WELLINGTON could have a new primary school, catering for 450 pupils, in three years’ time.

A bid has been submitted to the Department for Education to build two new primary schools in Taunton Deane, with Longforth Farm in Wellington the likely site for one of them.

The Castle Partnership Trust, made up of Court Fields, Wellington, and The Castle, Taunton, is making the bid.

Extensive house building in Wellington has increased pressure on existing primary schools which are already over-subscribed. Government funding is available for building new schools where new places are needed and where a suitable sponsor can be found. The Castle Partnership Trust has agreed to sponsor two new primary schools, one in each of the secondaries’ catchment areas.

A Somerset County Council spokesperson said: “We support The Castle Partnership Trust’s ambitious early bid for funding from the Department for Education for two potential new schools for Taunton and Wellington. There is enormous pressure on primary school places in both towns, which will only be intensified if the housing developments proposed come to fruition.”

In Wellington, the Isambard Kingdom Brunel Primary School (IKB) will be a 14-form entry with 450 places to serve the Longforth Farm area. A nursery, The Bright Sparks Nursery, will be closely linked with the new nursery provision at the new school in Taunton, The Thomas Edison Primary School. The planned opening is 2019 with the first year open for pre-school, reception and Year 1, growing year on year.

Sarah Watson, executive head of The Castle Partnership Trust, said: “It is really important that all children in Wellington get the very best start in their education. We already have good primary schools in Wellington and this school will add to the existing provision.”Court Fields headteacher Rachael Bennett said: “With pressure already on our existing primary schools, this will help to ease some of that and it is in all of our interests to make sure that the new school is the very best it can be. The new school will be well supported by our learning partnership.”