Purpose

Yapton CE (Controlled) Primary School is a Church of England school located in the village of Yapton. The school caters for children aged 4 – 11 with a published admission number of 45 and a total capacity of 315 pupils. 

After careful review of the most recent pupil projection forecasts, it has become evident that a gradual increase in pupil numbers necessitates the need for an expansion of Yapton CE Primary School. This is predominantly due to the number of new dwellings that have been built in the area.

Therefore, it is proposed to permanently expand Yapton CE Primary school for the start of the academic year 2028/9, from a 1 ½ Form Entry (45 places per year of age) to a 2 Form Entry (60 Places per year of age) school.  In accordance with Department for Education (DfE) guidance, this expansion needs to be subject to a consultation process to seek feedback from key stakeholders on the proposed expansion.  The consultation process consists of a number of stages.

In August 2026, the Service Director (Education and Skills) approved the launch of a public consultation to seek views on the proposal to permanently expand the school from 1st September 2028. A two week informal public consultation, in accordance withDepartment for Education (DfE) guidance, took place during September 2026.  Details of the consultation process and the feedback received are set out in section 4 of this report and in Appendix 1.

The DfE guidance sets out the stages of the process that should be undertaken when considering expansion of a school.  Having completed the first stage, the initial consultation, the Cabinet Member is now asked to consider the feedback received and approve the progression of the proposal to the next stage, publication of a statutory proposal. 

Decision

The Cabinet Member for Children, Young People and Learning has approved:-

(1) The publication of a statutory proposal to expand Yapton CE (Voluntary Controlled) Primary School from a 1 ½ Form Entry (45 places per year of age) school to a 2 Form Entry (60 Places per year of age) school from September 2028.

(2) The delegation of authority to the Service Director (Education and Skills) to determine whether the proposal to expand Yapton CE (Voluntary Controlled) Primary School should proceed, following consideration of any representations received during the statutory consultation stage, and

(3)Should the proposed expansion be approved, the delegation of authority to the Service Director (Property and Assets) to launch a procurement and award the contract for delivery of the capital project to expand the school to the successful bidder, in accordance with the scope and within the financial parameters set out in this report.