Staffordshire schools set to be refurbished in £50m spending programme

Cabinet members at Staffordshire County Council approved the capital programme for schools for 2025/26 at their Wednesday meeting – and heard that in the years ahead two new schools will be needed in the north of Stafford.

Work is also taking place on the Rugeley John Taylor School, which is set to welcome its first pupils later this year. And £10m of the latest capital programme has been earmarked for enhancing existing facilities for pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), cabinet member Jonathan Price said.

He added: “We’re committed to providing the best possible education for every child, and our targeted investment in schools demonstrates this commitment. We recognise that school buildings play a crucial role in supporting teaching and learning and strive to create environments that promote well-being, academic success, and sustainability.

“By focusing on maintenance, upgrades, and expansion, we aim to ensure that all students have access to safe, modern, and efficient learning spaces. Additionally, we are committed to making our schools more energy-efficient, supporting the county council’s goal of achieving net zero carbon emissions.”

Last year four new primary schools were opened in Staffordshire. Other schools have been expanded to add places and improve their provision for SEND, including Walton Hall Academy in Stafford Borough, Littleton Green Primary School near Cannock and Rocklands School in Lichfield.

Deputy leader Councillor Philip White said at Wednesday’s cabinet meeting: “This is one of the finest things we do as an authority, supporting the 125,000 children we have in Staffordshire in over 400 schools to receive what is fairly consistently an excellent education. But education needs places where you can learn and the school environment defines that learning experience in many ways for children.

“Our responsibility is focused on those schools that are still local authority-maintained schools. Our capital programme represents a little over £50m of spending on schools on an annual basis and that spending is derived from a variety of funding sources – about £8m comes from Section 106 agreements with developers.

“In terms of priorities, we have a number of areas we are focused on. Those are ensuring we secure the right number of school places in the right areas in our county, developing our in-county provision for children with special educational needs and disabilities and ‘safe, warm and dry’ – this is the basic maintenance and upkeep of schools.

“The next area is around toilets – a slightly unfashionable topic of discussion but really key in terms of the school estate. There are issues with many children in schools who do not go to the toilet when they need to because they feel uncomfortable using the facilities, so we have a programme that has run for many years of creating safe and comfortable toilet spaces for children to use.

Another key objective is meeting our climate change and sustainability obligations. We use a lot of this programme to replace and improve heating systems, which is good for the environment and the taxpayer because it reduces the cost of running those schools considerably.”

Councillor White also spoke of the “excellent progress” being made with bringing forward Staffordshire’s first all-through school, which is due to open at the former Rugeley Power Station site in September. “That is a really significant project for the county and a really key element in provision, giving choice to parents in that area of the county in terms of secondary school education”, he said.

“In terms of our anticipated basic need, we have two projects that will require cabinet approval in the future. Those are a new secondary school and new primary school to the north of Stafford – one of our key growth points in the county and a really significant investment colleagues will be asked to make.”

Full list of works planned for Staffordshire schools during 2025/26

Newcastle Borough

• Baldwins Gate CofE(VC) Primary School – external walls, windows and doors, internal door replacement

• Betley CofE VC Primary School – fire safety, upgrade of external store

• Cedars – Newcastle, Moorlands and Darwin Bases – replacement fencing – RHS boundary – replace metal railings

• Hassell Primary School – EY play area development

• Hugo Meynell CofE (VC) Primary School – external walls, windows and doors

• May Bank Infants’ School – electrical services, toilet refurbishment

• Oaklands Nursery School – roof repair/replace

• Ravensmead Primary School – roof repair/replace, classroom refurbishment, external boundary fencing, pedestrain gate security – install maglock and intercom

• Sir John Offley CofE (VC) Primary School – replacement of timber fencing to rear of site that encloses N/R play areas, toilet refurbishment, conversion to mains water

• St Luke’s CofE (C) Primary School – EY external area refurbishment

• St Margaret’s CofE (VC) Junior School – mechanical services, annexe playground fencing

Staffordshire Moorlands

• Cheadle Primary School – create parking facility adjacent to main entrance

• Endon Hall Primary School – replacement of single glazed timber windows, playing field drainage works, drainage

• Forsbrook CofE Controlled Primary School – electrical services, additional parking to reduce congestion around main building parking areas.

