Empty primary to be adapted to become a special school

THE future of an empty Nottingham school that never opened due to a lack of pupils has been revealed but another £2m will have to be spent to finally open it.

- By JOSHUA HARTLEY

Funding for the opening of the 210-place Waterside Primary School on the Trent Basin Estate was pulled in December by the Department for Education (DfE) due to low demand from the new homes being built around it.

After prospective operator Greenwood Academies Trust withdrew from running the school, which was supposed to open in September 2024, the finished structure lay empty for months. Following talks over what the empty building should be used for, Nottingham City Council has now announced it will be adapted so it can be used by the council-run Rosehill Special School.

In a bid to increase provision for those with special needs and disabilities, the city council had planned to spend £10 million on expanding Rosehill Special School by 2027. However, it will now re-route funding to redevelop the vacant Waterside building into a “state-of-the-art” special school facility that could be open by September 2026.