Two Northamptonshire schools get cash windfall to build new teaching blocks

Moulton School and Science College will be awarded £2.47 million to build the new block as well as remodel some of the existing classrooms to make them more suitable for modern teaching.

And Magdelen College School in Brackley will receive £3.22 million to build a new teaching block which will allow it to increase its capacity at the school by 30 pupils in each year group.

Both are academies and will manage their own project, following their procurement processes. The money has been allocated from Northamptonshire County Council’s section 106 funds, which come from housing developer contributions towards infrastructure.

There have been significant housing developments near both of the schools recently, including the 1,000 home Radstone Fields in Brackley.

Conservative members of the cabinet approved the funding at its first-ever virtual cabinet meeting on Tuesday (April 14).

Councillor Fiona Baker, the cabinet member for education, said: “An assessment survey has identified several deficiency issues in terms of teaching and other auxiliary spaces at Moulton School when this was compared with the number of students on the roll at the school.

“The school has already utilised £350k of banked S106 money to increase the size of their dining facilities in 2018. This further project intends to utilise £2.47 million of banked S106 funding which names the school as the beneficiary so cannot actually be used anywhere else.

“The block will address the lack of teaching spaces at the school currently and will provide new general teaching spaces and existing areas of the school will be converted to provide the amount of specialist teaching spaces required by the school, particularly science, which will ensure that the school accommodation will comply with the area guidelines.”

A report on Moulton School showed that in 2015 the school could allow 224 students on the roll, but that has since increase to 240. It is not proposed to increase that, but the report found that the school was ‘experiencing overcrowding difficulties which has led to health and safety concerns.’ The new block is expected to help solve that issue.

Referring to the investment for Magdelen College School in Brackley, Councillor Baker – who is a ward member for Brackley – added: “The school would like us to release £3.22 million. The school plans to build a new teaching block to include nine classrooms, four music practice rooms, associated spaces and changing facilities for the existing adjacent sports hall. This will enable them to increase their admission number by 30 places per year group.

“Planning permission for the scheme was granted by South Northamptonshire Council in 2018. This is an academy run project and the county council has no involvement other than passporting S106 money to the school.”

The funds will be transferred to both of the schools on a monthly basis on receipt of sectional completion and contractor invoices. In the event of an overspend, no extra funding will be available from the county council.

Councillor Baker added: “We have no actual commitment to any future funding for either of these schools, it is purely S106 contributions that have come from the enormous amount of growth in houses that these two rural areas have had put upon them in the recent past.”