Council 'confident' planned £4.7m school renovation works improving SEND provision will take place over summer holiday

In April, North Northants Council (NNC) green-lit a massive £4.7m funding pot from the Department for Education (DfE) at an executive meeting of the previous administration.

The funds were allocated to specific schools in Rushden, Kettering and Oundle to help with pupil demand.

Alfred Lord Tennyson School in Rushden was allocated £925,000 and Latimer Arts College given £561,000 to complete renovations and meet increased pupil demand.

Rowan Gate Special School currently occupies half of the infants site of Alfred Lord Tennyson School but was allocated £626,000 to renovate and take over the whole facility for infant-aged pupils who require specialist provision.

Prince William School in Oundle received the biggest boost of cash at £2.59m to create new provision for pupils with additional needs.

Cllr Elizabeth Wright, NNC’s executive member for children, families and education, said: “North Northamptonshire Council is liaising closely with the four schools allocated funding for additional school places across Rushden, Kettering and Oundle, to ensure the authority fulfils its statutory duty to provide sufficiency of school places in North Northamptonshire.

“We are continuing to work within the project delivery programme, where we are working through various aspects related to legal and procurement compliance arrangements, with progress being made in relation to the improvements for the four school sites.

“The council is confident that works planned to take place over the summer holiday period to avoid disruption to school settings will go ahead within the planned timescales.

“Close collaboration between the council and the schools is ongoing to ensure parents, carers and families are kept updated during the summer and prior to the school autumn term.”

Latimer Arts School has been chosen to deliver an extra 49 places across Years 7, 8 and 9.

Some capital works are needed to increase the size of dining areas and other spaces to accommodate more students in the next academic year.

From September 2023, Rushden’s Tennyson Road Infants and Alfred Street Junior amalgamated as a single school, with the intention to move all pupils onto one site from September 2025.

Since the project started, costs have increased and the total spend will be £1.6million.

The funding will go towards renovation works, including removing asbestos, minimising the disruption to pupils currently at the school and ensuring the combined site is ready for the transfer of students in the 2025/26 school year.

Reviews carried out by NNC had also indicated that additional capacity for students with special educational needs (SEND) was needed ‘urgently’.

The authority has grasped the opportunity to use the leftover space from the Tennyson Road Infant School transfer to renovate the grounds and provide an additional 28 SEND places.

Work is expected to start over the summer holiday when the building is empty and be ready from the October half-term.

Prince William School was picked for the first tranche of schools to undergo renovations to provide alternative provision places.

NNC had said the money would be used to renovate two blocks on the school grounds to provide a standalone provision for 48 pupils with additional needs, opening at the start of the 2025/26 academic year.