Have your say on changes to schools in Biggleswade and the surrounding areas
Date Added: 14/06/2021
A public consultation will launch later this month on proposals for schools in Biggleswade and the surrounding area to move from the three-tier model to a primary/secondary model of education, as part of the Schools for the Future programme.
Schools in the town, Potton and surrounding villages have been collaborating with Central Bedfordshire Council on the plans aimed at improving the educational outcomes for children and young people.
The change to the primary/secondary model would also bring schools in the area in line with the rest of the country. This would reduce the disruption of pupils having to change schools twice, as they currently do, helping them to get the most out of their education, while enabling schools to retain and attract the best teachers.
Currently teacher training is focused on the primary/secondary model of education, while the number of middle schools, nationally, has reduced dramatically in the last 40 years, from a from a peak of 1,400 in 1983 to just over 100 now.
The proposals include the following changes:
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Potton Middle and Potton Lower schools to amalgamate and become a primary in 2022
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All other existing lower schools and Biggleswade Academy to become primary schools in 2024
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A new primary school on land east of Biggleswade
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Possible options for Wrestlingworth and Dunton lower schools, including amalgamation
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Edward Peake Middle School and Stratton Upper to become secondary schools in 2024
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A new secondary school on land east of Biggleswade (a different site to the new primary school). Edward Peake would relocate to this new school
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Lawnside Lower moves to the vacated Edward Peake school site as a primary school
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There would be one town sixth form open to pupils of both secondary schools.
The consultation will run for 14 weeks from June 23 with more information, including how to have your say, available on the Schools for the Future website from that point.