Dunstall Park, New Primary School, Tamworth
A new primary school to open on the site of the Dunstall Farm Development, Tamworth in September 2024.
Staffordshire County Council has identified the need to establish a new 210 place primary free school to serve new housing at the Dunstall Farm development in Tamworth. The school, called Dunstall Park Primary School will be run by The Arthur Terry Learning Partnership, and is planned to open in September 2024.
The new primary free school will deliver a 210-place mainstream, co-educational primary school for Reception to Year 6 age groups, plus early years provision.
Construction of the residential development at Dunstall Farm, Tamworth (800 dwellings) commenced during 2019 and, over time, is estimated will yield approximately 250 primary school-aged children.
Public Consultation
Staffordshire County Council actively promotes a diverse supply of strong schools throughout the county, in line with the requirements of section 6A of the Education Act 2011. This includes encouraging good schools to expand and, where there is a need for a new school, seeking proposals for a free school.
A public consultation on the opening of the new school, was launched on Wednesday 30th November 2022 and closed on Sunday 8th January 2023.
Engagement with our communities and stakeholders is extremely important to us. We endeavoured to obtain a wide range of responses by consulting directly with local schools and their Governors, Multi Academy Trusts with schools in the area, local councils, local-councillors, MPs, the Diocese, Trade Unions and the general public where we utilised social media to encourage feedback.
Responses were received from a range of stakeholders, all but one respondent were in support of the new school.
Half of all respondents identified themselves as local Tamworth residents. The remainder of responses were from school and academy staff and a local councillor.
The majority of respondents felt that the new school would be of benefit to those living on the development identifying more school places in the area as a positive outcome.
Most respondents saw the opening of the new school to have either extremely positive or positive consequences for the local area including ease of access to education
One respondent queried what the impact could be on existing schools in the wider area. The new school is needed to mitigate the impact of the additional children that are expected to be generated by the ongoing housing development at Dunstall Farm. The new school will build pupil numbers incrementally, increasing by one year group each year. This means that upon opening, the school will admit children into Nursery and Reception year groups only. In the following year, the school will admit into Nursery, Reception and Year 1 year groups. The oversubscription criteria must reflect the fact that the school will open, principally, to serve families on the developed land at Dunstall Farm.
The majority of respondents believe the school would promote healthier lifestyles either by walking to school or by reducing the stress on parents by having a close and easily accessible school. All respondents agreed with the principle of encouraging sustainable travel to and from school
Respondents identified that the new school would strengthen community capacity, through opportunities to volunteer and join in with school activities or through job creation. All respondents felt the new primary school would have an impact on economic growth such as additional childcare provision or the generation of jobs
Some respondents felt there may be some adverse impact on local residents in relation to increased traffic and parking around the school site.
We acknowledge there will be some disruption during the construction phase of the new school but will endeavour to keep the noise and traffic to a minimum. Projects such as building a new school are usually subject to planning conditions, for example; work must only take place Monday to Friday 8am until 6pm, and occasionally Saturday mornings. No works are undertaken on Sunday’s or bank holidays.
The new school is being delivered to mitigate the impact of the additional children generated by the new development, and as such sustainable methods of transport such as walking and cycling to school will be encouraged once the school is open.