Nottinghamshire County Council has indicated that the expansion of a new school in Edwalton will be the focus of its efforts to accommodate future generations of Ruddington children, rather than creating more school places here.
This is despite a summer petition by village resident Katie Santana on behalf of aggrieved parents in Ruddington whose children were unable to secure a place at James Peacock Nursery and Infants School in September. It’s the first time this has ever happened, and was blamed on the hundreds of new homes currently being built here without expanding village facilities to accommodate all our new families. The petition encouraged Nottinghamshire County Council (NCC) to increase school places WITHIN Ruddington, NOT in the surrounding area, and was signed by over 800 people.
In a report responding to it, the authority said increasing the capacity at James Peacock School and St Peter’s C of E Junior School face “considerable challenges”. NCC claims this would require a new access point from the A60 and have substantial costs associated with construction traffic management.
Instead, the authority says its £1.5m expansion of Rosecliffe Spencer Academy, just over three miles’ away, will see an additional 105 school places available for the school’s catchment area – which includes Ruddington village. NCC says this expansion will alleviate some of the pressure on Ruddington school places as, from September 2023, the Academy increased its first admission number from 45 to 60, thus offering more places to local pupils. The funding for this is a mix of cash from Section 106 developer contributions and the County Council’s Basic Need funding from the Department for Education.
Councillor Tracey Taylor, Cabinet Member for Children and Families, says the additional school places are being welcomed by families in the area: “We have a very robust system in place which monitors the need for school places across the county and we know there is a need in the West Bridgford Planning Area for more places. The expansion at Rosecliffe Academy was needed due to the increase in local housing numbers in both the Edwalton and Ruddington areas.”
Cllr Taylor adds: “Having recently visited the school, it is a wonderful learning environment and a well-run school, with an impressive array of facilities for all ages.”
However, Katie Santana, whose son was left with no option but to go to Rosecliffe Spencer Academy, says this misses the point: “As Ruddington is its own ‘pupil planning area’, as defined by the Department of Education, they’re not meant to use places in other areas. I feel that Nottinghamshire County Council has hugely let down the families of Ruddington, whilst prioritising West Bridgford residents’ needs. And our elected representatives, Reg Adair and Matt Barney, have completely failed to argue our corner.”
She continues: “Given that Nottinghamshire County Council’s own figures show a surplus of primary school places in West Bridgford and a deficit in the Ruddington planning area, it remains a mystery as to why the council appear to have spent precious section 106 money from Ruddington housing developments on the expansion of a primary in West Bridgford (Rosecliffe) rather than fund much needed places in Ruddington. As well as letting Ruddington families down, I am concerned at how, if the council has followed correct procedures, this could be allowed to happen. Once again, Councillors Adair and Barney have failed to fight our corner and it falls to residents to hold them to account!”
Councillor Adair, NCC’s Deputy Cabinet Member for Economic Development, comments that the County Council has created thousands of additional places since 2021, and will continue building and expanding schools in areas where capacity may be an issue due to new housing developments. “The County Council is committed to investing in education and schools and once again this project has seen us work in collaboration with Arc Partnership and Morgan Sindall Construction” he says. “Over the last few years, the County Council’s major and ambitious school build and improvements programme has seen millions of pounds invested in schools and that is a record we’re very proud of.”
Kirstie Mann, Headteacher at Rosecliffe Spencer Academy, adds: “When we returned in November this year we were able to offer 15 new places in every year group from Year 1 – Year 6 and we currently have places in every year group apart from Reception. It is such an exciting time to see Rosecliffe open its doors to so many more children and families from within our community. Our small school has grown from 76 children at its opening in September 2020, to 376 children at the end of 2023, with space to grow further. Our children are the shining stars of Rosecliffe and they cannot wait to welcome more friends to The Rosecliffe Way.”
Understandably, however, many families in Ruddington would very much rather walk their children around the corner to a local school, with their friends from the village, rather than drive them through the ongoing roadworks to Edwalton and back each day (since there is no school bus or direct public transport link between Ruddington and Rosecliffe Spencer Academy).
Rushcliffe Borough Councillor, Jen Walker, agrees that money from Ruddington developments should be being spent here. Additionally, she points out that NCC is not even claiming all the available cash it could be from RBC to fund these vital infrastructure projects: “The Home Builders Federation, the representative body of the home and building industry in England and Wales, have published a table of Local Authorities that hold the most unspent S106 contributions. It places Rushcliffe Borough Council 3rd with £12.6M of unspent educations contributions.”
Cllr Walker adds: “We need our educational authority, Nottinghamshire County Council, to be much more proactive in accessing these unspent monies sitting in the accounts of RBC to improve the situation for our local families. The fact that this cash is still sitting in the accounts, and children are not getting places in Ruddington schools, shows the lack of planning and foresight around our new housing.”
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