Attleborough schools reorganisation

Overview

Planning for growth in Attleborough

Changes to the way the primary schools are organised.

Norfolk County Council has a duty to ensure a sufficient supply of school places to respond to housing growth and other demographic changes. A number of housing sites are under construction in Attleborough and others have planning consent. In the longer term there are plans to build some 4,000 houses in the town.

The proposals we are consulting you on are to make sure that there is a sound base of school organisation and school buildings for the way the town is developing now and the way it will develop in the future. Our plans involve a change in the way schools are organised and the relocation of Attleborough Infant School to the south of the town.

We have been working with the governors of Attleborough Infant and Attleborough Junior Schools and the Transforming Education in Norfolk Trust (Attleborough Academy) on how we can take these plans forward.

At the moment, Attleborough children start their statutory education in reception at the infant school and have to transfer to the junior school after three years.   We are proposing to change this pattern so that all children in Attleborough can attend an all-through primary school (from Reception to the end of Year 6).

In order to achieve this at a time of pupil number growth we need to do the following:

1. We would move the infant school into a new building on a new site and extend the age range to create an all-through primary school for up to 630 pupils (90 pupils in each year group).
2. At the same time we would provide new facilities at the junior school for Reception and Key Stage 1 children to create a second all-through primary school for 420 pupils (60 pupils in each year group).
3. We have looked at two possible sites for the new school building, one on Hargham Road, and the other on London Road.   We are currently considering the relative merits of these sites.
4. There will be provision for pre-school children on both sites.
5. Further primary schools will be needed south of the railway line when major housing development starts.

The County Council believes these changes would benefit all children and young people in Attleborough

• Norfolk County Council’s policy on school organisation is to consider what is best for a local area but it will favour all-through primary schools where these are achievable and have support from local schools.

• It will provide sufficient places for the current pressure on primary places in the town and will allow for some expansion in the future.
• Vacating the infant site will provide additional space to allow Attleborough Academy Norfolk to expand so that additional places can be made available for secondary age pupils.

The earliest this could happen is September 2017

Update:

On 16 September Norfolk County Council published a statutory public notice to make prescribed alterations to Attleborough Infant and Attleborough Junior School, by changing the age range served and enlarging the schools.  The proposal also includes the relocation of the current Attleborough Infant School to a new site south of the town at London Road, Attleborough, Norfolk. 

Within four weeks any person may object to, or make comments on, by contacting the School Organisation Team (Bay 10, Floor 8, County Hall, Martineau Lane, Norwich, NR1 2DL) or by email to schoolreview@norfolk.gov.uk

The complete proposal can be downloaded from the link below.

20 October 2016 Update

The Executive Director of Chldren's Services, in his role as Decision Maker approved the proposal to change the age range of both schools and to relocate the current infant school to the south of Attleborough Town.  The full determination notice can be downloaded form the link below.

Why your views matter

We want to know what you think of our proposal. 

What happens next

This statutory notice period ends on 14 October 2016 and at the end of that period, the results will be analysed and the Executive Director of Children's Services will be asked to make a determination on the proposal.  The outcome will be published on this website.