Opening date announced for new Horsham primary school

Bohunt School – which opened new purpose-built premises in north Horsham in January – is now set to open its primary phase in 2024.

But the school says its nursery is likely to open sooner.

It says that it wants to develop the school at a pace that follows the growth of the population.

The school is at the centre of the new Mowbray development where the first of 2,750 houses are currently under construction.

Bohunt headteacher Georgette Ayling says opening the new phases will allow the all-through school to ‘grow with the community.’

The school aims to open the primary phase to reception – the first year of primary education - in September 2024 and grow the school year on year from that point. Applications, via West Sussex School Admissions, will open in September 2023 and close on January 15 2024.

Ms Ayling said: “We have been humbled by the support we have received since our Bohunt Horsham journey began and understand that children, parents, staff, governors and members of our community have been waiting for a decision around our school’s nursery and primary phase opening dates.

“Having moved to our wonderful new secondary site this spring, our focus now is on preparing our nursery and primary phases to be the best they can be for the growing Horsham community and on supporting our secondary cohort of students through the next two years.

“We are very excited that our nursery phase will be opening before 2024 and understand that the news of a 2024 opening of the primary phase may be disappointing to some families.

“However, with further building developments taking place on the doorstep of the primary school site over the coming months and the expected development of houses on the new Mowbray development, in keeping with our commitment to serving Horsham’s wider community, we are keen that we develop our school at a pace that follows the growth of the population.

“I cannot wait to welcome interested families of both nursery and primary age children through our doors soon. We will be running open events from May 2023 and encourage families to visit our website for more details.”

Phil Avery, director of education at Bohunt Education Trust said: “Bohunt Horsham features some superb all-through facilities, such as a large hall for drama performance, practical rooms for science and food technology and a wonderful library.

"We are looking forward to working with some of the most creative people in the country – three to 11-year olds – within our innovative learning environments to help to create game-changers who will make the world a better place and to make sure all our students have the chance to enjoy their learning, respect their environment and achieve their potential.”

See bohunthorsham.com for more.

As well as the 2,750 new homes, Mowbray village will also have shops and leisure areas. Supermarket chain Morrisons hopes to open a store there.

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