North Northamptonshire Council to discuss use of new Wellingborough primary school at Glenvale Park as demand for places may not hit requirement for funding

North Northants Council (NNC) is to discuss the future of the Glenvale Park primary school in Wellingborough after it is believed that the demand for school places won’t meet the requirements needed for Department of Education funding.

Subject to Executive approval, the under-construction school at Wellingborough’s Glenvale Park will potentially be offered to other schools in the area, giving them a purpose-built facility while the vacated smaller site could be re-purposed for ‘other educational uses’, ensuring the new build is put to use right away.

Cllr Scott Edwards, the council’s executive member for children, families, education and skills said: “Providing enough school places in the area is a statutory requirement for the council and I’m delighted that the developer has built a new school ready on the site.

“It’s important to get the infrastructure in place ready for when families move into the area to make sure we can meet this new demand.

“I’m also very pleased that we can make use of this wonderful new school until the bulge of new demand comes through and offer some contemporary accommodation for an existing school which would face challenges with their current site.”

With an appropriate number of primary school places currently available in Wellingborough, the demand for an entirely new school on the estate will not likely be high enough to receive Department for Education funding until the start of the school year in September 2025.

It is understood by the council that opening the new school would be likely to have a detrimental impact on surrounding ones, as it creates additional places that are not in demand.

To ensure that the facility does not stay vacated for too long, NNC is proposing that a school in ‘poor or unsuitable accommodation’ can use the building.

Glenvale Park will provide an additional 3,000 new homes when complete and the school, which is due for completion in autumn, was proposed to meet increased demand and serve the local community.

As the estate grows, children from the Glenvale development would be invited to apply for a place at the school as part of the normal admissions process.

Cllr Jason Smithers, leader of the council, said: “Getting the social infrastructure correct to align with a growing population is essential and I’m thrilled to see that we’ll have a new primary school in this area to meet growing demand.

"I’m also delighted that we have found a clever solution in the interim so this new facility can be of use as quickly as is practicable.”

Subject to Executive approval, North Northants Council would seek expressions of interest from existing primary schools to move to the new facility from September 2024.

The school at Glenvale Park, when completed and accepting students, would be co-educational for children aged four to 11, with a total capacity of 420 pupils.

If this plan is approved, the process would be presented to the Department of Education for its formal agreement to proceed, whereby a ‘relocation of an existing school’ competition will follow.

This should be completed by October 2023 and NNC will return to Executive in November 2023 for a formal decision.

The council’s Executive will meet on Thursday, June 8 at 10am at the Cube in Corby.