Decision details

Steyning Grammar School is a large secondary school and currently operates from three campuses – Rock Road in Storrington and Shooting Fields and Church Street in Steyning.

The Key Stage 3 campus at Church Street is no longer fit for purpose for the numbers of students being educated there; the issues with the campus cannot be rectified easily due to cost and physicality of the site. As such the Steyning Grammar School Foundation has taken the decision to sell the premises and lease a new building, The Towers and therefore the Key Stage 3 students currently accommodated at Church Street will need to be moved to The Towers site in September 2021. The Foundation have secured a lease on The Towers site, which previously accommodated a smaller independent school, now closed. Currently this is configured as a girls only school and does not have the necessary Sciences, Photography, Technology, Study and Changing facilities that will be required for an increased number and mixed gender of students.

Safeguarding requires improvement at the main entrance to the school at the Shooting Fields site, and the Cuthman Inclusion Centre requires modernising and updating to facilitate the extra capacity required and provide two extra learning spaces for children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) and disadvantaged students.

Steyning Grammar School (SGS) converted to an Academy with Bohunt Education Trust (BET) in December 2020.  BET have requested Section 106 funds totalling £1.572m to support the capital investment required. This is in addition to £0.4m previously approved in December 2020 for carrying out works to The Towers site.

The Cabinet Member for Learning and Skills has approved that £1.572m of received Section 106 funds be allocated to support Steyning Grammar School’s redevelopment as outlined in paragraph 2.1 of the report. This in addition to the £0.4m Section 106 funds previously approved under a change request.