Heathside Walton School – project update, March 2021

I am writing to provide a further update regarding our progress towards opening the new Heathside Walton School.

Elmbridge Borough Council’s Planning Committee granted planning for the new school, Heathside Walton-on-Thames on 3rd June 2020.

Since last summer, work has been continuing apace ready for the school to open in September 2022 with a PAN of 120, four forms of entry, rising to six forms of entry, a PAN of 180, in September 2023. For the academic year 2022-23, the school will open in temporary accommodation on the permanent site on Waterside Drive with work scheduled to prepare for this starting in May 2022.

A planning application for the temporary accommodation and a Section 73 planning application to address some of the hydrological survey findings and to amend the external landscaping, including an external dining area, will be submitted later this Spring.

Subject to planning, BAM, the building contractor appointed to build the new school will start construction on site in late December 2021 and are scheduled to complete the build by May 2023. This will allow us to decant from the temporary accommodation into the permanent buildings by July 2023, ready for the start of the new academic year in September 2023.

Applying for a Place at Heathside Walton-on-Thames

The school will process applications outside the normal local authority process for coordinating school offers for September 2022 admissions, but thereafter, from September 2023, it will be part of the LA’s coordinated process. This means parents will need to complete their LA common application form for their other choices of school in addition to a separate application for Heathside Walton-on Thames. Further details regarding admissions will follow later this year.

ElmWey Learning Trust has been working closely with the DfE and BAM on the detailed design for the new school to ensure that the educational provision provided will match and support the curriculum offer, allowing a first-class education to be delivered.

Yours sincerely

Mrs Anne Cullum
Executive Principal
ElmWey Learning Trust