Castle Rushen High School: Designs must meet future rise in pupils

Julie Edge said she wanted to see the Castle Rushen High School project begin sooner than 2027

A new high school in the south of the Isle of Man must be able to cope with a future rise in pupil numbers, the education minister has said.

A budget of £900,000 has been agreed to design a replacement for Castle Rushen High School in Castletown.

Julie Edge said it was important the new school was not "at capacity the day it opens", given the development of new housing estates in the south.

It comes after a lack of progress on the project was criticised in Tynwald.

A report in August found the current facility, which was built in 1961, was "increasingly not fit for purpose" and was a "below par" environment for students.

'Future proof'

The sum for pre-contract work and design is included in the government's capital programme for the next financial year, but funds have not yet been earmarked for the future stages of the scheme over the next five years.

Juan Watterson SHK told Tynwald the situation was "unacceptable" as it indicated the project would "not be completed by 31 March 2027".

Ms Edge said it would not be prudent to advertise the cost of the project before it has been designed, but added she would like to see "spades in the ground long before" that date.

Design work would need to future proof the new facility "as much as possible", she added.

Ms Edge pointed to Bemahague School in Douglas, opened in 2012, as an example of where extra capacity for an increase in students should have been built in, and said she was keen to avoid a similar situation with the new southern school.

New playing fields, under construction as an early phase of the project, are due to open in September.