Plan for 630-place school in Bognor is unveiled

West Sussex County Council wants to create the 630-place school close to the existing Michael Ayres Junior School off South Way.

The proposed school will replace the junior school along with The Glade Infant School on the opposite side of the Bognor Regis Community College campus.

Costing 11m, the new school is expected to be opened in September, 2010 to complete the regeneration of the campus around a new college. It has probably been 40 years since the last primary school was built around Bognor.

Building work should start next January if the council grants planning permission for the scheme.

A statement by the council's planning agents, Stride Treglown, with the planning application says extensive talks have been held with the teachers at the two existing schools to create the best environment for learning for the five to 11-year-old children.

"The schools were keen to create a building where the best use was made of internal and external spaces to create an atmosphere of flexible learning where children are at the centre of decision-making and encouraged to partake in self-initiated learning and play.

"Good interaction between indoors and out was essential to both schools and there was a general wish to break down the barriers between teaching and non-teaching areas as far as possible with the architecture.

"The new school will have 21 classrooms as well as learning resource areas such as library, IT and group room facilities, located at various strategic positions around the school.

"There is a large main hall, a small hall and a studio space can be opened up into one large flexible space. The administration block is also located near the main entrance, as is the nursery and the main hall."

The proposed school is partly one and two storeys tall. Three consultation sessions about the proposals have been held with residents who live around the site. The location of the school, parking and traffic issues and trees around the site were the most frequently raised concerns.

The school's intended location will increase the traffic using the South Way cul-de-sac but the council says the effect of this will be lessened by the enlarged and improved layout of the parking area. This will allow drivers to get in and out of the school easily to reduce the current bottlenecks.

The new car park will have 84 spaces to serve the school and adjoining education facilities such as a nursery and the Arena vocational skills centre. A hundred cycle spaces are also being provided.

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