Concerns have been raised over the impact a County Durham village’s expansion will have on school places. 

Coxhoe Primary School issued a desperate plea for additional funding to help it cope with the expanding number of children living within its catchment area. The current school site has been described as “unfit for purpose” and will reach full capacity next year due to the rising number of new homes being built in the village. 

Plans to build 83 homes on land west of Coronation Terrace were approved by a planning committee on Tuesday and is the latest proposal in an ongoing expansion of the village. School staff urged the latest housing developer to provide a direct financial contribution towards the school but its plea failed.

“Coxhoe Primary School is currently unfit for purpose; it reaches full capacity next year,” said county councillor Viv Anderson. She added: “This school needs an extension and this school needs the money that could be provided by this and other developers in and around the Coxhoe area.”

The current school site has been described as “unfit for purpose”The current school site has been described as “unfit for purpose” (Image: Google)

The alarming plight of the school's learning environment was highlighted at the committee meeting, as teachers and pupils struggle to cope with the building’s ageing condition. 

Cllr Anderson said: “It is a school that has a classroom in a corridor. There is a class taught on an open mezzanine floor level above another class. This is highly unacceptable for a primary school and highly unacceptable that teachers and pupils should have to go to school under these conditions. 

“We have a situation where there is a school hall that can’t even have a full assembly. It is used for dining purposes and takes from 12.15pm to 1.30pm to serve all the pupils, there is not enough room in this school. 

“The teachers and headteacher are doing an amazing and tremendous job with the pupils but they are at a crossroads, a standstill at how further they can proceed as it stands.”

In 2017, a three-classroom extension was built, taking capacity up to 322. Governors at the school have recently commissioned an extension to accommodate more pupils from the new developments, costing approximately £1.2 million, and have urged local developers to pay. 

Jayne Bartle, headteacher at Coxhoe Primary School, said: “The vast majority of parents who live in Coxhoe choose to send their children to their local village school.”

She told the meeting how the historic nature of the site restricts the possibility of teaching bigger classes. Up to 18 children are currently being taught in a corridor “because the demand for places is exceeding the physical capacity of our old school building”, Mrs Bartle added. 

Councillor Anderson said the idea of children walking to other schools in Bowburn, Kelloe and West Cornforth via a busy roundabout and on unlit country roads was unsafe. She added: “All the children in Coxhoe should be able to attend their primary school - and Coxhoe Primary School needs the money that the developer isn’t currently providing.”

Durham County Council’s policy states that a primary contribution will be required if there are insufficient primary places within two miles of a development. Yet, its education officers said there would be sufficient space at nearby primary schools including Coxhoe, Bowburn, Kelloe and West Cornforth. The nearest Secondary School is Ferryhill School.

Mrs Bartle believes everyone living in Coxhoe has a right to attend their nearest school. 

She said: “Our school’s concern is that the additional housing will lead to village residents, who were previously eligible to attend, forced to attend other local schools outside the village and walk across the motorway roundabout or unlit country roads. 

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“We’re really proud of the contribution that our excellent school makes to our village, as are our parents, but we need developers who are building extra homes in our community to support our school to deliver the education that the children need. 

“Our school, while physically on the outskirts of the village, is actually at the heart and we believe that every child who lives in Coxhoe should attend the village school.”

Gleeson Homes said the new development will provide “much-needed” family housing in the community and will instead fund other local health and education services.