Weldon Village Academy has been given the go ahead after full planning permission was granted by North Northamptonshire Council.
The co-educational secondary school, which is to be situated on land off Oundle Road, Weldon, near Corby, will provide 1,200 places for students in Years 7 to 11 and 300 post-16 places. This will help meet the increased demand for pupil places in the area.
The planning application was jointly submitted by the Department for Education, Cambridge Meridian Academies Trust (CMAT), and BAM Construction. CMAT will be the chosen sponsor for the school.
Alongside the construction of the secondary school building will be a sports hall with external sport and recreation areas and landscaping.
Building work is expected to start by the end of 2021. Weldon Village Academy is then expected to be open in time for the 2023/24 academic year.
CMAT oversees 23 academies including The Ferrers School in Higham Ferrers, Northamptonshire. Since joining CMAT in 2019, The Ferrers School has undergone a rapid transformation and has recently been rated Good by Ofsted following an Inadequate rating in 2018.
Mark Woods, Chief Executive Officer at Cambridge Meridian Academies Trust (CMAT), said: “A lot of hard work has gone in to ensuring the plans for Weldon Village Academy are the very best they can be so we are naturally delighted that North Northamptonshire Council has approved these plans.
“The new school and its state-of-the-art facilities will help our young people foster a lifelong love of learning, and ensure they develop the necessary skills required to become resilient, independent and confident learners.
“Together with the Department for Education and other project partners, we look forward to delivering a high-quality educational provision for the whole of the Weldon and Corby community to enjoy and benefit from.”
When complete, the school building will be three storeys high. The sports provision includes a multi-use games area, two-full sized football pitches, and three five-a-side pitches.
It also provides safe, dedicated access to parking and drop off areas, as well as cycle and pedestrian links to the main building entrances and sports areas. A new roundabout will be created on the A427 Oundle Road to help with access to the new school.
For more information, visit: https://www.weldonva.org/