School expansion due to growing demand approved
Forge Valley School in Sheffield is set to expand
- Published
A secondary school is being temporarily expanded to allow it to take on 30 more pupils from September.
Forge Valley School in Malin Bridge, Sheffield, will be enlarged to help ensure that there are enough secondary places available in the city for children starting Year 7.
A meeting of Sheffield City Council’s finance committee agreed to a budget of up to £550,000 for the work this week.
The money will be provided to Tapton School Academy Trust, which runs the school.
The committee heard how 2024 was described as a "bulge year", where numbers of Year 7 children in Sheffield had risen due to population growth and new housing.
The expansion work will help the council fulfil its statutory duty under the Education Act 1996 to secure sufficient school places for pupils, the Local Democracy Service reports.
A report to the committee stated that the preferred option was to reconfigure the school's former City Learning Centre (CLC) building by moving IT classrooms into the main building and using the CLC building as the sixth form centre.
Some further work on the first floor of the main building may be required to transform staff and administration areas and staff toilets into four classrooms, it added.
The work should be completed in time for the new school year in September, the committee heard.
Under the terms of the grant, the money can only be used by the academy trust for the work agreed to provide the additional places.
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