Two Mansfield schools to expand thanks to county council investment

The funding is to ensure there are enough school places for local families over the coming years. The costs will be covered by the council’s basic need allocation budget, as well as housing developer contributions.

In Forest Town, the council is looking to expand John T Rice Infant School by one classroom and Newlands Junior School by two classrooms.

Coun Philip Owen, chairman of Nottinghamshire County Council’s Children and Young People’s Committee, said: “We are committed to ensuring that children across our county have access to a good quality and education, and we have a duty to provide a sufficient number of school places in Nottinghamshire, to meet growing demand.

“We are continually working to analyse the figures and predict where school places will be needed. This £16 million investment will mean that we can provide extra capacity where it is needed over the coming years.

“This is an investment in our children’s future.

"The next few years will be an exciting time for school developments, with expansions and improvements planned across the county.”

Work is also underway to provide 95 more specialist school places per year over the next five years, as the county council looks to increase its SEND (Special Educational Needs and Disability) provision and 24 of these places will be provided by a new satellite school at King Edward Primary School, in Mansfield, which was approved by the council on March 15.