St Thomas More Expansion Plans

The Federation of Bedford Catholic Schools has applied to change from three-tier to two-tier schools. This would result in an increase in pupil numbers at St Thomas More, with an extra 60 Year 7 and 60 Year 8 pupils. The first Year 7 pupils would join the school in September 2014.

The Year 9 annual intake capacity will remain at 200. The total number of students is likely to increase from about 820 to 940. This should leave room for the many Brickhill parents who chose to send their children via local lower and middle schools, to transfer to St Thomas More as now.

Cllrs Wendy Rider and Charles Royden have met with the Catholic Federation to discuss concerns about traffic and parking in the area around St Thomas More. These issues are already bad enough, an increase in pupil numbers seems likely to make them much worse unless substantial steps are taken to tackle them. These would seem best to be included in any planning permissions associated with the changes, to ensure that they can be enforced. Brickhill Parish Council has written to the Borough expressing similar concerns. If you have any queries or comments, please get in touch via our contact details here.