Council helps create more school places in the borough

Following Telford & Wrekin Council’s recommendation to the Regional Schools Commission (RSC), a new primary school in Allscott is due to open in 2023, operated by the Learning Community Trust (LCT).

Council helps create more school places in the borough

The new village school at Alllscott Meads is being built by SJ Roberts Construction Ltd in close partnership with Telford and Wrekin Council with works due to commence this Spring.
It is due to open in September 2023 and will provide 150 primary school places, with plans to also offer nursery provision on site.

Labour Councillor Shirley Reynolds, cabinet member for children, young people and families, said: “The opening of a new primary school in Allscott is an exciting project our Council has driven, as part of our commitment to provide more school places and great learning opportunities closer to home for more pupils in our borough.
“We are delighted that Learning Community Trust, a well-established and successful local education provider, has been chosen, at our recommendation, to operate the newly-built village school at Allscott.
 “We are looking forward to working together with the builder (SJ Roberts) and Learning Community Trust for the opening of this new, modern and spacious primary school in Allscott in September next year.”

The new school will have six classrooms, a sports hall, kitchen, staff room, offices, storage rooms and various other rooms for one-to-one teaching, support and interviews.

There will also be a 1.1-acre sports field, hard-surfaced sports court, 40 bike parking spaces, and 18 parking spaces for staff and visitors.


Dr Gill Eatough, chief executive of the Learning Community Trust, said: “We are honoured and delighted to have been chosen to launch this exciting new school at Allscott, which is at the heart of the major development of the former sugar beet factory site.

“We are passionate about our schools and on providing the very best education where children excel academically, are safe, happy, well cared for and grow up to understand respect and responsibility as young adults in our society.

“The curriculum is the absolute focus in all our schools, and we would design a strong, ambitious, creative, and stimulating curriculum with a focus on the history and geography of the local area, which is fascinating, and would create a sense of belonging in a new community.

“Our vision is for a new village school at the heart of the Allscott community, where the school becomes a focal point for the village and village life.”

She added: “We will be consulting with the community over the coming months – particularly with prospective parents and children – to hear their vision for the new school.

“We will be seeking their input into all of the aspects that are so important such as the name of the school, colour schemes, logos and uniform.

“Our vision is for schools to be at the heart of the community, which means that the community must have access to facilities and outdoor spaces during evening and weekends.

“We see this as critical to engaging with the community which is growing around the Allscott site.”


Mike Sambrook, Managing Director of SJ Roberts Construction Ltd, commented: “We are really excited to create a high quality, modern primary school for the Allscott community and are working closely on this with Telford & Wrekin Council.
“We are aiming to keep to minimum disruption in the area while the building work takes place.”

Learning Community Trust was formed in 2017 and has grown into a family of eight schools, responsible for more than 5,500 children and employing just over 1,000 people, spread across 11 different sites.

They include Hadley Learning Community, Ercall Wood and Charlton secondary school in Telford, plus specialist education centres such as Queensway in Telford, and Severndale in Shrewsbury.

As part of its commitment to invest and create a better borough, Telford & Wrekin Council has announced last year a £31 million investment into borough schools for the next two years, to meet the growing demand for school places, in line with the growth happening in the borough.

The Council has also been expanding its secondary school provision and further expansions are planned at other school sites across the borough in due course.

Photo (left to right): Cllr Shirley Reynolds (Cabinet member for children, young people and family),Mike Sambrook (Managing Director of SJ Roberts Construction Ltd), Dr Gill Eatough (Chief Executive of the Learning Community Trust) and Mike Briscoe (Chair of the Learning Community Trust)