Plans for new school in Royal Borough revealed

A new school is being planned for the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead.

Deputy council leader Simon Dudley (pictured) is part of a group bidding to open a Free School on the former Holyport Manor site (pictured below).

It is due to submit an application for £20m of funding to the Department for Education on February 23.

If given the nod, planning permission would be sought to flatten most of the existing buildings and create a new campus for 500 pupils.

The mixed school for 11 to 18 year olds would be known as Holyport Free School and could be open by September 2014.

Boarding would be available for 200 children at a cost of £12,000 each per year.

Free Schools are independent of local authorities and non-selective.

Cllr Dudley, a banker, has been working on the plans for three months along with wife Sue, former councillor Liam Maxwell and two teachers from the borough.

The father of a six year old daughter said: "This is a fantastic site and we all believe in the importance of education."

About 100 people have already expressed an interest in sending their children to the new school through website www.holyportfreeschool.org

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