DEVON County Council has announced it has secured a site for a new primary school in Okehampton, and a local partnership has unveiled plans it will be putting forward for the site.

The 1.7 hectare site, to the north of Crediton Road, will accommodate a new primary school of up to 420 pupils with additional provision for early years children. The total cost of the site is around £1.2-million.

Devon County Council’s cabinet member for schools and councillor for Hatherleigh and Chagford, James McInnes, said: ‘I’m delighted that the second primary school site has been secured for Okehampton. This will give strong primary school provision for the future.’

Okehampton county councillor Kevin Ball said: ‘Although it has taken longer than any of us hoped, it is brilliant news that the site is finally secured. 

‘This means there will be a local primary on the eastern side of Okehampton to provide school places for our growing town for many years to come. I am delighted.’

Under new Government rules, applications can now be submitted to the Department for Education from organisations which want to run the school under the free school programme.

One such organisation is Okehampton Primary School, in partnership with Okehampton College and the Diocese of Exeter. The partnership is looking to establish a new Church of England primary and nursery school on the site to serve the new housing planned for the east of the town.

The school is keen to consult with Okehampton residents to hear views on their proposals and what else people may want from a new school.

Hazel Fox, headteacher of Okehampton Primary School said: ‘Housing developments within the town mean that Okehampton needs more primary school places and we can offer a high quality local solution. The project partners share a strong track record in educating the young people of Okehampton and we are excited to be part of the next phase for the town.

‘We invite residents of Okehampton to look at the proposals on our website and to feed in their views so that our application can reflect local feeling.’

Daryll Chapman, principal of Okehampton College said: ‘I am delighted to lend our support to this project which will give parents in the town a genuine choice and ensure that children are able to get off to the very best start when they join the college at 11 years old.’

The new school would be a free school academy. It would have a distinctive Christian character and be open, welcoming and nurturing to children of all faiths and world views.

Such schools are funded by the government but not run by the local council. This gives a school more control over things like pay and conditions for staff, the length of school terms and the school day and whether or not to follow the national curriculum.

Under Okehampton Primary School’s plans, the national curriculum subjects would be taught at the school should it get the go-ahead, but there would be opportunities to be more creative with the school’s curriculum. The team behind the project have said the school would make the most of its Dartmoor setting to develop pupils’ character, self-discipline and resilience through additional outdoor learning.

John Searson, director of education for the Diocese of Exeter said: ‘We are delighted that there is the possibility of opening a new school to serve the children and families of Okehampton and that we can explore this possibility in partnership with Okehampton Primary and Community College.

‘I know from first-hand experience about the high quality of education provided by these two schools and I relish the prospect of opening a new Church of England primary school that can benefit from this outstanding local expertise and collaborative practice.’

No firm date has yet been set for a second primary school to open, though detailed design work for the new school has already been commissioned by Devon County Council.

Proposals for the new school plans can be viewed online at www.dartmooracademy.org