Support for the expansion of Fourfields school in Sutterton

The expansion of an oversubscribed village primary school has been given the seal of approval.

Education chiefs at the county council have put together plans to build two more classrooms for Sutterton’s Fourfields school to meet rising demand for places.

The plans met with the approval of the children and young people scrutiny committee on Friday and will now be decided by executive councillor Patricia Bradwell this week.

The school, which serves Sutterton, Wigtoft, Fosdyke and Algarkirk, currently has 158 children on roll - despite technically having a capacity of 140.

A small 35m2 former resource area is currently being used as a temporary classroom - and council officer Matthew Clayton said this was OK for 20 pupils but would not fit 30 children when a larger year group cohort came to need it - and the school would be forced to mix up year groups across classes.

The issue has been caused by larger-than-normal intakes in recent years - and another big number of places is expected to be needed in 2023 or 2024.

The new classrooms would see the school take 30 pupils a year instead of 20 - taking the capacity up to 210.

Mr Clayton stressed: “It’s about making local provision for the local children - it’s not so more people can attend from further afield, it’s a local demand.”

Coun Colin Matthews, from Alford and Sutton, asked if there was enough forward planning in this decision, given the development in the south of the county and the chance that the population will grow even more.

He said: “The world is creeping up the A16 towards us.”

Mr Clayton said there may need to be a new school in the future if that is the case - but confident that this current plan can cater for the imminent demand.

He also said that resident concerns over parking can be addressed when a planning application is lodged to cover the detail of the new building.