Rebuild plans for Ladybrook school

New venue: Flying High Academy headteacher Tony Warsop and his deputy Caroline Marsden inspect the proposed site of the new school buildings , which was partly occupied by the old Ladybrook Primary School.

The Flying High Academy on Townroe Drive is to move a few hundred yards to land that was formerly partly occupied by Ladybrook Primary, the school’s name until it became an academy.

The new state-of-the art facility would feature 16 classrooms, the latest ICT equipment and increase capacity from 330 to 480.

A public and community consultation is set to take place in September prior to application for planning permission.

If all goes to schedule, the building work is expected to start later this year or early next year with an anticipated completion in November next year.

“It’s really exciting and just what the community of Ladybrook deserves,” said Flying High Academy’s headteacher Tony Warsop.

“One of the values we try to instil into the children here is pride - and this will be a school of which we can all be proud.

“The existing school building dates back for the 1950s and was originally a secondary school. It is getting run-down and needs replacing and would have cost hundreds of thousands to refurbish.

“But we have suffered from flooding here and the new site is that much higher up the hill, so moving makes sense.”

With the new buildings erected away from the current site, lessons will continue unhindered until the new complex is ready.

Pupils and staff will then move across and the current site demolished, with the land to form part of the new school grounds and playing fields.

Mr Warsop added: “There are pots of money that we can access in terms of projects for the grounds, which we will be applying for.

“We would hope that we can eventually incorporate a wildlife area that will help with the children’s learning.”