PROPOSALS for a new 420-pupil primary school for Okehampton are due to be unveiled next week. The first phase of the school would open in 2010 and cater for up to 210 boys and girls aged from three to 11 with a further 26 early education places. More places would be phased in to coincide with new house building in the area. The school would grow to 420 pupils by 2020. A public consultation meeting about the new school is being held at the Charter Hall, Market Street, Okehampton at 6.30pm on Wednesday, October 17. Devon County Council say that the existing Okehampton Primary School does not have enough space for all the children who will live in the new housing developments. The new school will not replace any existing schools and will take special educational needs pupils if their needs can be met effectively in a mainstream school. A site for the school has been reserved on land at the eastern edge of the town between Exeter Road and Crediton Road. Current regulations require the county council to run an open competition for the establishment of the new primary school. The county may bid to establish a regular maintained school, but interested parties will also be asked to ?bid? to establish a particular type of school, such as a foundation school or a voluntary aided or controlled school. The county council will be responsible for determining the successful bid or the decision will pass to an adjudicator if the authority has submitted a bid of its own. County councillor Christine Marsh from Okehampton said: ?Education and the family unit are the most important factors in a child?s life. I would like to urge people to attend this consultation. ?We have been waiting a long time for this second primary school so now is the time to get involved and express your views.? The headteacher of Okehampton Primary, Brian Cunningham, said his school had the immediate capacity to cope with the increasing number of primary-aged children in the town ? but a second school would be needed. ?Devon County Council has consulted with us on this matter on several occasions and we have had discussions about the need for temporary classrooms to accommodate rising pupil numbers until the new school is built,? he said. ?We are very pleased that the first steps to make this a reality have been agreed.? Further details of the consultation can be obtained online at: http://www.consultationfinder.com/devon">www.consultationfinder.com/devon Responses can also be made to Karen Crockwell, school organisation administrator, CYPS, Room 120, County Hall, Topsham Road, Exeter, EX2 4QG or email: [email protected]">[email protected] The closing date for responses is 5pm on Friday, November 16.
