School building scheme approved

The new Thistley Hough High School will have space for 1,150 pupils

Two schools in Stoke-on-Trent are to be rebuilt entirely and an extension added to a third site as part of a government financed building project.

Outline planning permission has been granted by the city council to rebuild Thistley Hough High School, in Penkhull and Brownhills High School, Tunstall.

Both schools will be able to cater for 1,150 pupils under the Building Schools for the Future scheme (BSF).

Plans were also approved for a sports hall at Haywood High School in Burslem.

Art-deco

The BSF project is a £250m programme to rebuild or refurbish secondary and special schools throughout the city.

Thistley Hough was built in an Art-deco style in 1930 and was extended in the 1970s.

It has 858 pupils on the school roll and will be rebuilt on an 11,000sq m site.

Brownhills High School is to be rebuilt as an academy measuring 10,500sq m over two or three storeys, financed by Co-op Travel Group which is based in the city.

Construction work is scheduled to take place between 2011-2013 and is expected to take between 18-24 months to for a new build school.