Work starts on new £4million school between Horsham and Crawley

Work has officially started on a new £4million school in Pease Pottage.
MP for Horsham, Jeremy Quin and Rob Boughton, CEO of Thakeham Group join school children from Warninglid Primary School to celebrate the start of building the new £4 million Woodgate Primary School at Pease Pottage. Photo by Jon RigbyMP for Horsham, Jeremy Quin and Rob Boughton, CEO of Thakeham Group join school children from Warninglid Primary School to celebrate the start of building the new £4 million Woodgate Primary School at Pease Pottage. Photo by Jon Rigby
MP for Horsham, Jeremy Quin and Rob Boughton, CEO of Thakeham Group join school children from Warninglid Primary School to celebrate the start of building the new £4 million Woodgate Primary School at Pease Pottage. Photo by Jon Rigby

Work has officially started on a new £4million school in Pease Pottage.

This was celebrated at a groundbreaking ceremony for the new Woodgate Primary School on Friday (July 10), with Horsham MP Jeremy Quin and two schoolchildren from Warninglid Primary School amongst the invited guests of developer Thakeham and housing provider Radian.

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Warninglid pupils will be amongst the first to attend Woodgate when it opens, which is expected to happen at the beginning of the 2021/22 school year.

The new-build 210-pupil school at Pease Pottage will offer five classrooms and early years nursery provision, a main hall, library, multifunctional space and a special educational needs room.

Mr Quin said: “I was delighted to hear about the new school and see where it will be provided. Schools in our area are rightly well regarded and I am sure this school will be a great asset for the community.”

Nigel Jupp, cabinet member for education and skills at West Sussex County Council, added: “This is a significant milestone in the building of an excellent new facility for pupils, including those relocating from Warninglid Primary School.”

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The Woodgate development is a joint venture between Thakeham Group and Radian at a 45-hectare site off Parish Lane to the south of Crawley and to the east of the Moto service station in Pease Pottage.

It will include 619 new homes, a shop and cafe, community centre, parks and a new home for St Catherine’s Hospice.

Rob Boughton, chief executive officer of Thakeham Group, said: “We have sought to fund and deliver Woodgate Primary School at an early stage of the development. This is because the school will play such a crucial role in inspiring a thriving new community.

“We are grateful to everyone who has played their part in offering feedback and helping us to design a school to make West Sussex proud.”

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Stephen Lodge, executive director for development and strategic asset management at Radian Group, added: “It’s great to be building a school that will offer so much for local children and give them access to state of the art facilities. By building the school first we will have the foundations for the heart of a new community.”

The groundbreaking ceremony came in the same week as the Chancellor announced a £1billion programme to make public sector buildings, including schools, meet net zero by 2050.

As an infrastructure-led placemaker Thakeham launched its own plans to become carbon neutral by 2025 earlier this year.

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