Landmark funding agreed for new all-through school

Helena Romanes School will move to a new building in Stortford Road

A new school complete with primary, secondary and sixth form facilities is due to be built after funding was agreed.

Essex County Council pledged £9.9m towards creating the new all-through Helena Romanes School in Great Dunmow.

It would replace the existing school when work begins on land in Stortford Road in September, the authority said.

Tony Ball, the Conservative-led council's head of education, said the new facilities would provide "the best possible learning environment".

The existing primary schools in the town are full and over capacity across all year groups, the council has said.

'Hugely exciting'

Primary provision has been offered at the existing Helena Romanes School in temporary classrooms over the past few years.

It is hoped the new primary building will open in September 2025, with the secondary provision ready the following year in October.

Mr Ball said demand had increased as Great Dunmow had grown over the years.

"This is a hugely exciting project," he said.

The funding consisted of £9.9m from the council, of which £6.5m was from developer contributions. A further £3.6m in contributions is expected to follow.

Over the past decade in Essex, 13 free schools have opened. Of these, eight were primary, three secondary and two all-through schools.

The council said it had secured more than £101m for education projects from developers to be spent across the county.