Westmorland and Furness Council has received funding from house builders to provide additional school places for children.

The money is intended to meet additional demand for school places as a result of recent housing developments in the Penrith area.

The money is known as ‘Section 106 funding’ and its purpose is to make sure that there are sufficient school places for the existing local population as well as those living in new housing.

The consultation is regarding the Council’s proposal to increase the number of mainstream school places at Beaconside CE Primary School, and to create some additional specialist places within a resourced provision. The resourced provision provides specialist support for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), within a mainstream setting.

The council’s proposal for Beaconside School is an increase in published admission number (PAN) which is the maximum number of children to be admitted in each year group. It is proposed to increase the PAN from the existing 73 places to 90 place and that this increase will be phased over several years.

The councils proposal would result in a total of 119 additional pupils over a phased period. The council plan to accommodate the increased number of children at the school through new, additional classroom space expanding the school building on the current site.

The number of resourced provision places will increase from 10 to 24. This will enable both Key Stage 2 pupils as well as Key Stage 1 to be accommodated on site.

This will consolidate existing provision within Penrith and negate the need for those children attending the Resourced Provision in Key Stage 1 to transition to North Lakes Junior School in Key Stage 2. Instead, they will be able to remain on roll at Beaconside with their peers in the same year group and continue to receive the specialist support they need.

Westmorland and Furness Council anticipate the construction work required would be completed by September 2026 at the school.

The council has launched a formal consultation on the plans shortly enabling parents and local stakeholders to give views on the plans. Beaconside School currently operates with an Executive Headteacher along with Clifton Primary School, Milburn primary school.

The consultation by Westmorland and Furness Council can be found via :https://goto.penrith.town/expansion-of-beaconside-primary-school