Southwark Council’s cabinet has agreed to launch a formal consultation on the expansion of Rotherhithe Primary School in Rotherhithe New Road  from two to three forms of entry.

The expansion is to be part-financed by community infrastructure levy (CIL) payments from the major developments at Canada Water.

An extract from the cabinet report discussed on Tuesday:

An analysis of existing application and enrolment trends, as well as pupil projections and recent engagement with the developers has evidenced a need for additional provision in the Rotherhithe peninsular area.

To this end, we have engaged with schools in the area and have ascertained that Rotherhithe Primary School would be suitable for expansion – presently, the school is a 2FE school housed in a variety of buildings that are in a state of poor repair.

A rebuild of the school – full or partial – would allow us to be able to expand the school to contribute to meeting the needs of the new communities anticipated by the Canada Water development.

Therefore, Cabinet approval is sought to proceed to formal consultation for the expansion of the school from 2FE (60 pupils per year group) to 3FE (90).

The school will temporarily expand for 2015-2016, and 2016-2017, with a target for permanent expansion of September 2018.

The school was rated “Good” by Ofsted when inspected in 2014. This would be financed in part by the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) deriving from the Canada Water development on the peninsula.