Consultation launched into plans to expand Sheffield secondary school to cope with admission crisis

Plans have been drawn up to increase year seven places at Silverdale School from 180 pupils to 240 pupils from September 2019.

A bid is also being put together to apply for funding which would enable the school building to be expanded to include additional classrooms and other facilities.

The school has already temporarily expanded twice to cope to with a need for places in the south-west of Sheffield because of an increase in births.

School leaders said a permanent expansion is needed despite the new Mercia School being built nearby and have written to parents about the consultation.

The expansion will continue to allow the school to accommodate children from feeder schools, the catchment area and those with siblings already attending.

Roisin Paul, executive headteacher of Chorus Education Trust - of which Silverdale is the founding school - said: "If Silverdale hadn’t taken an additional 60 students for this September, 106 students would have been denied their catchment school in the south-west of the city.

"And 15 students who have siblings in south-west schools would have been placed in different schools.

"This problem isn’t going away, even with the new Mercia school being built.

"It’s clear that additional student numbers are coming through the primary schools, and we want to help supply these extra school places that are so desperately needed."

The expansion will also allow the school to gain additional funding to ensure its future viability.

Mrs Paul added: "Silverdale is an outstanding school and we believe that it’s the right thing to do, to allow more students to come here and take advantage of the education we offer.

"This will also help ensure the long term financial viability of the school, as our funding is based on student numbers.

"All schools are facing challenging financial times but, given that Silverdale is currently smaller than other local secondary schools, it makes sense for us to grow to equal their size.

"We are currently consulting our local community about the proposed increase and look forward to hearing their views.

"We hope that everyone will see that this is an important investment in the future of Sheffield’s young people”

The consultation ends on Friday, July 13. To take part visit www.silverdale.sheffield.sch.uk/consultations