£1million work planned to boost numbers at Wolverhampton primary school
A council will spend more than £1 million to provide 60 new places at a primary school.
Two new cohorts will be created at Perry Hall Primary School in Wednesfield, Wolverhampton, under £1.1m plans to address “significant” demand for places.
The two classes – made up of 30 additional pupils each in year thee and year five – will start the new school year in September.
The local authority said the increase in school numbers would help address the demand for places in one of the city’s four ‘school planning areas’ which includes Wednesfield, East Park and Heath Town.
According to Wolverhampton City Council, each primary school year group in Wolverhampton had historically grown by around 300 pupils – or ten classes – from the start to the end of primary school.
Figures in the report showed that pupils starting secondary school in Wolverhampton next year have seen their year groups grow by more than 340 pupils from starting primary school in 2018 – already exceeding the average.

The city’s year five cohort has also already grown by nearly 340 pupils according to the same figures.
The current year two cohort has grown by nearly nine classes in three years and the city’s year 1 cohort has already increased by nearly six class sizes in two years.
Key stage two classes – years three, four, five and six – have already increased beyond the historical average with the latter three year groups all rising by more than 11 full classes since starting school seven years earlier.
The report said: “In recent years, there has been a significant increase in demand for in–year primary school places, and this is not abating.
This is due to a combination of factors including migration, regeneration and housing, and the popularity and Ofsted ratings of Wolverhampton schools.
“To meet this demand, additional places are required throughout the city.”
A City of Wolverhampton Council spokesperson said Perry Hall Primary School had shown it continued to provide an education that “reflected the evolving and increasingly complex needs of the pupils” and planned to refurbish and build ‘traditional’ classrooms rather than install ‘modular ‘temporary buildings.
“In recent years, several small group rooms have been established adjacent to key stage one and two classrooms, to allow pupils to work with teachers in smaller numbers outside of the traditional class bases.
“This has allowed the school to support children with progress, who may be disadvantaged or vulnerable.
“[Perry Hall Multi-Academy Trust] wishes to mirror the current ethos and approach with the provision of the bulge classes, acknowledging this would not be feasible with a modular construction.”