The only secondary school in Horley is looking to offer 300 more places to meet the Reigate and Banstead area’s demand for secondary provision .
Oakwood School, in Balcombe Road, is applying to increase from an eight form entry school to a ten form entry school, raising the number of students from 1,200 to 1,500.
The application report said: “Reigate and Banstead is experiencing a significant increase in the demand for school places, reflecting both a rise in birth rate and increased house building and migration within the area.
“Births in the borough in 2014 were 27.7 per cent higher than births in 2002. The increased pupil cohort is now starting to make the transition into the secondary sector.
“As such, there is now the need to accommodate increased demand, via the expansion of local secondary provision.”
The community school currently provides 240 places for pupils to enter in Year 7, which gives the highest priority for entry to Looked After Children (LAC) and children with exceptional medical or social needs.
(Image: Gary Francis)
As part of the plans, a further 60 places will be offered to prospective Year 7 students each year for the next five years.
Internal refurbishment and adaptation works to science and design technology spaces, increasing sports changing facilities and a modest new build to create additional pupil toilets are also proposed.
The application further states that planning permission will not be necessary for the internal refurbishment and adaptation and the new build will be conducted under ‘permitted development rights’.
Local residents, the school community, local admissions authorities and the Surrey School Admissions Forum were consulted on the plans in which a mixed response was received.
Surrey County Council has recommended the application be approved to meet “the authority’s statutory obligation to provide sufficient school places, relative to demand”.
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