Primary school places created in Staffordshire with windfall
Dozens of new places will be created at primary schools in Staffordshire as part of a Government expansion programme to cope with rising pupil numbers.
Over the border, in Wolverhampton, an expansion plan is also going ahead, despite the area missing out on a share of the cash available.
An £820 million cash pot is being shared out among schools across the country in areas where pressure on places due to rising populations is highest.
Two schools in Staffordshire will receive Government funding. A total of 35 new places will be created at Sherbrook Primary School, in Brunswick Road, Cannock.
Rocklands School, in Lichfield, is also being given funding for 24 new places.
However despite a 30 per cent increase in the number of births in Wolverhampton, the city was not picked for the scheme.
Pupil rolls across Staffordshire are expected to swell by 5,000 by 2014/15. A baby boom and new housing developments have been blamed for the increase in pupil numbers.
Sarah Ashley, headteacher of Sherbrook Primary, welcomed the news.
"Sherbrook is a popular school and the governors are delighted that this successful bid will mean that we will be able to offer more places in the future," she said.
"We are awaiting more information in order to move plans forward and find out when this will be possible."
Cannock Chase MP Aidan Burley also welcomed the schools' inclusion in the Government's Target Basic Need Programme, which was first launched in March.
Education chiefs in Wolverhampton had hoped to secure cash to provide more than 200 extra places at two schools in the city but say despite missing out on the cash the expansion programme will go ahead.
Councillor Phil Page, the council's cabinet member for schools, skills and learning, said: "We are naturally disappointed with this news but we remain committed to providing sufficient high quality school places."
