CHARD’S only secondary school is set to be expanded with new classrooms being built on the town’s former swimming pool.

The Cresta Leisure Centre on Zembard Lane closed in September 2018 after Somerset County Council (SCC) said it could no longer afford to maintain the facility.

Holyrood Academy, which sits next door to the former pool, is already operating over-capacity and needs to expand in the coming years as more homes are build in the town.

The council has now announced that a new teaching block will be built where the pool once stood, allowing more than 200 additional pupils to be educated on site from September 2022.

Holyrood can ostensibly handle 1,300 pupils – of which 1,125 are in years 7 to 11 and a further 175 in its sixth form.

However, in September it had 1,142 pupils between the ages of 11 and 16 on its roll – meaning it is already operating over its designed capacity.

Plans to expand the school were discussed by the county council’s cabinet when it met virtually on Wednesday morning (September 23).

Liz Smith, SCC’s service manager for schools commissioning, said in her written report: “A new two-storey teaching block is to be located on the former swimming pool site.

“This will deliver general classrooms, business studies and graphic design classrooms, alongside required additional dining areas, a new kitchen and pupil toilets.

“There will also be the reconfiguration of existing blocks to convert general teaching rooms into science labs, and adaptations to the music block to sub-divide the area into required practice rooms.

“The redundant kitchen will be reconfigured into required interview, meeting and storage spaces.”

As one of the main towns in the South Somerset district, Chard to due to expand considerably as more housing developments are delivered, especially within the Chard Eastern Development Area (CEDA) between the A358 Tatworth Road and the A30 Crewkerne Road.

The county council estimates that “in excess of 1,500 dwellings” will be built within the Holyrood catchment area over the next 10 years.

The proposed expansion will create teaching space for an extra 225 pupils between the ages of 11 and 16, with the work expected to be completed in time for the September 2022 intake.

Tina Coles, the school’s business manager, described the planned expansion as “an amazing opportunity for Holyrood.”

She added: “As a school we are really excited about this. The difference it will make to the students of Chard is huge.”

The expansion has also been welcomed by the Uffculme Academy Trust, which runs Holyrood as well as Axe Valley Academy in Axminster and two schools in Uffculme.

Chief executive Lorraine Heath said: “Holyrood Academy has seen a significant growth in requests for places both in-year and in the normal admissions round. This has already put a great deal of pressure on space.

“While the site itself is large, the footprint of the buildings means that large groups of students are concentrated in relatively small areas. This is a particular issue when the weather is band and does not adequately provide for the student community.

“We are very happy to work with Futures For Somerset to ensure that the expanded facilities meet the needs of the existing school community and those in the future.”

The town’s new swimming pool is being constructed on the former ACI site by South Somerset District Council as part of its Chard regeneration scheme, and is expected to be open to the public by the end of 2021.