Plans have been submitted to demolish a school and rebuild it with “state of the art” facilities.

In 2021, it was announced that Little Reddings Primary School, in Harcourt Road, Bushey, would be included in a £1 billion Government School Rebuilding Programme.

The Department for Education (DFE) submitted a planning application to replace the 420 place school to Hertsmere Borough Council on December 6.

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Little Reddings was one of 50 English schools to be selected in the second round of the programme.

Headteacher Rebecca Tregear said: “The new school is such an exciting opportunity for, not only the Bushey St James Multi Academy Trust, but also the whole local community.

“The state of the art new indoor and outdoor facilities will greatly enhance the local community provision for many decades to come.”

The site plan, included in the application, shows the majority of the site is set for demolition, with the buildings to be replaced with a new two-storey building.

In the planning statement the DFE outlined the need for replacement.

It said: “The school was built in the 1960s as separate infants’ and juniors’ school in single storey buildings which were later linked with a long corridor.

“The buildings have been identified as being inefficient in their layout, substandard and in critical need of works requiring continuous costly repairs and maintenance.”

It adds that the school building is “undersized” and “does not meet modern standards” contributing to a refurbishment option being “unacceptable”.

The government department added: “Critically, a rebuild allows works to be phased to enable the existing school buildings to remain operational throughout the build.”

The new school is expected to open for September 2024 with the existing buildings being demolished shortly after.

The school site also includes a 39-place nursery and a creche. The creche will be relocated into a retained school building while the nursery will be part of the new building.

A new multi-use games area will be built and the school facilities and grounds will be made available outside of school hours “for the benefit of the local community”.