Planning approval given for new secondary school in Knowle West
Name revealed for new school
Main image an artist’s impression of the entrance to the new Oasis Academy Daventry Road. Pictures of site Wates Construction, courtesy of Oasis Community Learning.
Bristol City Council has approved plans for a new 900-place secondary school to be built in Knowle West – which will be called Oasis Academy Daventry Road.
The school, which will take pupils aged 11-16, will be located on the site of the former Merrywood School buildings on Daventry Road.
These will be demolished to make way for the new school which will have “state-of-the-art facilities” – including an activity studio, sports hall and sports pitches as well as a multi-use games area.
Until recently, the former Merrywood School was home to The Park Centre which ran community services there for over 20 years. The charity moved into its new purpose-built premises in February, on the same Daventry Road site.
Oasis Academy Daventry Road is due to open in its permanent building in September 2024 – a year later than planned – subject to achieving further milestones. The next phase of the project is underway to start preparing the site for demolition works.
To meet the need for school places from September 2023, the Department for Education and Bristol City Council are working towards opening the school in temporary accommodation – on the site of Oasis Academy John Williams in Hengrove.
The proposed site for temporary accommodation is currently being assessed for its suitability – to ensure it would meet the needs of students and staff.
CEO of Oasis Community Learning, John Murphy, said: “We are delighted to share with the local community the name of the new academy and thrilled that plans have been approved by Bristol City Council.
“It marks an important step forward in the project to deliver Oasis Academy Daventry Road; a secondary school that will be passionate about the progress of every student and deliver an exceptional education for local young people across South Bristol”.
For more information about Oasis Academy Daventry Road and to keep up to date with news about the project please visit www.oasiscommunitylearning.org/our-academies-main/academies-opening-soon/oasis-academy-daventry-road