Location of new Blackpool school is revealed

Felicity Greeves along with other staff members of the FCAT Central Services team who have worked on the bid

The Department for Education and the Education Funding Agency has bought the old Arnold site, in Lytham Road, South Shore, it was confirmed to The Gazette this morning.

The facility, which is said to be in a poor condition, is expected to be developed into a 60-place nursery, primary school, and secondary school run by the Fylde Coast Academy Trust (FCAT).

It will cater for 1,180 youngsters at full capacity, and is set to open in 2018, it is understood.

FCAT, which already runs four schools and revealed its ambitious proposal in December, was told its bid to open the new all-through school had been successful by David Cameron last month.

Chief executive officer Felicity Greeves said: “Our new FCAT school will build on the outstanding practice which already exists in our academies.

“One of our existing schools, Unity Academy in North Shore, is an all-through primary and secondary school, and this is proving popular with parents and carers.

“We will make the same quality offer for parents and carers in the south area of the town.”

Mrs Greeves, who was told the Arnold site had been bought in a letter last week, is expected to attend a meeting next Thursday.

Unity’s headteacher, Chris Lickiss, is expected to be named executive head of the new school, which bosses hope will open with a full nursery, 60 pupils in Year One, and 140 in Year Seven.

Arnold School, founded in 1896 by Frank Truswell Pennington, closed in 2013.

Three years before, it had merged with King Edward VII & Queen Mary School and was renamed Arnold KEQMS – or AKS for short.

In September 2013, the school relocated to its Lytham campus, on Clifton Drive, with £6 million put towards update the infrastructure.

The former Arnold building was expected to become housing, before rumours of FCAT’s move emerged.