Pupils moved in on 7 September, and capacity rises from 105 to 140. The decision that funded it also promised an 8-place SEN Nurture Hub from this month.
Children at Peterchurch Primary School started the new term in a new £10 million building on Monday 7 September. The school is in the Golden Valley, about 10 miles west of Hereford.
The building was handed over to Herefordshire Council and the school on Friday 4 September, and it raises the school’s capacity from 105 to 140 pupils. A new pedestrian crossing has been built and is open. The council announced the opening on 9 September and named Tilbury Douglas Construction as the contractor, working with the council’s Capital Projects team.
Work is not finished. The council says phase two covers the demolition of the existing school building and the remaining external works, and is expected to be complete by the end of January 2027.
The part the announcement leaves out
The rebuild was approved to do two things, not one.
An officer decision of 20 July 2023 approved the expansion of Peterchurch Primary and the establishment of a Special Educational Needs provision from September 2026. The same record sets out what that provision is meant to be:
- a Nurture Hub accommodating a further 8 learners, on top of the 140 mainstream places
- a flexible space that can be adapted “to support the needs of the Golden Valley and the wider county”
- dedicated support for learners with social, emotional and mental health needs and low level autism
September 2026 is now. The council’s opening announcement does not mention the Nurture Hub or the SEN provision, and the school’s own New School Build page still carries the pre-application consultation wording rather than an update. So the record says an 8-place SEN provision was due to start this month, and neither the council nor the school has said publicly whether it has.
That is a question worth asking rather than an accusation. The officer named on the decision is Quentin Mee, Head of Educational Development, at Quentin.Mee@herefordshire.gov.uk.
It also matters beyond Peterchurch. In August the council cut a planned special free school out of its SEND capital programme, which we covered in Herefordshire’s £9m SEND places plan. Eight specialist places in the Golden Valley are a small number against county demand, and a visible one.
Why the council spent £10m on a village primary
Herefordshire Council agreed to rebuild Peterchurch on its existing site on 27 October 2022, at an investment of over £10 million. The reasoning is in the decision records, and it is more blunt than any press release.
The council’s school capacity return to the Department for Education had identified “building pressure on primary places in the golden valley” over several years. Securing enough places is a statutory duty, so the pressure had to be answered somehow.
Cabinet had considered and rejected three alternatives at the developed design stage on 3 December 2020:
- Do nothing. A programme of work over three years at a cost of about £420,000, plus an expected £125,000 of reactive repairs in line with the previous three years. The report says that given “the extent of the dilapidation at the school, health and safety issues could arise for which the Council could be held liable”, and that children “will continue to learn in an unsuitable environment”.
- Close the school. Rejected. The nearest five schools are 4.9, 5.3, 6.8, 7.2 and 7.6 miles away, none had the capacity to absorb the roll, and closing a rural school means a five-stage statutory process under the Education and Inspections Act 2006.
- Build on a new site next to Fairfield High School. Explored in detail and deemed unviable: significant transport and drainage infrastructure would have been required, and there was a lack of support from the local parish and schools.
That 2020 decision also set the design brief: net zero carbon emissions, a green building certificate, and Passivhaus certification as a minimum. The ward is Golden Valley North.
What the school looks like on the record
The Department for Education’s Get Information about Schools record for Peterchurch Primary (URN 116718) gives:
| Measure | Figure |
|---|---|
| Pupils on roll | 103 |
| Capacity (pre-rebuild) | 120 |
| Eligible for free school meals | 26 pupils, 25.2% |
| Age range | 4 to 11 |
| School type | Community school, with nursery classes |
Those pupil and free school meal figures come from the spring school census, taken on the third Thursday in January, so they pre-date the new building. Read them as the position the school is moving from, not the position it is in this week.
Ofsted last inspected on 5 March 2024 and judged the school Good overall, and Good on all five sub-judgements: quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, leadership and management, and early years provision.
One more figure puts the Golden Valley in context. Fairfield School in Peterchurch is the most oversubscribed secondary school in Herefordshire: 185 first preferences for 120 places in the last completed admissions round, 154 first choices per 100 places, and it took 131 pupils. The detail is in our guide to secondary school places for 2027.
What it means for you
- The new building is open and in use. Capacity is 140 pupils, up from 105.
- Expect site work until the end of January 2027. Demolition of the old building and the remaining external works are phase two, on the council’s own timetable.
- The new pedestrian crossing is open, on the route to the school.
- If your child has an EHC plan or SEN support needs, the 8-place Nurture Hub was approved to start from September 2026. Ask the school or the council directly whether it is running now, rather than assuming it opened with the building.
- Applying for a place? Herefordshire’s primary and secondary admissions routes are separate. Secondary applications for September 2027 close at midnight on 31 October 2026.
Our other practical guides cover bin collection days, council tax bands by parish and Herefordshire planning applications.
Sources
- Herefordshire Council, Peterchurch pupils start new school after £10m investment, published 9 September 2026, for the 7 September opening, the 4 September handover, the 105 to 140 capacity change, Tilbury Douglas, the pedestrian crossing, the phase two scope and the end of January 2027 date.
- Herefordshire Council, officer decision: expansion of Peterchurch primary school and establishment of a Special Educational Needs provision from September 2026, decided and published 20 July 2023, for the Nurture Hub, the 8 further learners, the SEMH and low level autism wording, the school capacity return, the Golden Valley places pressure and the 27 October 2022 approval of over £10m.
- Herefordshire Council, Cabinet decision: Peterchurch Primary School Rebuild, Developed Design, 3 December 2020, for the £300,000 design budget, the Passivhaus and net zero brief, the Golden Valley North ward and all three rejected alternatives including the £420,000 and £125,000 figures and the 4.9 to 7.6 mile distances to the nearest five schools.
- Department for Education, Get Information about Schools, Peterchurch Primary School (URN 116718), read 12 September 2026, for the roll, capacity, free school meal figures, age range and school type.
- Ofsted, Peterchurch Primary School inspection reports, for the 5 March 2024 inspection and the Good judgements.
- Peterchurch Primary School, New School Build, read 12 September 2026.
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