Plans unveiled for new Miles Platting primary school

Manchester City Council and New East Manchester have unveiled plans for a new £5.5 million primary school in Miles Platting in east Manchester.

To be called Park View Community School, and part of the regeneration programme for the area, it will be an amalgamation of Nicolas Varley and St Mark's CE Primary, and offer 420 primary school places and 60 nursery places.

Located on the current St Mark's site, it will be an exemplar primary school, fully accessible, with a nursery and 12 classrooms, state-of-the-art ICT facilities and library, sports facilities and assembly hall. The building will also offer a wider community use.

Councillor Sheila Newman, Manchester City Council's Executive Member, Children's Services, said: "The new school will provide first class teaching and learning facilities and will help further drive up educational standards and ensure that every child reaches their full potential."

Tom Russell, Chief Executive of New East Manchester said: "The development of Park View forms a key component in the Miles Platting PFI scheme. Regeneration is not just about building new homes. It is about creating sustainable communities. This new school will not only help improve the educational attainment of the existing pupils but benefit generations of children to come."

John Tennant, who will be the headteacher for Park View said: "The plans are extremely exciting and the new school will be a fantastic state-of-the-art education and community facility for the people of Miles Platting. We have involved the children in many of the key decisions, including the name of the school, the new logo and even the navy blue colour of the uniform. All children will receive a high standard of education with an emphasis on good citizenship and a strong focus on arts, drama and IT."

To be designed by Ellis Williams Architects and built by Bramall Construction, work is due to start in Spring 2008, with the new school planned to open for the Autumn 2009 school term.

A new Sure Start centre will also be located on the same site creating a campus catering for children aged 6 months to 11 years old. Work on the separate Sure Start building will start later this summer. St Mark's Primary pupils will temporarily transfer to the Nicolas Varley site in September following some adaptation of the existing school.

For more information visit http://www.neweastmanchester.com/.

Media contact Roz Hughes, tel: 0161 223 1155