Following the national picture, births in Sheffield rose by 25% between 2002 and 2012. This increase in population is now coming through into the secondary sector, and school places have been at or near full capacity since 2018/19. Mainstream demand is not evenly distributed across the city and pressure is greatest in the southwest of the city. There is a pressure on secondary school places by local children who live within this catchment area and this is forecast to continue until the end of the decade.

This proposal will ensure that the city can meet the needs of its secondary age students by providing school places within the catchment areas.

We are not proposing to link any admissions change to this expansion – Silverdale School will remain a community school for local children.

This consultation will run from Monday 25 April and ends on Tuesday 24 May 2022 at noon. As the consultation progresses, and if further queries arise, we will update the FAQs on our website. Consultation responses will then be considered by Silverdale School and the Chorus Board of Trustees and they will consider, if appropriate, what changes we need to make to our proposals. If Trustees then decide to proceed with the expansion then a business case will be submitted to the Regional Schools Commissioner, as required under Department of Education guidance.

Although Silverdale’s current official “Pupil Allocation Number” (PAN) is 1,300, we have had more students than this in some year groups, in school for many years now. This is in response to the high demand for places locally, and the economies of scale that being a larger school brings.

A breakdown of current and future numbers is below:

Under the new arrangements we do not expect to go over PAN as in previous years – instead the PAN and the reality will be matched more closely.

The overall look and feel of our current building will not change as a result of these works, the internal changes will be in keeping with the current design. To accommodate the extra students, we propose to have a new building adjacent to the current school building. The outward and internal appearance of the new building will also be in line with the design of the current school building.

Please note this is not a planning consultation. Silverdale School and Chorus Trust will handle all planning matters separately through a formal planning application submission, and there will be detailed analysis on all possible impacts on residents. Full designs and specifications for the project will be shared, and people will be able to respond formally through the planning portal www.sheffield.gov.uk/home/planning-development/search-view-comment.

This is an initial communication to make our parents, carers and local community aware and gauge the level of support for the expansion.

All capital costs associated with building the new building will be funded by the Local Authority.

Current students will continue their education as normal during the building process. We are aiming to complete as much work as possible out of school term time and through a modular building solution which minimises onsite construction work.

Our current pupil-teacher ratios are in line with the national average and we expect this to continue. The extension will bring more students into Silverdale School and hence higher revenue. This will be used to protect and even improve our current pupil-teacher ratio.

No. Silverdale School has strong pastoral support for students. This will continue, and will be supported by more staff, where required, funded by the increased revenue.

Silverdale School students already benefit from access to the school’s extensive grounds. In addition, the planning application includes a new hard surface social area space at the side of the new school building.

Additional catering space will be included within the new school building. This will ease pressure on the main dining room.

Staff at Silverdale School carry out break and lunch duties to ensure easy and safe movement around the school and this will continue. There will be more students but equally there will be more space and also staff for supervision. The new building is proposed to have a one way system in line with the current school one way system.

We have commissioned a full travel survey to review the impact of the increased students and this will be available to review, via the Sheffield City Council Planning Portal, once a full planning application has been submitted. Our catchment area is not changing and so the vast majority of our students will continue to either walk to school or use public transport.

Our contractors will work with the local authority to ensure minimal disruption. Health and Safety considerations will always be given the highest priority. It is proposed there will be a fenced off access area for contractors, which will be kept separate from the main school building.

The planning process will include environmental and sustainability assessments and these will form an important part of the final design and full planning application.