A planning application for Newark’s new free school has been submitted.

It is hoped The Suthers School, which would be the third secondary school for Newark, will be built on 3.23 hectares of land at Fernwood Business Park.

The school, named in memory of the late county councillor Mr Martin Suthers, a champion of education, would be operated by the Nova Education Trust.

The trust runs 11 schools in Nottinghamshire, including Newark Academy and Toot Hill School, Bingham.

The application has been submitted to Newark and Sherwood District Council on behalf of prospective builders, Bowmer And Kirkland, and the Education And Skills Funding Agency.

The school, which is planned to cover three floors, would be built in zones, so parts could be made available for community use — such as the sports facilities, theatre and some learning areas, possibly on weekday evenings and at weekends.

A sports hall would be the size of four badminton courts. There would be two outdoor football pitches as well as outdoor multi-use games areas.

There would be 68 parking spaces and a pick-up and drop-off for buses.

The main school building would run parallel to Cross Lane in a U-shape.

The access would be from an existing spur on the mini-roundabout with a new road linking to the carpark.

A bund has been suggested to help reduce noise from the A1, which runs adjacent to the site.

Extended teaching day

It is hoped the building will open in September 2019 with a year 7 intake — the youngest year of secondary education. By then, The Suthers School would have accepted two year 7 intakes into its temporary home in a building at Toot Hill, which it has occupied since its formation in September.

Pupils being educated in Bingham would transfer to Fernwood, meaning at the start of the September 2019 academic year there would be three year groups — years 7, 8 and 9 — being taught there.

The aim is to grow the school by a new year 7 every year until it is a full secondary with a sixth-form.

At capacity, The Suthers School would accommodate 600 11 to 16-year-olds and 230 sixth-formers, aged 16-19.

There would be 65 to 70 full-time-equivalent teachers and 15 to 20 support staff.

The school would operate an extended teaching day compared to others, from 8.15am to 3.30pm, with enrichment activities for pupils until 4.45pm.

The primary catchment area would be the Middlebeck development, part of a £500m Growth Point project planned for the south of Newark that could see more than 3,000 new homes built.

Fernwood is expected to grow by more than 1,000 homes, for which outline planning permission has been granted.

Prior to the planning application submission the proposal was widely consulted upon and the trust said the results were largely supportive.

Newark and Sherwood District Council will decide whether or not to approve the application.

Comments can be made online on the application at the district council website or in writing until February 15.

The application number is 18/00103/FULM.

Timetable for The Suthers School

The Nova Education Trust’s hoped-for timetable for opening in 2019 is:

• Planning decision: mid-April 2018.
• Start on site: mid-June 2018.
• Steel frame construction: August 2018 to October 2018
• Building completion: early-August 2019.
• School settling-in period: mid to late August 2019.
• School opening: September 2019.

A spokesman for the Nova Education Trust said it and The Suthers School were excited that the plans had been submitted to the planning authority.

“The proposed school not only offers our students the very best facilities for learning and enrichment, but also provides a building designed to create new access to sporting, creative and learning facilities for the local communities the school serves,” the spokesman said.

“We are now looking forward to watching this building become a reality over the next 18 months.”