Parents campaign for senior free school at St Ursula's

A group of parents has called a public meeting to discuss their plans to open a secondary school in Bristol.

They want to open a three-form entry school on the St Ursula's school site in September 2015 to serve people living in the BS9 postcode area.

Spokesman Marc Reed said one only had to look how oversubscribed the nearby Redland Green is to see the demand.

The meeting will take place at the Eastfield Inn, Henleaze Road, at 19:30 GMT on 21 February.

The campaigners are applying to the Department for Education to open a St Ursula's senior school on part of the existing Brecon Road site.

The parents want the new school to run three classes for each year.

Mr Reed said the lack of a secondary school in the BS9 area is a huge concern for parents who want their children to go to a community senior school without having to leave the city.

"Parents are also concerned that with thousands of new jobs being created at the new Southmead Hospital, there will be a huge influx of families into the area many of whom will be seeking secondary school places," he added.

The original private St Ursula's Roman Catholic School ran into financial difficulties in 2010 and Bristol City Council bought the site for £1.95m.

Then Oasis Education was given a one-year deal to run it as a primary school.

It is now run as an academy by the education charity E-Act and caters for some 120 children aged between four and 11 and hopes to expand to 420 by 2017.

Spare land on site had previously been offered to Bristol Free School, which opened in September 2011 in the former Defra and Environment Agency buildings in Burghill Road, Brentry.

Parents from that school had hoped it would eventually move to the site of the St Ursula's site in Westbury-on-Trym but a month later it confirmed it would be staying at the Brentry site.