New primary school approved for Saffron Walden

A new primary school is to be built in Saffron Walden and it will open its doors to its first pupils in September 2017.

The announcement came on Tuesday (July 12) as one of the last acts of former Prime Minister David Cameron.

On his last full day in office, he ate lunch with pupils at Feltham Primary School in West London and confirmed that 31 new free schools would be opened offering another 20,000 primary school places.

These will have academy status and will receive funding directly from the Government and will not be under the control of the local authority.

The new Saffron Walden school, to be called Saffron Primary, will be part of Saffron Academy Trust, which runs Saffron Walden County High and Katherine Semar Infant and Junior Schools.

Where the school will be built and how many pupils it will take are details still to be confirmed.

However, in a statement released yesterday (Wednesday) the trust said the new school’s curriculum and ethos would mirror that of the Katherine Semar schools. Caroline Derbyshire, head of the County High and chief executive office of the Saffron Academy Trust, said she would like to thank all the parents and members of the community who had supported the successful bid for the school.

She added: “The approval is very good news for the town, which needs school places urgently.”

According to the New Schools Network, there are now more than 450 free schools in the UK with 250,000 places.

Mark Hayes, chairman of Saffron Academy Trust said: “We are delighted to have been fast-tracked through the free school assessment process and look forward to delivering an outstanding new primary school for Saffron Walden, achieving the same high standards as our foundation primary Katherine Semar.”