Nottinghamshire primary school that's too small gets major expansion

An "undersized" Nottinghamshire primary school is getting a major extension so that it can fit the number of pupils it is supposed to. Nottinghamshire County Council says the Bracken Lane Primary Academy has an official admissions number of 30 pupils across seven year groups, a total of 210 places.

Yet the authority says the Retford academy's actual capacity is 186. The council has therefore approved £643,160 being paid to the Diverse Academies Trust, which runs the facility, to support expansion works.

The expansion will be funded through housing developer contributions, with other costs to be met by the academy itself. In a recent report on the expansion, the council says: "The proposal is to provide additional space so that the school is 'right-sized' to accommodate 210 pupils comfortably and safely."

The academy recently celebrated an expansion to its main hall and announced plans back in April to construct two new classrooms and refurbish existing spaces. The academy said at the time that the phased project would not affect the number of children attending, but that it would increase the internal space available.

Nottinghamshire County Council added that given how the building is classed, a structural survey will be needed to avoid issues including asbestos impacting the planned works and costs. The expansion works are being monitored by the Nottingham-based Arc Partnership.

The project is one of several school expansion plans that Nottinghamshire County Council is involved with as it tries to accommodate the forecasted rise in pupils over the coming years. A £13 million project was recently completed at the Carlton le Willows Academy in Gedling, offering 300 extra spaces.