OKEHAMPTON’S new primary school building will not be completed in time for the school opening in September, it has emerged.

The new St James Primary and Nursery School will welcome its first intake of reception children in September but they will initially be taught in classrooms set aside at the existing primary on Glendale Road.

The news was shared at a consultation for parents at the existing primary on Friday last week.

Okehampton Primary School head of early years Suzie Stevens said: ’At the moment the new school doesn’t exist, and there are quite a few people panicking asking how they can apply when the school hasn’t been built yet.

‘But it will open in September 2018, with a reception cohort.

‘The plan for the first term is for St James’ to be run from this building, then as soon as we can, we will move up to the new site.’

The news has been greeted with some concern from parents who are facing a long trek from their new homes on the east of Okehampton to the existing primary school.

However John Searson, director of education for the Diocese of Exeter, which is sponsoring the school, reassured parents that work should progress quickly on building the school.‘They are confident that they can put it up quickly because a lot of it is prefabricated,’ he said.

The meeting heard that contractors have recently started work on the site north of the Crediton Road, to the east of Okehampton.

Mr Searson also sought to allay concerns about the school only opening for reception children, saying that work was going on behind the scenes so that the school could open with Years 1 and 2 as well in its first year.

‘We are working with Devon County Council to secure extra funding for that. At the moment the Department for Education policy is to open one year group at a time. However, we have said that it is actually such a trek for some families at the moment and we need to focus on what makes sense for them. We have agreed with Devon County Council that ideally, it would be better to open with Years 1 and 2.’

The new school will be a Church of England school, working closely with the existing Okehampton Primary School. Primary school headteacher Hazel Fox has been appointed executive headteacher of both schools, and is now working on plans for the new school one day a week.

Mrs Stevens said the two schools would complement each other and work closely together.

‘St James will be very much Church of England and about outdoor education, while this school will offer science, maths and technology, so they can use some of the classrooms here as the school becomes a bit smaller. The big thing we also want is for both schools to be fun. We are very proud of what is on offer here, and we want the same for the new school.

‘Our aim really is to make sure that parents have a very very difficult decision choosing between the two schools, because both of them will offer a really good level of education.’

Okehampton county and district councillor Kevin Ball, who was at the meeting, said: ‘It is like two members of the same family, there are similarities but at the same time they are different, each with their own personality.’

One parent asked if she could still apply for a place for her child at the new school.

‘When we first had to apply for places I didn’t know it was an option so I didn’t put it down. Can I change that now?’

Mrs Whittle said there was plenty of flexibility to allow people to change their minds right up until the end of the summer term.

‘Hazel has said she has no problem with people changing their minds, although obviously she has got to think about staffing here and staff up at the new school. The more you as parents can keep us informed, the better,’ she said.

Mr Searson said the Diocese of Exeter wanted to apply to sponsor the school because Okehampton does not currently have a Church of England school. The current primary school, which is will work closely with, is a community primary school, and has assemblies from different churches in Okehampton.

Given that 25% of schools nationally are Church of England, we were always very interested in opening a school in Okehampton,’ he said. ‘And it turns out that there was a St James’s School serving the town in Victorian times, so there’s a nice synergy there,’ he said.

Some parents raised concerns about the school having a Church of England ethos – particularly those who wanted the forest school option which lost out during the tendering bid.

‘You say that 25% of schools in the country are C of E, but 25% of the community are not Christian and don’t really want a Christian school,’ said one, Shivani Chambers.

Mr Searson said: ‘It is a good point, [but] we see church schools as a way of serving the community. There are no religious requirements or faith expectations when you send your child to a Church of England school.

We hope to set a really good example in the way we treat each other. We encourage children to treat each other with respect. They are inclusive schools, and very much promote Christina principles and respect of other faiths.’

The new primary school will serve Okehampton’s growing population, and has been more than ten years in the planning. Being built on a site to the north of Crediton Road, it will serve new housing which is being built to the east of the town.

Greta Button, Okehampton Primary School’s parent support advisor, said: ‘I think the best thing about this is all the families up there will finally have a school that is close to them, that is right there.’

A consultation on the diocese’s plans runs until 5pm until Friday, March 16, and the plans can be viewed online at www.dartmooracademy.org

Further consultation meetings for parents will be held at Okehampton Primary School on 6pm on Monday, February 26 and 9am on Monday, March 5.