New consultation into Colchester schools (From Gazette)

New consultation into Colchester schools

12:53pm Thursday 4th October 2012 in News

HUNDREDS of new school places will be created to cope with Colchester’s booming population.
 

A public consultation was launched today into where secondary school students will be taught from 2015.
 

And central to the plans are using the site of Alderman Blaxill School.
 

Figures released by Essex County Council show 1,324 children will go into Year 7 next year - meaning there are currently nearly 300 spare places.
 

But thousands of new homes are being built on the former Garrison site in south Colchester with more planned for two key sites in the north of the town.
 

By 2017, it is predicted Year 7 numbers will increase to 1,785 - a shortfall of nearly 200 school places.
 

And by 2022, there could be as many as 1,994 Year 7 students - meaning a shortfall of more than 400 places.
 

Essex County Council is now taking action to ensure all Colchester children will get secondary education and it has drawn up a number of options.
 

Both the Stanway Federation and Philip Morant School and College have expressed an interest in expanding on to the Alderman Blaxill site.

For more on this story, see today's Gazette. There is always more in the paper than there is online.