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Search the Public Notice PortalAn Oldham secondary school is looking to develop a major extension at its site only two years after opening.
Brian Clarke Church of England Academy first opened in 2022 in temporary cabins at The Blue Coat school nearby before its site was first occupied in April 2024.
Now, a planning application has been submitted to extend the school's main building in an effort to ease queueing problems and to offer more dedicated teaching and support to children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).
Planning documents lay out how the Brian Clarke Academy could see a three-storey extension to the main building, with plans for the ground floor to serve as a large dining hall.
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According to planning documents, the school faces issues with queueing at break times and lunch due to a lack of space, which the proposed dining hall would address.
A design and access statement read: "It has become increasingly apparent that the dining space provided is too small.
"There is a split lunchtime schedule to minimise the number of students and staff accessing the dining facilities at any one time.
"Despite this approach, there are still problems with accommodating the queuing system, due to spatial constraints.
"One of the main purposes of the hall is to provide a less busy and more time efficient queueing and dining experience at break times and lunch, for year 11 students."
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Meanwhile, the proposed second floor would have a new Education Rescource Base (ERB) designed specifically to help SEND students.
According to the plans, the ERB would offer SEND students "specialist teaching and therapeutic support and would "enable the school to provide more local children with additional learning needs the support they deserve through their secondary education".
The other floors proposed in the designs would offer new classrooms on the school's grounds.
The design of the Brian Clarke Academy was in the semblance of mills, with the proposed extension to retain the same design as the existing building should it be approved.
Earlier this year, Oldham Council's Cabinet approved capital investment for the projects at both the Brian Clarke Academy and the Blue Coat School to deliver on SEND targets.
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