Angel Road Junior School site's future to be considered

Angel Road Junior School in Norwich has been empty since June 2021 after falling ceiling tiles saw pupils moved out as a safety precaution.

It was initially planned as a temporary measure, with pupils taught in spare classrooms of two neighbouring schools - St Clement's Hill Primary and Angel Road Infant School.

But with pupils now permanently taught at Angel Road Infant, the Victorian building has been left vacant, with the Evolution Academy Trust due to return it to Norfolk County Council.

This has prompted Labour councillors to call for the site to be renovated and repurposed as a school for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).

And education bosses at County Hall have now confirmed that this plan is under consideration.

Penny Carpenter, Norfolk County Council cabinet member for children's services (Image: Norfolk County Council)

In a written response to Sewell councillor Julie Brociek-Coulton about the proposals, cabinet member for children's services Penny Carpenter said: "As part of the process for any vacated property we consider the potential use of such assets for children's service.

"This will involve how this building could support our Local First Inclusion programme and will therefore be considered as part of the SEND sufficiency and capital workstream."

The Local First Inclusion programme is a scheme the council is running over the next six years which aims to expand and improve provision for SEND children in the region. 

It aims to create around 1,000 new specialist school places in the county.

Steve Morphew, leader of the Labour group at County Hall, said: "We are encouraged by the response and will be putting all of our efforts into persuading the county council that this should be the right solution for the school site."