The funding has been allocated to seven schools for the refurbishment and addition of buildings
Warwickshire County Council has approved funding of over £21m for improvements at schools in Warwickshire.
The 2022/2023 Education Capital Programme allocates funding from various sources, including the Basic Need capital grant from the Department of Education, usually for the improvement, addition or refurbishment of school buildings. At a recent Warwickshire County Council cabinet meeting, the Programme’s proposed plans to provide funding to seven schools were approved.
The schools set to receive funding are:
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Bishops Tachbrook CofE Primary School, Briar Hill Infant School/St Margaret’s CofE Junior School, and Oakley Grove All-Through School in Warwick District.
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Griffin School (Rugby Gateway) in Rugby District.
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Lighthorne Heath Primary School, Stratford-upon-Avon High School and Shipston High School in Stratford-upon-Avon District.
Bishops Tachbrook CofE School will receive £0.4m to build a new classroom to facilitate a forecasted increase in reception pupils for the reception 2023 cohort.
Briar Hill Infant School and St Margaret’s CofE Junior School will receive £0.768m. Again, this is to help resolve the shortfall in places for reception pupils in the South Leamington/Warwick area and will deliver additional teaching spaces at both schools.
Plans for the new Oakley Grove All-Through School were approved in September 2021 with a budget of £50.150m. Contractors now estimate an additional £6m is required to deliver this scheme due to raising construction industry costs.
Griffin School (Rugby Gateway) is another new school – a 1 form entry primary school approved in July 2015. Due to delays related to the housing development outside the county council’s control, this project has been subject to a site change and pushbacks in the school’s opening date, resulting in increases to the predicted budget. The latest increase forecast by the contractor is due to raised costs from suppliers, with a total additional requirement of £1.011m.
Funding of £2.2m has been allocated to Stratford-upon-Avon High School. This is to cover an increase in projected costs, which will start in Autumn 2022.
Shipston High School will receive £10.532m. This will deliver a new sports hall with changing facilities for the school and refurbish and remodel existing buildings. These works will enable the school to offer an additional 30 spaces per year group, which will help to accommodate local housing developments and larger primary cohorts due to move up to secondary.
Lighthorne Heath Primary School has been allocated £0.164m for the refurbishment of toilets, the conversion of a group space into an additional classroom and the conversion of an ICT space into an intervention/nurture space.
Councillor Kam Kaur, Portfolio Holder for Education at Warwickshire County Council, said:
“When we are investing in the education of our children and young people, it’s so important to get it right. We feel these plans address the needs of our schools fairly and proportionately, improving learning and recreation spaces where required and helping to accommodate the increase in demand for places we’re seeing in many areas of the county.”
Councillor Peter Butlin, Portfolio Holder for Finance and Property, said:
“While schools have shown that they can continue a child’s education remotely, that is in no way an adequate substitute for an appropriate physical space.
“The distribution of these funds to areas where more school spaces are needed will help us to ensure that we have facilities in place so that all of our children can benefit from an education in the company of their peers. That is critical for their wellbeing now and development in the future.”