Nottinghamshire County Council has approved a new specialist satellite school, which will open on the site of King Edward Primary and Nursery School, in Mansfield, to help meet demand for special school places.
The new school will be managed by Carlton Digby Special School, which was rated as Outstanding in its last Ofsted inspection in March 2020.
King Edward School is a mainstream school which currently has several unused buildings. These will be used to provide up to three new classes and 24 specialist primary-age places, which are expected to be open for use from September 2021.
The precise cost involved for adapting the existing buildings and providing the new facility is still to be confirmed but is thought to be just under £300,000. The cost of providing the extra places each year will be approximately £594,000.
A consultation into the plans, which was carried out earlier this year, showed that the proposals were supported by parents and carers of pupils attending both schools.
Councillor Philip Owen, Chairman of Nottinghamshire County Council’s Children and Young People’s Committee, said:
“I am committed to investing in our children’s education and their future. I am very pleased that plans for this new facility have been agreed, and that we can go ahead with building the new satellite school.
“It will mean that we can continue to increase the number of specialist school places available in Nottinghamshire, to meet growing demand.
“We have a duty to provide a sufficient number of school places, to offer high-quality teaching and learning to children and young people across the county. Carlton Digby is an Outstanding school, and I’m confident that it will offer an excellent education from the new school for many years to come.”
