Trust appointed to run new city primary school

An academy trust has been appointed to run a proposed 420-space primary school on a new housing development.

The Hampton Academies Trust was appointed by the Department for Education to operate the new school in Great Haddon, south of Peterborough.

The school is expected to be finished by September 2026 and serve the development, which will eventually have more than 5,000 homes.

Katy Cole, Peterborough City Council's cabinet member for children's services, said: "We have good faith in them to run this as a good quality school that will be essential for the township as it grows."

She said Peterborough was a fast-growing city and needed to have the right facilities to keep up.

"We are committed to ensuring we have the right infrastructure in place to meet the demands of a growing population, which will need additional school places."

Great Haddon is a new development south of the city between the A1(M) and Hampton, west of Yaxley, and its first residents moved in last year.

Once finished it is expected to have 5,350 homes, three primary schools, a secondary school, three shopping centres and sports facilities.

Construction on the primary school is due to begin in late summer, but this depends on permission being granted by city council planners at a meeting in July.

The school will be a state-funded academy independent of local authority control and get funding directly from the government.

Hampton Academies Trust, which operates schools in Hampton and Dogsthorpe, were chosen after trusts were invited to bid to run the site.

Dr Helen Price, the trust's executive headteacher, said information events for parents and carers would be held ahead of the school's opening.

"From our many years of operating on the Hampton development, we understand how schools can put the heart and soul into new communities," she said.

"Our vision is to combine a strong emphasis on learning and progress with an inclusive ethos, which fosters respect, well-being and the rounded development of the whole child."

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