Plans submitted for Hirst Academy building

Posted by The Journal on Jan 28, 10 09:49 AM in School news

Plans have been lodged for the construction of Northumberland's second privately-sponsored academy school as part of a ÃÂ£48m education shake-up affecting three neighbouring communities.

Education officials at the county council have submitted a planning application to demolish Hirst High School in Ashington and build the new academy - sponsored by the Duke of Northumberland and the Church of England - on adjacent land.

The new building will cater for almost 2,000 junior, senior and special educational needs children, and form the centrepiece of the five-site Hirst Academy.

If permission is granted by county councillors, construction work is expected to start in three months time with the new school ready to open by Christmas next year.

The existing Hirst High School will continue to be used in the intervening period and is scheduled to be demolished early in 2012, with the cleared site redeveloped as playing fields and car parking for the new academy.

The reorganisation also includes four separate primary academies in new or refurbished buildings at the Alexandra and Hawthorn school sites in Ashington, and in nearby Lynemouth and Newbiggin-by-the-Sea.

The radical shake-up has involved the closure of 10 separate schools in the Hirst partnership, which reopened as an all-age academy last September, reducing to just five sites by the end of 2011.

Separate planning applications are being made for the four junior academy sites. They will be known as the Thomas Bewick campus at the existing Alexandra First School, the James Knott campus at Hawthorn First, the Grace Darling campus at Newbiggin Middle and the William Leech campus at Lynemouth First.

The Hirst Academy is the county's second such school following the opening of the Emmanuel Schools Foundation's ÃÂ£30m Bede Academy in Blyth.

It seeks to improve educational attainment in the deprived Hirst area, where overall standards and outcomes are below expectations. In 2007, only 21% of pupils achieved the equivalent of five GCSEs at grades A* to C, including English and maths - significantly below the Government's target of 30%.

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