• Horton Lodge Community Special School – mechanical services, site security improvements

• Moor First School – mechanical services, classroom refurbishment

• St Anne’s CofE (VC) Primary School – fire safety

• The William Amory Primary School – electrical services, fire safety, reception classroom improvements, toilet refurbishment

Stafford Borough

• Berkswich CofE (VC) Primary School – canopy for the reception class base outdoor play area, toilet refurbishment

• Burton Manor Primary School – roof repair/replace, internal remodelling offering access control to the KS1 department, toilet refurbishment

• Flash Ley Primary School – TRVs to existing radiators and distribution pipework

• Fulford Primary School – mechanical services

• Springcroft Primary School – roof repair/replace, remodelling to increase size of accessible WC

• Springfields First School – LED lighting and controls

• Stafford Manor High School – mechanical services, LED lighting in high usage areas, replacement of the hall ceiling and lighting, balustrade improvements – raising height to comply with regulations

• Walton Priory Middle School – roof repair/replace, extend current dwarf walls to create full height partitions

Cannock Chase District

• Bridgtown Primary – replace boilers, replace decked seating area to KS2 plaground, toilet refurbishment, resurface/replace (widen) path

• Chadsmoor Infants – roof repair/replace, toilet refurbishment

• Chadsmoor Junior – shutter door replacement, replace hall floor

• Chancel Primary School – roof repair/replace, replace light fittings, toilet refurbishment, install pedestrian barriers in car park

• Chase View Primary – external hardstanding

• Five Ways Primary – ceilings replacement

• Gorsemoor Primary – roof repair/replace

• Hednesford Nursery – environmental improvements to external play areas

• Hob Hill Primary School – shutter door replacement

• Jerome Primary – shutter door replacement

• Norton Canes High School – mechanical services

• St Lukes Primary – remodel visitor reception and admin area

• The John Bamford Primary School – external steps

• West Hill Primary School – structural works

South Staffordshire District

• Blakeley Heath Primary School – structural works, improvement of the pedestrian and visitor entry to the site.

• Glenthorne Community Primary School – boiler room refurb

• Landywood Primary School – roof repair/replace, BMS installation, toilet refurbishment

• Perton First School – suspended ceiling and LED lighting scheme, remodel front car park

• Westfield Primary School – boiler room refurb, LED lighting phase #1, external boundary fencing, toilet refurbishment

Lichfield District

• Chase Terrace Primary – roof repair/replace, toilet refurbishment

• Christ Church Primary – external hardstanding

• Fulfen Primary School – roof repair/replace

• Hayes Meadow Primary – replace rubber crumb to EY external play

• King Edward Vi School – external walls, windows and doors

• St Stephens Primary – roof repair/replace

• The Croft – external walls, windows and doors

• Thomas Barnes Primary School – external walls, windows and doors

Tamworth Borough

• Amington Heath Primary School and Nursery – external playground, community and SEN facility, toilet refurbishment

• Ashcroft Infants’ School – mechanical services, electrical services

• Florendine Primary School – electrical services

• Hanbury’s Farm Community Primary School – roof repair/replace, floors and stairs, fire safety works

• Kettlebrook short stay school – roof repair/replace, electrical services, security fencing/enclosure

East Staffordshire Borough

• Abbot Beyne School – external walls, windows and doors, replace one boiler now redundant, fencing works (safeguarding),

• Holy Trinity CofE (C) Primary School – Replacement of the lighting in school with LED fittings

• Paget High School -external walls, windows and doors, circulation and access

• Victoria Community School – external walls, windows and doors