As many families move to Duffield for educational reasons, with 245 new houses, it is likely that around 500 more children would need to be educated in our schools.
However, the Council has not submitted any evidence regarding existing school capacity or what improvements are required to ensure adequate education provision should the developments take place.
- According to an earlier Council document, the Ecclesbourne School is already “operating at [its] full potential in terms of pupil intake”, and it is “not possible to extend the school further to accommodate additional pupils”
- Our primary schools are also very heavily subscribed. William Gilbert Endowed School is situated on a very small site and could not be expanded further.
- Duffield Meadows is on a larger site but any addition of classrooms would mean extensive redevelopment to increase the size of shared spaces such as the hall. This would also be problematic as the school is in a flood risk area.
- The access to Duffield Meadows is via a narrow single access driveway between two existing dwellings, with insufficient width available to allow for two-way vehicle movements.
- Any increased student numbers at this school will have road safety implications that are unlikely to be addressed by funds allocated for education provision.
- Even if expansion of our existing schools were possible, it would change their character and be detrimental to our children’s education.
Any increase in the school population in Duffield would also have a knock-on effect in other villages such as Quarndon and Kirk Langley, as admissions policies favour those children living closest to the school.
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