Plans submitted for new private school in Beenham

Specialist school would cater for 28 children

A NEW private school could soon be coming to Beenham.

A planning application has been submitted to convert part of an existing office building at Beenham Grange into a specialist school for children aged eight to 17.

The school, which will accommodate up to 28 children and employ 14 members of staff, will comprise both boys (eight to 11 years old) and girls (10 to 17 years old).

The existing internal office space will be divided into eight classrooms and two private study rooms and there will also be an external area for sport.

Two of the classrooms will feature as the hall and games rooms.

There will be a staff room and medical room as well as an office for administrative staff and the headteacher.

Children will be taught in classes much smaller than mainstream schools, with a maximum of four pupils per class supported by one teacher and one learning support assistant.

The school will not have any on-site catering. The staff and children will bring packed lunches.

The applicant, Outcomes First Group, says that in terms of the day-to-day operation, the school will, to a large extent, mirror that of a mainstream school.

This includes both the curriculum and school opening times.

It adds that the use of the outdoor areas will also mirror that of a mainstream school, with the sports pitch used for PE lessons during the day, for activities during lunchtimes and the occasional after-school club.

The proposed school will provide a total of 16 car parking spaces.

Outcomes First Group, an independently owned and operated social enterprise organisation, are the prospective purchaser of the lease for the site.

The group, which operates similar schools in Oxfordshire and Hampshire, says it wants to provide a stable, secure and supportive environment for the children they care for.

The site was previously occupied by Thermo Fisher for the manufacturing of radiological detection and measurement instrumentation.

Thermo Fisher moved out in March 2014 and the current owner, Copas Brothers (Farms) Ltd, purchased the site shortly after.

In November 2014, the landowner instructed Haslams Surveyors LPP of Reading to market the building for “office, laboratory, workshop use or similar” on the basis that the space was “very flexible and would suit a variety of business types and uses”.

The applicant says the decision to submit the planning application is with the support of the landowner.

Beenham Parish Council had no objection to the plans.