wickens, Head of School Place Planning at Northamptonshire County Council, said "The proposed new free school, will assist NCC in fulfilling its statutory obligation of providing a sufficiency of secondary school places in Kettering town, where available capacity is extremely limited at the current time and pupil projection forecasts indicate there will be a deficit of year seven places in the town in the coming academic years.

"This is despite NCC working in conjunction with existing schools in the area to provide an additional three forms of entry (90 places) to that already available in Kettering in September 2018.

"The proposed new school will also provide the required school places to help meet the pupil yield that will be generated by the 5500 dwellings, Kettering East SUE. The development itself, one of the largest in Europe, is expected to generate 1100 secondary aged students and houses are being completed at pace on the development."

As well as helping NCC fulfil its statutory obligation of providing sufficiency of school places in Northamptonshire, the opening of the proposed new free school would help provide increased choice and diversity of school places for parents of pupils being educated within the county, both now and in future years. The need for a new secondary school is identified on the strategic urban extension plan.

This is a very early stage of the process with the school scheduled to open in 2024 should the application be successful.

Southfield says that Hanwood Park School for Boys will have its own distinct character and bespoke opportunities but will also seek to emulate the culture and ethos of Southfield which has enjoyed academic success in recent years.

They said that the school will have:

A culture of high expectations and expectant positive behaviours through shared core values.

A rigorous and broad academic curriculum for students of all abilities.

A focus on well-being through a supportive and nurturing ethos.

Opportunities for all students to be involved in a wide-range of additional experiences beyond the academic curriculum.

A stable and committed staff supported by innovative professional learning with subject expertise in all areas including Maths and the Sciences.

An outward thinking, collegiate philosophy embracing the latest research and expertise to provide the very best education for every student.

Southfield is welcoming views from all members of the community by completing a short survey here.