Work has begun to create sixth form centres for two Cumbrian schools.
Mayfield School in Whitehaven is taking over the former St Joseph’s School in Cockermouth and James Rennie School in Carlisle will have its new sixth form in the former St Edmund’s Church on Orton Road.
Both sites will be leased from the Diocese of Lancaster by Cumberland Council.
The project was initiated by Cumbria County Council, and now Cumberland is responsible for the improvement work, with an investment of nearly £1million.
The new sites will allow Mayfield to increase from its roll from 197 to 230 places and James Rennie to increase from 159 to 195.
There is an increasing demand for special school places and the expansions create much needed additional capacity at both schools while providing fantastic new facilities which will help young people reaching the end of their time at school develop and prepare for adult life.
St Edmund’s is scheduled for opening after the October half term holidays and St Joseph’s to open in September.
As an interim measure while St Edmund’s is being finalised is to install two temporary classrooms on the James Rennie site to allow more pupils to attend as soon as possible.
Cumberland Council is working with Story Contracting Limited at St Edmund’s, Carlisle and Roland Hill Limited at St Joseph’s Roman Catholic Primary School.
Samantha Kidd, headteacher of Mayfield School, said: “This is such an exciting opportunity for our young people. The new school site opens a wealth of links with local businesses and schools and has been extensively refurbished to accommodate the needs of our young people.
“The community has been overwhelmingly supportive. The council has been extremely supportive for us in this new venture”
