The prospect has emerged of a new academy primary school in Ellesmere Port .

The Ledsham Manor Primary Academy was included in a list of 30 other free schools by outgoing prime minister David Cameron during his last visit as prime minister.

No further information has been forthcoming from the Department for Education in Westminster other than further details will be given at a later stage.

Ellesmere Port and Neston MP Justin Madders (Lab) was notified by parliamentary under secretary of state for schools Lord Nash that it had been decided ‘the free school application for The Ledsham Manor Primary Academy should proceed to the next stage in the free school process’.

A new primary academy is in prospect in Ellesmere Port according to Government minister Lord Nash
A new primary academy is in prospect in Ellesmere Port according to Government minister Lord Nash

Lord Nash continued: “This will help to meet the need for new, high quality places in the area.

“At this stage the proposer group will begin the task of converting its vision into reality. Officials will be working with the group to ensure it has all the support it needs.

“The Secretary of State will then decide whether to enter into a funding agreement with the trust so that the school can open.

“In most cases we will confirm a provisional opening date after a site has been identified and confirmed and we have assessed the time needed for obtaining planning permission and completing necessary building works or refurbishment.

“We will help to ensure that when parents of prospective pupils or students apply for a place at a proposed new free school they have confidence in its opening date.”

The minister concluded: “I very much hope The Ledsham Manor Primary Academy will help to provide more choice for parents and raise standards for children in your constituency especially in light of the fact that free schools are more likely to be rated outstanding than other state schools.

“Around a quarter of free schools have been rated outstanding by Ofsted compared with around a fifth of all state schools”.

An unimpressed Mr Madders posted on his Facebook pages: “Apart from the disparaging comments about the standards in primary schools which simply does not reflect the excellent quality found in our existing primary schools, I note they are looking for a site.

“No doubt they will be considering the old Gorsthills School site. If that is the case not only will it be a monumental waste of public money it will also be a real snub to those who campaigned so hard against its closure in the first place.”

A post on Pride in the Port suggested: “I’m not too sure we should really be lauding academies while ignoring standards in the state schools, possibly caused by lack of funding and shortage of good quality teaching staff.”

Activist Ray McHale commented in June that a 2,000 home development, as being built by Redrow in Little Sutton , could apparently be expected to lead to around 364 primary age pupils.

Permission for the homes includes a new school which he believes could cost over £4m with a report suggesting ‘there is a presumption such a school would be a free school or academy’.

Devastated parents flooded a ‘Save Gorsthills’ web-site following the decision to axe the Berry Drive school at the end of August 2007.

More than 500 people braved the rain for a party to mark the closure of the school which had served the community for more than 35 years before closing its gates for the last time.

Former pupils and staff, as well as then MP Andrew Miller, joined children, parents and teachers for the emotional send-off.

Children’s services chief at the time David Rowlands (Con) referred to ‘low and falling pupil numbers at the school over a period of many years’ and added: “Unfortunately it is not the case that Gorsthills Community Primary School has widespread support from parents in the local community.”

He insisted the closure ‘had nothing whatsoever to do with the quality of education at Gorsthills’ but ‘had everything to do with the considerable number of surplus places in the area and the falling roll’.

Campaigner Ian Finlay, vice chairman of the school’s governors, described the decision as ‘unjust’.

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