Families in the north of Newcastle have been dealt a major blow, after it emerged that a long-awaited new school will not open until 2025.
Education chiefs have revealed that a new school building for the Newcastle Great Park has been hit by another major setback – having already been delayed multiple times. It had originally been hoped that a permanent home for the Great Park Academy middle and secondary school would have opened in 2020, but the project has run into a series of difficulties.
The latest hold-up means that an increasing number of children will be learning in the school’s current temporary accommodation at the Gosforth Academy for years to come. Parents have been told that construction on the new site within the Great Park estate itself has been pushed back until autumn next year, with the building potentially opening in summer 2025, after a Government procurement process failed.
One parent, who asked to remain anonymous, complained that their child will have been forced to spend several years of their education in temporary accommodation with limited facilities for both learning and extra-curricular activities. They told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “I know what a good middle school does, what facilities should be available, what the children’s experience should be. They are not getting that.
“The teachers are good and it is a warm, nurturing environment. But it should not be a choice between having a warm and nurturing school or having a great education.”
The building of the school was previously delayed by a prolonged planning battle and the complications caused by the Covid pandemic. Its temporary site opened in 2021, in an attempt to address an urgent shortage of school places in Newcastle.
In a newsletter for parents, school principal Denise Waugh and CEO Hugh Robinson, have now announced that the Department for Education (DfE) has been unsuccessful in appointing a contractor for the permanent Great Park Academy and will have to start the procurement process again. They wrote: “It goes without saying that we are very disappointed to have to communicate this news to you, we want you to be aware of any updates as soon as they arise and assure you that the care and education of your children remains our absolute priority.
"The DfE are working as quickly as possible to complete the new procurement process and aim for construction to start as soon as the main contract is awarded. This is now anticipated to be in Autumn 2023, works to prepare the site will start sooner wherever possible. The impact of this means we expect the new school building to be ready for the summer term of the 2024/2025 academic year.
The school leaders insisted that they would “continue to provide an excellent learning experience” and that students would have access to specialist teaching areas within Gosforth Academy and other Gosforth Group schools. They are now seeking funding to increase the pupil capacity at the temporary site in both September 2023 and 2024 as more 60-strong intakes join at Year 5 level.
Local councillor Thom Campion said the delay was “deeply frustrating for parents”. The Liberal Democrat added: “The timing of this, just a day after the deadline for school place applications, needs to be addressed urgently by the Council and I am asking that all residents who chose the new academy with no knowledge of this further delay, be given another opportunity to choose where they want their children to go.”
A Newcastle City Council spokesperson said: “Although the delay is disappointing, when Great Park Academy does open it will provide students with the very highest quality learning environment.”
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