Services - Pediatrics

Norton Expanding Pediatric Care And Adding New Adult Services, Urgent Care In Frankfort

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Marta Norton

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£4.5m Plan To Expand Norton Primary School

PLANS have been unveiled to expand Norton Primary School to a £4.5m second site following an unprecedented demand for places.

Pupil numbers have increased by more than 100 in the last four years to about 500 full-time children leading to increasing pressures on the existing site in Grove Street.

North Yorkshire County Council is proposing to build an additional school at Brooklyn, in Langton Road, which is currently used by its own youth service and a number of community groups.

The new school would provide 210 places for nursery, reception and Year 1 pupils from September 2017.

A consultation has been launched with a public meeting at Norton Primary School on Tuesday, February 10, at 6.30pm.

Suzanne Firth, the county's strategic planning officer, said: "The only land owned by the county of sufficient size in Norton is at Brooklyn and the transformation into a school site would allow for sufficient expansion to meet the expected short and medium-term requirement for additional school places if future housing developments are approved at the anticipated levels. The school would be one school across two sites, with the same headteacher, governors and leadership team."

Costs of developing the site have yet to be evaluated, but based on other projects are estimated to be about £4.5m. Capital funding would be provided by central government, along with developer contributions from any new housing developments in the town.

The expanded school would provided places for up to 630 children aged three to 11, with purpose-built accommodation. Education for year groups two to six would remain on the existing main school site.

Mrs Firth said that consideration would be given to the community organisations which currently use the Brooklyn site.

"It is intended that the school site and buildings will be designed to allow some continued use by community groups and the governing body of the school are committed to working in partnership with the local community."

Members of Norton Town Council welcomed the consultation saying the school was 'full to bursting'.

Councillor Jonathan Gray said: "The school is almost reaching crisis point in capacity and this looks to be a fairly sensible approach looking at what other resources the county council has in the area.

"The indication is that the site will be designed with some continued use by community groups which addresses that issue."

County Councillor Elizabeth Shields, who represents Norton, said clearly the school could not accommodate the increasing numbers of children needing places.

"It is a pity we could have used a site closer to the existing school to expand but if Brooklyn is the only option we will have to see how parents react," she added.

"If numbers are going to increase we have to be prepared and look at the best interests of the children."

Liz Parker, headteacher at Norton primary, said: the proposal to extend the school onto the Brooklyn site for early years and Year One would free up the space on the current site for Year 2 to 6."The school will still be a three form entry as it is now but won't be overcrowded and rooms will be more suitable for the number we have," she added.

"My priority would always be to provide the best education possible for the children in Norton while maintaining the exceptional pastoral care we offer for families."

Mrs Parker said: "I know we can continue to do this if we are in control of both sites which the consultation fully supports. The sites will work around each other to ensure parents are not disadvantaged in any way, for example timings of the school day etc."

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