Teachers and bosses at a primary school in Caversham whose hopes of increasing the number of pupils were torpedoed could get their way after all.
The Heights Primary School was set up by founding headteacher Karen Edwards in 2014 to address a need for school places in the area.
After years in temporary accommodation at Westfield Road Park in Caversham, the school moved into a permanent new building at the Mapledurham Playing Fields in September 2021.
But last year, bosses had their hopes of increasing the number of pupils at the school dashed in a decision by Reading Borough Council’s planning applications committee.
When permission to build a permanent site for the school was granted in 2018, it was done so on the provision that numbers would be capped at 350 pupils.
The school submitted an application to increase that to 420 pupils in July 2023.
However, councillors refused the application, raising concerns about the impact the expansion could have on other schools in the area.
During the meeting, councillor James Moore (Liberal Democrats, Tilehurst) acknowledged the high standards of teaching at The Heights and lamented that schools in the area are struggling with economic viability.
He said: “I have no doubt in my mind that The Heights provides an excellent education.
“There are many positive points to this application, but I do not feel I can actively support this application due to there not being a pressing need to provide more primary school places in this wider area.”
Cllr Moore also suggested the issue of expansion could be revisited at a later date.
The Heights Primary School has now appealed against the decision to the government’s planning inspectorate.
The school joined the Bellevue Place Education Trust (BPET) in December 2023.
The Heights was described as an ‘exceptional’ school by Ofsted inspectors after a visit last October.
Justifying the appeal, a spokesperson for BPET said: “We believe our application warrants reconsideration. Increasing capacity by 10 pupils per year group would align class sizes with other state schools and address high demand — The Heights is one of Reading’s best schools and has waiting lists for every year group.
“Budget challenges have driven this application, along with our state-of-the-art facilities being able to accommodate 30 pupils per class, with no extra investment necessary to expand this provision.”
You can view the refused application, along with appeal documents, by typing reference PL/23/1023 into the council’s planning portal.
The appeal can be found on the government’s planning inspectorate website using reference APP/E0345/W/25/3365613. Final comments from BPET and the council are due on July 7.
