Work on new school set to begin after years of delays
Work on a new school in Dunmow is due to start in a year – the school trust behind the plans to increase teaching capacity has said. The Department for Education (DfE) proposal is for an all-through school that will be opened in two phases. The current anticipated key dates are for a primary school construction starting September 2024 with the school ready to be opened in September 2025.
The secondary school element of the all-through school is due to be ready to accept students in October 2026. Essex County Council has now clarified the end dates for the school which has been planned for years as pressure for places in Dunmow grew due to extensive housebuilding. The new primary school has been designed for 420 students while the secondary and sixth form part of the new school is for another 1,600.
However, Essex County Council has said these dates are subject to change depending on how the planning application and procurement of the works progresses. It adds the DfE has confirmed that the Helena Romanes School has a place on its schools rebuilding programme. This programme carries out major rebuilding and refurbishment projects at schools and sixth forms with a view to replace poor condition and ageing school buildings.
Essex County Council has installed four temporary classrooms on the current site at Parsonage Lane to allow Helena Romanes to provide primary provision until its relocation onto a new site but if, the primary school completion was delayed then further permission for temporary classrooms on Helena Romanes' existing site may be required.”
The new Helena Romanes primary school, which was intended to move straight into the new permanent building when it opened in 2021, has instead had to operate in temporary classrooms on the grounds of the existing Dunmow secondary school. To accommodate new students, Essex County Council wants teaching held in temporary classrooms to continue at the Helena Romanes School until August 31, 2025.
The county council has admitted that without a new primary school, and the expansion of the Helena Romanes School as an all-through school, there is currently no way to provide local school places for children in Great Dunmow.
The school has said all the temporary accommodation needed for the remainder of our time on the current site has now been completed.
From September, the new school will have 45 pupils in the primary phase, with 12 pupils joining in reception. It adds that it feels highly likely that the number of pupils in reception will grow as we accept mid-term admissions to the school during the year.
A spokesman for Essex County Council said: "It is anticipated that the primary phase of the all-school will be ready for September 2025 (subject to planning and procurement processes and DfE approval of the final scheme) at which point the primary school will move to its new site.
"If, however, the primary school completion was delayed then further permission for temporary classrooms on HRS existing site may be required.
"Essex County Council has installed four temporary classrooms on the current site at Parsonage Lane to allow HRS to provide primary provision until its relocation onto a new site."
A joint statement from Saffron Academy Trust, the Department for Education (DfE) and Essex County Council said: "The Saffron Academy Trust, Department for Education (DfE) and Essex County Council are delighted to confirm their intention to rebuild the Helena Romanes School as part of the School Rebuilding Programme at a new site on Stortford Road in Great Dunmow. The current proposal is for an all-through school on the Stortford Road site that will allow children to join from Reception and study all the way through to Sixth Form. The school will have state of the art buildings and sports facilities which will be available to the local community. At this moment in time, this is all subject to the planning application process (which is still to be completed) and DfE approval of the final scheme."
In a separate development, another two-form new primary school is also being planned as part of the ongoing development of up to 790 homes on land west of Woodside Way. Developers are expected to contribute £5m as well as the land which has to be handed over to Essex County Council at the 75th home occupation.
Developers are also expected to contribute around £1.6 million towards infrastructure, including more than £1.2 million for education and more than £300,000 for bus services as part of an agreement for development of 120 new homes at the adjacent Wood Field development, also west of Woodside Way.