‘Really disappointed’ parents react to delayed opening of new secondary school near Bristol

Parents are said to be ‘disappointed’ after plans for a new secondary school near Emersons Green have been pushed back again - and it may be 2026 before it opens.

Lyde Green Secondary School was scheduled to welcome its first pupils in 2022, with the new school forming part of the housing development.

But an update issued by South Gloucestershire Council has confirmed that it will not be open in September 2024 as previously promised and that the build programme will take approximately two years, meaning it’s unlikely to welcome its first pupils until 2026.

More than £30 million in Government funding has been secured to enable the new Lyde Green secondary school to be built.

The sum is in addition to the £11 million that South Gloucestershire Council has already committed to deliver new primary and secondary schools in Lyde Green.

While South Gloucestershire Council say it is keen to see the new facilities built as quickly as possible, it does not have direct control over the programme of construction.

The Council is continuing to work closely with the two Multi Academy Trusts that will run the new schools and the developer that will construct them to determine the schedule of work.

But parent Nicola Stone says they knew when the Lyde Green estate was built seven years ago that they had to have provision for a secondary school and local parents are disappointed at the additional delay.

“I am so disappointed. When people bought houses in this area they were told there would be schools and a doctors but nothing apart from one primary school has come to fruition.

“I am really nervous now about what school my daughter will get as they are all oversubscribed and I am not prepared to send her to a school in Kingswood which is what some children were given this year.

“I know a lot of the parents of children from my daughter’s year are really disappointed and are now having to think about the possibility of having to get two children to two different schools with no proper transport provision in place for the secondary schools.

“The ideal scenario of her being able to walk to school with friends, stay late for extra activities without having to worry about transport has now gone.”

Nicola says parents of pupils leaving the primary school this July have found local secondary schools ‘massively oversubscribed’ and some are being offered schools they didn’t even request in Kingswood.

Cllr Erica Williams, South Gloucestershire Council’s Cabinet Member responsible for schools, said: “This announcement of the government’s funding commitment is excellent news and a major milestone towards building and opening the new schools.

“We appreciate the community are very keen to know when the schools will open and we will confirm the dates that work will begin, and when they will be open, as soon as we are in a position to do so.

“There will be survey work carried out on site in the coming months that will help finalise the plans, but meanwhile there is a lot of work going on behind the scenes to make this happen.”

The Olympus Academy Trust will run the secondary school and the Castle School Education Trust will run the primary school.

Dave Baker, Chief Executive of the Olympus Academy Trust Chief Executive, said: “The Olympus Academy Trust is delighted that the Department for Education and South Gloucestershire Council have reached agreement about funding so that we can now move to the next stage. A great deal of preparatory work has been taking place in the background, details of which we look forward to sharing in due course.”

Will Roberts, Chief Executive of the Castle School Education Trust, said: “We are pleased that progress is being made towards the construction of new schools, which will provide the much-needed extra primary and secondary places for the Lyde Green community. We are working closely with our partner organisations to achieve this at the earliest opportunity.”

The full programme is expected to be finalised in the autumn, at which point the partners will share details of when work will begin, as well as the planned school opening dates.

The plan remains to build both new facilities at the same time and for them to have the same opening dates.

According to the Council, this year 96 per cent of families received an offer of a place at one of their preferred schools. Primary offers for the start of term in September 2023 will be confirmed with parents in April.

The latest data published by Ofsted shows that more than 90 per cent of pupils in South Gloucestershire attend schools rated Good or Outstanding.