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Forest of Dean school places

The County Council has a statutory duty to plan the provision of school places and to ensure there are sufficient, appropriately located places for all children and young people in the county. This includes the commissioning of suitable school accommodation to support the promotion of high-quality educational standards and to ensure vulnerable learners get fair access to educational opportunities. The County Council manages the impact of rising and declining pupil numbers and ensures there are sufficient school places available for all children and young people across the county, in the right place and at the right time.

Completed projects:

The proposal is to create an all-through primary school from Reception to Year 6 with effect from 1 April 2026 by extending the age range of Coalway Junior School and closing Coalway Community Infant School. The all-through primary school would continue to admit 60 pupils (in Reception) at the start of each academic year and have an overall capacity of 420 places. It would be located on the site of the existing infant and junior school buildings.

Technically, this proposal involves extending the age range of the Junior school and closing the Infant school. The age range of the Junior school would expand from ages 7 to 11 to ages 4 to 11 with effect from 1 April 2026.

All pupils on the school roll on 31 March 2026 in both Coalway Community Infant and Junior schools would transfer to the roll of the all-through primary school on 1 April 2026.

The primary school would have a single governing body and a single headteacher along with a single DfE number and Ofsted inspection.

The consultation has now closed and the feedback has being considered by Senior Officers and a statutory notice has been published (see below). Below are also links to key documents.

Key documents:

The proposal is to create an all-through primary school from Reception to Year 6 with effect from 1 April 2026 by extending the age range of Coalway Junior School and closing Coalway Community Infant School. The all-through primary school would continue to admit 60 pupils (in Reception) at the start of each academic year and have an overall capacity of 420 places. It would be located on the site of the existing infant and junior school buildings.

Technically, this proposal involves extending the age range of the Junior school and closing the Infant school. The age range of the Junior school would expand from ages 7 to 11 to ages 4 to 11 with effect from 1 April 2026.

All pupils on the school roll on 31 March 2026 in both Coalway Community Infant and Junior schools would transfer to the roll of the all-through primary school on 1 April 2026.

The primary school would have a single governing body and a single headteacher along with a single DfE number and Ofsted inspection.

The consultation has now closed and the feedback has being considered by Senior Officers and a statutory notice has been published (see below). Below are also links to key documents.

Key documents: