A WHOPPING £10million has been allocated to Shipston High School to revamp its buildings and expand its pupil intake.
The secondary school is set to receive the multi-million investment out of Warwickshire County Council’s (WCC) school funding pot.
A total of £21million will be shared among seven schools in Warwickshire, with Shipston High receiving the grand share of almost half.
It comes after WCC’s 2022/2023 Education Capital Programme was rubber stamped at a recent cabinet meeting, geared at allocating funding to schools in need of material improvements such as the addition or refurbishment of buildings.
Shipston High School’s cash will be spent on providing additional capacity in sport, science and technology, including the building of a new sports hall with changing facilities and the remodeling of existing buildings.
This will enable the school to offer an extra 30 spaces per year group to accommodate an increased demand for places from new housing developments and larger primary cohorts due to move up to secondary.
Headteacher Gavin Saunders said this funding represented a huge vote of confidence in the school and the education it provides.
He continued that it would enable Shipston High to offer more school places in the future as it was consistently over-subscribed.
“Importantly, as well as providing future school places, this work will improve the facilities and environment for our existing students. Following previous development in 2015 and 2018, we look forward to this next phase of our success story with the expansion and improvement of the environment at Shipston High School for the benefit of all students.
“This type of investment is very unusual in schools, and we are fortunate to have secured this funding. We are extremely grateful to Warwickshire County Council, and their readiness to invest in Shipston High School is due to the excellent reputation of the school and its students,” he added.
Meanwhile, funding of £2.2million has been allocated to Stratford School. This is to cover an increase in projected costs, which will start in the autumn.
Coun Kam Kaur, WCC’s education spokesperson, said: “When we are investing in the education of our children and young people, it’s so important to get it right. We feel these plans address the needs of our schools fairly and proportionately, improving learning and recreation spaces where required and helping to accommodate the increase in demand for places we’re seeing in many areas of the county.”
