Green light given to school improvement projects in south Warwickshire - as well as £13m funding for a new school south of Leamington

Projects to improve three south Warwickshire schools have been given the green light by the county council’s cabinet members who also gave their backing to a £13m scheme to build a new school south of Leamington.

A plan to renovate toilets at Warwick’s Aylesford School is set to cost £106,000 with all but a £4,000 contribution from the school coming from developer funds paid to the council.

A report drawn up by officers at a meeting on September 8 explained: “Current student sanitary facilities in the secondary school fall well below reasonable standards. The school has too few toilets and those that are available are cramped and poorly designed.

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“The school is proposing the renovation, redesign and expansion of the existing four sets of toilets and washroom facilities. This creates a more pleasant environment and will enable more students to use the sanitary facilities in a shorter amount of time and assist with time-keeping throughout the school day.”

Councillors also agreed to a £30,000 top-up for building work at Burton Green CofE Primary School after a number of issues including the original contractor pulling out and a lengthy wait for planning permission led to a price hike.

The report considered by cabinet explained that the cost of constructing the new single-storey block containing two classrooms had risen from £290,000 to £400,000 in two years leading to a £110,000 shortfall, the majority of which would be covered by the school’s trust.

And the construction of around 300 new homes in Long Itchington has led to a plan being put forward to enlarge classrooms in the village school.

The initial phase of work at Long Itchington CofE Primary School would incorporate four classrooms with a second stage likely to come forward in the future depending on priorities and available Diocese of Coventry Multi Academy Trust funding.

Councillors agreed developer funding of £254,000 with other funds coming from the trust.

There was also unanimous support from cabinet members to a proposal to allocate £13.4m for the building of the new Myton Gardens school south of Leamington catering for some of the 4,500 new homes being built in the area with the final decision on funding being made at the full council meeting later this month.