DESIGNS have been revealed for what could be Didcot’s next primary school.

The Great Western Park Primary School would be built at the southern end of the development outside Didcot.

Plans for the school have been submitted by Oxfordshire County Council to be considered by Vale of White Horse District Council’s planning committee.

Children will be able to be dropped off at three main entrances: a northern gate for Key Stage 2, the south-western public urban square for Foundation Stage and Key Stage 1 and a southern access for KS1.

The school would be on one floor, with classrooms, group work rooms, a library, an arts area, a food technology area and a large hall.

Each classroom will be accessible from outside and has a strip of wet area floor finish to mark the main entrance to the room.

The two form entry primary school – expected to open in September 2015 – will initially take on 60 pupils, but will eventually have 420, making it one of the biggest schools in the area, roughly the same size as All Saints C of E Primary, Manor and Ladygrove Park Primary.

In its first year there will be 30 places made available in reception and 15 in both Year 1 and Year 2. Each following year the school will admit two reception classes.

This is the first school to be set up in the area since the creation of the Willowcroft Community School in 2007.

About 9,000 new homes are set to be built at the Great Western Park development by 2026, creating a need for up to 4,000 school places.

The county council has appointed GEMS Education to run the primary school.

Government guidelines say new schools must be either academies or free schools, reducing the council’s control.

If there are cases of oversubscription GEMS has said that places will be given first to children who are in public care, then to those children who have a sibling living at the same address who already attends the school and finally to those children whose home is nearest the school in straight line distance.

John Boden is the chairman of the development’s resident’s association. He said: “It can only be good to have this.

“It will be great for the residents here because they won’t have to travel very far to get to school.

“It should cut down the number of people driving to the school to drop kids off.”

In the case of there being an identical result for two or more applicants in this last criteria, a place will be allocated at random.

The plans can be reviewed online at oxfordshire.gov.uk and are open to public comments until Friday, August 29. Once the public comments are submitted the district council planners will decide whether the build can go ahead.

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