Multi-million pound school investment

A Government grant of £20 million has been ring-fenced to deal with the increasing number of pupils in the Worthing area. Around £13 million of this is to be used to build a new 900-pupil capacity school on land owned by Northbrook College in Broadwater.

In addition, the County Council has said it is prepared to invest £10 million of its own resources into the town’s schools and will carry out consultations on planned improvements.

One of the main proposals is to ensure schoolchildren in Worthing start secondary school at the age of 11 instead of 12.

Peter Evans, West Sussex County Council Cabinet Member for Children – Start of Life, said: “Funding the Age of Transfer scheme has become a priority for the County Council.

“That is why we have been able to find this significant amount of money for these improvements.

“Although the council is facing huge financial pressures across all of its services, we see this as a golden opportunity for the children of Worthing.”

Mr Evans added that the council had no intention of merging existing schools and teachers but instead wanted to work closely with them to bring proposals forward.

A consultation document, including proposals for each school in the Worthing area is due to be published in November.

If approved, it is expected proposals would be in place by September 2015.