New Kettering secondary school will be mixed-sex after Government reverses all-boys plan

A decision to make a new Kettering school mixed-sex instead of boys-only has been hailed as a great result for the community.

The Department for Education (DfE) has reversed the original plan after more than three-quarters of those who took part in a fresh consultation backed calls for Hanwood Park School to be co-educational.

It means Kettering’s first secondary school to be built in well over a decade will now be a potential choice for all pupils when it opens at the Hanwood Park development, where up to 5,500 homes are being constructed on the eastern edge of the town.

Parent Bernadette Leather, who moved to the development in 2018 and set up a petition against the designation of the school as all-boys, was delighted by the decision.

She said: "I’m really, really pleased and it just shows the power that local people can have.

"I think everyone spoke up and said they were unhappy. That (a mixed-sex school) was what people living here and moving here wanted.”

The free school plan was first proposed in 2019 by Kettering’s Southfield School, which later became part of the Orbis Education Trust.

In 2021 it was given the green light by the Government as a boys’ school, with hopes it could open from 2024. The current projected opening date has not been confirmed.

Cllr Scott Edwards (Con), North Northamptonshire Council’s (NNC) executive member for children, families, education and skills, confirmed that the setting will now be mixed-sex and told the Northants Telegraph that he wasn’t a big fan of single-sex schools.

He added: “We’re pleased that the Department for Education has listened to the feedback from the consultation, which was led by the Orbis Education Trust, and made the decision that the new school will educate both girls and boys.”

Kettering MP Philip Hollobone (Con) said it ‘never made sense’ for the school to be boys-only because it meant all girls aged 11 or over living at Hanwood Park would have had to travel elsewhere.

He said: “I would like to thank the over 600 local parents who responded to the public consultation, over three-quarters of whom supported a mixed-sex school.

"I always thought the original designation as a boys-only school was wrong and I am so pleased that the Department of Education has listened to local people and seen sense in reversing its decision.”

Mr Hollobone had met with the DfE in October last year to discuss it and the department’s regional director then recommended that a new consultation be launched.

The outcome of that consultation meant a revised business case was submitted, recommending redesignation of the boys-only school to a mixed-sex school, and this has now received ministerial approval.

Mr Hollobone added: “Persuading the Government and the Orbis Education Trust to change their minds on the designation of the school has been a major achievement and will be to the lasting benefit of thousands of residents and schoolchildren for many years to come.

“This is a great result for the local community and in particular for all those who live in Hanwood Park. It is also a result that hasn’t come about by accident. It is due to a lot of hard work by myself as the local MP, by local NNC councillors and by local parents in persuading the Department for Education and the Orbis Education Trust to think again."

The DfE and Orbis Education Trust have been contacted for comment.