Parents asked to comment on school proposal for Hove Police Station

Parents are being asked to comment on a proposal to turn Hove Police Station into a junior school.

Brighton and Hove City Council bought the old police station in Holland Road for £2.2 million last month and wants it to be run by West Hove Junior School.

This is similar to the arrangement with West Hove Infant School which runs an annex in Connaught Road, Hove.

The aim is for the children in three classes at the Connaught Road site to transfer to the junior school in Holland Road from September next year.

And the number of classes – also known as “forms of entry” – transferring to the junior school would rise to four from September 2015.

Eventually the Holland Road site would cater for about 500 children.

The Connaught Road site

The council said that the “parent” sites of West Hove Infant School and West Hove Junior School were next to each other in School Road, Hove.

It said that the two schools worked closely together at that site and were formally linked for school admissions purposes.

The aim is to link the Connaught Road and Holland Road sites in the same way to give pupils continuity.

Parents, carers and people living in the area are invited to a public meeting next Monday (17 June) at 7pm at the Connaught Road site.

Council education officials and representatives of both West Hove schools will talk about the plans and answer questions as part of a consultation.

The council’s assistant director of children’s services Jo Lyons said: “We believe this proposal is the best way of ensuring that the new junior school places at the police station site match the high standards that children, parents and carers expect.

“We also want to ensure continuity for the Connaught pupils as they reach junior age.

“We urge all interested residents to take part in the consultation to ensure the interests of the local community are fully realised.”

The governing body of West Hove Junior School has agreed in principle to the expansion proposal but will make a final decision once the consultation has ended.

The last date for responses is Wednesday 10 July.

If the proposal is agreed, a four-week statutory notice period will start in early September.

After the statutory notice period, the council’s Children and Young People committee will make a final decision in October.

A planning application to use the police station site as a school is expected in the next month or two.