A school in Bracknell that has been closed for three years is set to be redeveloped to provide a place to teach pupils with special educational needs.
Warfield Church of England Primary School was previously situated at All Saints Rise in the Whitegrove area, opening there in January 1994.
The school opened a new campus in Sopwith Road at the Woodhurst Park development in 2016.
Then, after 28 years, the school in All Saints Rise was closed, with all pupils being relocated to Woodhurst Park in September 2022.
Since then, the All Saints Rise site has been empty, with Bracknell Forest Council opting to redevelop it to provide a place to teach pupils with Social, Emotional and Mental Health (SEMH) challenges.
The redevelopment will involve remodelling and refurbishing the hall and administrative block, and adding a large new extension to provide a two-storey teaching wing and a PE changing facility.
Meanwhile, the existing teaching block and temporary classroom blocks will be demolished.
The school will teach 50 pupils going through secondary education from age 11 to 16.
The project has been given the go-ahead following an assessment by planning officer Simon Roskilly.
Concluding his assessment of the project, he wrote: “The proposed siting, scale and design of the proposed development is considered in-keeping with the area, not adversely affecting the amenity of adjoining properties, not resulting in highway safety implications, provides for suitable biodiversity enhancements or mitigation and will not increase the likelihood of flooding both on-site and off-site.”
The redevelopment was therefore approved by the council’s planning tram leader Margaret McEvitt last month.
Conditions of the development state that the development contractor must provide detailed drainage management plans to mitigate any flood risk before work can start.
Details of the drainage management have since been submitted to the council.
Earlier this year, it was announced that The Propeller Academy Trust had been appointed to run the new SEMH school.
The school will undergo a phased opening, with the first group of 10 pupils starting temporarily at the College Hall site in September 2025.
They will then move to the Warfield site once the redevelopment is complete.
College Hall Pupil Referral Unit (PRU) is situated in West Road, near the Downshire Golf Complex.
The Propeller Academy Trust currently runs the Fitzwarren, Kingfisher and Bishopwood schools, all in South Oxfordshire.
The SEMH school at the Warfield site will be called Forest View, and is due to join in 2027. The trust also acquired Woodeaton Manor school this year.
You can view the approved application by typing reference 24/00722/3 into the council’s planning portal.
The school in Warfield has a heritage stretching back to 1816 when it was founded by Lord Braybrook.
