New classrooms get go-ahead at Blackpool’s Park School

Tuesday, 30 July 2024 16:30

By Shelagh Parkinson - LDRS

Proposals to extend a Blackpool school to ensure more pupils can attend lessons in their home town have got the go-ahead as part of a multi-million-pound investment in special needs education.

A planning application to build two new classrooms plus other facilities at Park School on Whitegate Drive has been approved by council officers using delegated powers.

The scheme will see two-storey and first-floor extensions made to The Stables building at the school which was built in 1961 but has been extended over the years to meet demand.

Investment is part of the council’s town-wide plan to ensure children with additional needs can receive their education close to home.

A meeting of the council’s Children and Young People’s Scrutiny Committee was told in June last year that £6.2m of funding was set to be used to build new classroom space in the town including at Park School.

Architects Cassidy and Ashton say in documents accompanying the application: “This proposal will enable Blackpool Council to fulfil their intentions of accommodating children with more complex learning needs within schools in the borough to help build upon their sense of community.

“Currently, pupils are having to travel to educational facilities outside of the borough, at considerable cost to the local authority.

“This project therefore seeks to provide two new ISC (intensive skills) classrooms, alongside ancillary facilities with the first classroom predicted to be ready for September 2025.”

Work will also include alterations to the existing outdoor games area which will be slightly smaller in size, changes to the parking layout and landscaping.

There will be two new full-sized classrooms with retreat space, a wet room and toilets, a sensory therapy room, a staff kitchen where pupils can also learn cooking skills, and an outside play area including a covered area.

No objections were received to the application, with planning officers saying: “The development would update and improve an existing education facility which has not been significantly remodelled since 2002.”

This would “not only improve the existing educational facilities at the site but would also adapt the site for provision of inclusive facilities for ISC learners.”