Go-ahead for £4m school expansions

MULTI-million pound plans to expand two North Somerset schools have been approved.

North Somerset Council’s executive yesterday gave the green light to spend £4.45 million on expanding Backwell School and Trinity Primary School in Portishead.

A total of £2.45m has been allocated to expand Backwell School’s sixth form teaching block to cope with an increase in the number of students.

A further £200,000 towards the project has been allocated from school funds.

The school, which has 1,690 pupils on its roll and is a specialist school for performing and visual arts, wants to create a new building to house its growing numbers of students staying on to study A levels.

The new two-storey building, which will be built next to the gymnasium, will replace a number of temporary buildings currently used for dance, drama and languages teaching.

The new block will house three new classrooms, a new sixth form common room, a dance studio and a large new multi-purpose room which can be used for performances, seminars and assemblies.

It is due to open next September

A further £1.84 million was agreed to expand Trinity Primary School in Portishead to increase the number of places from 210 to 420 by September 2011.

The move comes after research showed that the town would have a deficit of places for schoolchildren in reception class and years one, two and six next year.

The school, which opened at Marjoram Way in September 2008 at a cost of £7.2m, was originally designed so it could be expanded at a later date and double the number of pupils.

A new reception class for 30 students opened this September to cope with the number of children needing places and the expansion will see the creation of seven new classrooms.

As part of the budget the community hall built as part of the development will also be purchased from the diocese of Bath and Wells.

The majority of the work is being funded by North Somerset Council via a grant from the Department for Education.

Both of the building projects will be carried out by contractor Wilmott Dixon.

North Somerset Council executive member for children’s services, Councillor Jeremy Blatchford, said: “These projects will improve both these local schools.

“The contractors deliver high-quality work and I am pleased that both projects will go ahead despite the financial difficulties facing us.”