Secondary school eyes expansion as kids face longer trips to classroom

manchestereveningnews.co.uk:

A school in Harpurhey is set to expand to meet rising demand for places. Manchester Communication Academy, on Silchester Drive, hopes to increase the number of pupils per year to 300, meaning it has 1,500 students in total — after it’s emerged some children in the area will need to travel further for the nearest school place.

To make that happen, it hopes to build two new teaching blocks and two new multi-use games areas (MUGAs). One of the proposed blocks will be designed for year seven children, just starting out in secondary education, who will also benefit from ‘an associated playground for recreational activities’.

The other will be a science block, with lab rooms available, taking the expansion to 3,154 sqm (33,949 sq ft). READ MORE: Date trams will fully return to Exchange Square CONFIRMED after months of disruption “With continued growth and population statistics released from the Office of National Statistics (ONS) this [Manchester Core Strategy 2012 – 2027] target is currently failing with a portion of school children who will not have available school places from 2024 resulting in increased travel time to an available school place,” a planning statement from Lancaster Maloney Martin, the team behind the expansion plans, said. “Manchester city is identified as the highest risk for this occurring with a risk rating of ten out of ten, one of four cities in the country identifying the level of need for education facilities to expand.” The statement goes on: “One of the key strategies laid out by Manchester City Council within the [Manchester Core Strategy 2012 – 2027] document are that schools are developed in east Manchester with access to sporting facilities as this is a regeneration area which has been