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Education and Learning Infrastructure Plan

Find out about the planned responses to the need for new school places across Suffolk.

The Education and Learning Infrastructure Plan is currently being redrafted and will appear here soon.

The latest version will look at where there will be the need for more school places in Suffolk in the future. It also gives details of how the council plans to respond to these changes in the number of learners across the county.

Information about proposals for new schools in Suffolk

Information about open competitions seeking proposals from appropriate sponsors here.

Free school presumption at Henley Gate Neighbourhood

Suffolk County Council will soon be seeking applications from which to identify its preferred academy trust to run a new mainstream primary school for children aged 4 to 11.

The new school will be located on Ipswich Garden Suburb on the development know as Henley Gate. The Henley Gate neighbourhood is located to the north of the railway line between Henley Road and Westerfield Road. This It will be the first of 3 primary schools planned for the Ipswich Garden Suburb and the only primary school to be located on Henley Gate.

Suffolk County Council plans to launch a competition under the free school presumption legislation and plans to invites proposals from Academy Trusts who wish to establish and run the new primary school. The Council’s process meets the statutory requirements of the Education Act 2011.

The new school is being developed as a result of the forecast increase in pupil numbers resulting from the new Ipswich Garden Suburb development, the proposed opening date for the new school is September 2025. The school will open with capacity for 1 form of entry (FE) of pupils, 210 places, and will grow to 2FE, 420 places, as demand increases.

Although the school will be built to accommodate 1FE initially, it may be necessary to limit the PAN whilst the school grows to ensure that the opening of the school does not have a negative impact on the surrounding schools and to ensure that there are sufficient places for those moving into the area.

There will also be a dedicated EY provision on the site, initially to accommodate up to 30 children, this will also have the capacity to grow and in time will be able to accommodate up to 60 children. The new school and pre school are currently in design, which will soon be submitted for planning permission, therefore the successful trust will not have the opportunity to influence the design of the new school.

The maps below show the location of the Henley Gate development and the location of the new primary school on the development. The images are taken from the Ipswich Garden Suburb Supplementary Planning Document.

The closing date for this pre consultation was 22 November 2023.

Proposed new primary free school in Stowmarket, Suffolk

The local authority has been successful in our bid to the Department for Education to open a new primary free school in Suffolk and are now seeking proposals from appropriate sponsors.

The new 210 place primary free school in Stowmarket will provide places for young people aged 4 to 11 years. A 60 place pre-school will also be located on site and Sponsors will also be asked to consider offering places to 2 year olds.

These files may not be suitable for users of assistive technology. Request an accessible format. 

In the meantime, the Department for Education website outlines more about the process: Apply to open a special or alternative provision free school.

Contact us

If you have any questions, contact the Schools Infrastructure Team at schools@suffolk.gov.uk.

Deadline to submit application forms was Friday 7 August 2020. 

Proposed new special free school in Bungay, Suffolk

The local authority has been successful in our bid to the Department for Education to open a new special free school in Suffolk and are now seeking proposals from appropriate sponsors.

The new 80 place free school in Bungay will provide places for young people aged 9 to 16 years with complex communication and interaction needs.

The closing date for proposals has now passed.

These files may not be suitable for users of assistive technology. Request an accessible format. 

In the meantime, the Department for Education website outlines more about the process: Apply to open a special or alternative provision free school.

Information event for prospective providers

An information event for providers interested in applying for either of the two new special schools was held on Thursday 12 March 2020. Download the information shared at the event (PDF, 483KB)

The information event was held for prospective providers interested in applying for either of the two new special schools: 

  • Communication and Interaction School in Bungay
  • School for pupils with Social, Emotional and Mental Health Needs in Bury St Edmunds.

Update

We are still intending to go ahead with interviews for the new special schools in Suffolk in late April (27, 28 and 30). Clearly, circumstances now mean that interviews will need to be carried out using Skype rather then face to face. If your trust is invited to interview and finds itself unable to meet the interview date because of illness, we will ask you to let us know so that we can agree alternative arrangements. If you have any questions about this, please contact joy.stodart@suffolk.gov.uk

Contact us

If you have any questions, contact the Schools Infrastructure Team at schools@suffolk.gov.uk.

Deadline to submit application forms was Friday 3 April 2020

Proposed new special free school in Moreton Hall, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk

The local authority has been successful in our bid to the Department for Education to open a new special free school in Suffolk and are now seeking proposals from appropriate sponsors.

The new 80 place free school in Bury St Edmunds will provide places for young people aged 9 to 16 years with complex social, emotional and mental health needs.

The closing date for proposals has now passed.

This file may not be suitable for users of assistive technology. Request an accessible format. 

In the meantime, the Department for Education website outlines more about the process: Apply to open a special or alternative provision free school.

Information event for prospective providers

An information event for providers interested in applying for either of the two new special schools was held on Thursday 12 March 2020. Download the information shared at the event (PDF, 483KB)

The information event was held for prospective providers interested in applying for either of the two new special schools: 

  • Communication and Interaction School in Bungay
  • School for pupils with Social, Emotional and Mental Health Needs in Bury St Edmunds.

Update

We are still intending to go ahead with interviews for the new special schools in Suffolk in late April (27, 28 and 30). Clearly, circumstances now mean that interviews will need to be carried out using Skype rather then face to face. If your trust is invited to interview and finds itself unable to meet the interview date because of illness, we will ask you to let us know so that we can agree alternative arrangements. If you have any questions about this, please contact joy.stodart@suffolk.gov.uk

Contact us

If you have any questions, contact the Schools Infrastructure Team at schools@suffolk.gov.uk.

Deadline to submit application forms was Friday 3 April 2020 

Free school presumption competition - primary school in Lakenheath, Suffolk

The opening of the new free school in Lakenheath has been delayed from 2019 until a date yet to be agreed. This is due to a delay in determination of the housing planning applications, new school will serve the pupils arising from these developments.

The local authority was seeking proposals from appropriate sponsors to open a new 210-place primary free school in Lakenheath, to open in September 2019.

The closing date for proposals has now passed.

For all enquiries, please contact schools@suffolk.gov.uk.

Deadline for receipt of proposals was Friday 4 May 2018 at midday.

Proposed new special free school in Ipswich, Suffolk

The local authority was seeking proposals from appropriate sponsors to open a new 60-place SEMH/ASD free school in Ipswich.

The closing date for proposals has now passed.

For all enquiries, please contact schools@suffolk.gov.uk.

Proposed new primary school in Red Lodge, Suffolk

Under Section 6a of the Education & Inspections Act 2006 (the ‘free school presumption’) where a LA identifies the need to establish a new school they must, in the first instance, seek proposals to establish an academy. Suffolk County Council has identified the need to establish a new primary school in Red Lodge to open in September 2018.

The authority was seeking proposals from appropriate sponsors to open this new school. This school would be deemed a free school.

The closing date for proposals has now passed.

The authority is also planning to provide a new school at Lakenheath which is also in the Forest Heath area. This may be of interest to potential sponsors of Red Lodge.

Suffolk Special Free School

The Department for Education is inviting applications from proposer groups to open a new special free school in Suffolk. Applicant groups can access the key school specification information, along with the full ‘How to Apply’ guidance, using the following link: GOV.UK. You should read these documents carefully before completing mandatory pre-registration.

Suffolk Contextual Information - SEND Free School

Suffolk Specification - SEND Free School