Sixth-form students returning from their Christmas holidays will find they are still in temporary classrooms for another term after delays to a school extension pushed back its completion date.
Hoe Valley School in Egley Road, Woking, has been using a temporary single storey “modular” classroom on its car park as a stop gap to accommodate new sixth form students.
The short-term measure was put in place while the school completed a 2023 planning application to create a new sixth form extension to the main school complex.
That work has been delayed slightly and is now expected to be completed by February 17 2025 according to planning documents submitted to Woking Borough Council.
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To minimise disruption, Surrey County Council – which is responsible for education – will consider a fresh planning application to keep the temporary class space until the Easter break.
Once the new extension is built and the temporary site no longer needed, the modular building will be torn down and the car park returned to its original state.
The original site only has planning permission until the end of the year, and the application to extend the site submitted to Woking Borough Council was made on December 16.
Woking Borough Council’s planning portal says it expects to determine the application by January 13.
The planning application read: “The temporary building was required to accommodate new sixth form students who were to move into the new sixth form extension to the main Hoe Valley School complex.
“The sixth form extension to the school is currently being built, however, due to delays, completion of this extension is not expected until February 17 2025.
“This is later than anticipated and beyond the period when the temporary classroom buildings would otherwise have to be removed.
“Consequently, there is a need to extend the period when the temporary classroom buildings remain on site to enable students to continue to be provided with classroom accommodation pending the completion of the permanent extension to the school.
“The school have requested that they require the temporary buildings to remain on site until the Easter holidays, which will then allow students to relocate to the permanent building following the Easter break which ends on April 22.
“Therefore, to allow any slight delay, it is requested that the temporary period be extended until April 30.”
Planners consider the four month extension is acceptable and would “enable the smooth transition of pupils from the existing temporary accommodation to the permanent extension to the school at a logical point after the Easter break”.