Willenhall school expansion plans will bring new classrooms
A school in Willenhall will expand with two extra classrooms in a newly built block, under new plans.
Plans have been lodged with Walsall Council to build a new single storey building at Barcroft Primary School, in Elm Street, creating space for the classrooms, storage rooms and a cloakroom.
Pupils from Barcroft Primary School moved into a new £8 million building in Elm Street in autumn 2011.
Previously, the school operated as a split site with key stage two pupils based at Albion Road and key stage one students at Elm Street.
The plans aim to give the school, which is large enough to cater for more than 400 pupils, additional space for group teaching.
A report, which has been submitted with the planning application, reads: "The use of the site remains unchanged, and the proposed building probably provides additional screening between the neighbouring properties and the playground.
"The new building will have interlocking timber log walls, stained to match the tone of the orange brickwork of the school – and of the existing mono-pitch log cabin type playstore in the rear playground.
"The upper gables of the walls will be clad in pale grey Eternit sheet cladding, to match the panelling on the existing school.
"The project does not have any effect on the number of pupils in the school, and will not result in any increased foot or vehicle traffic."
Albion Road Junior and Elm Street Infants merged to form Barcroft Primary in October 2005 but had continued to operate on two separate sites.
The new school was constructed using environmentally friendly and sustainable materials such as timber from renewable sources.
It has indoor and outdoor classrooms, a food and design technology room, library and research and ICT facilities.
The school playground was also built with it own pirate ship.
Funding for the scheme was approved by Walsall Council in 2008.
It comes as other schools in the borough are also hoping to expand.
Plans to build a multi-million pound teaching block at Joseph Leckie Academy were recently given the go ahead by Walsall Council.
The £3.5 million, three-storey block will create 21 new classroom.
Work is due to begin at the site in Walstead Road, Delves this month.
The government funded revamp will replace run down classrooms and will be completed in March 2016.
The school became an academy in 2012 and currently has 1,200 pupils and 300 sixth-form students.
A decision on the proposals for Barcroft Primary School is due to be made by planning chiefs in the upcoming months.
