Rugeley John Taylor FAQ

September 2023

The school has been apportioned over seven hectares of land on the former power station site.

JTMAT has been working with its partners for a number of months to ensure that, should we receive a favourable announcement on our bid, we will be ready to begin work on the design, planning permissions, consultations and construction phases to be ready for opening in September 2023.  Our application would not have been approved had our timescales not been seen as achievable.

There will be over 2000 new homes built on the former power station site, and typically 1000 homes requires a “form of entry” of provision.  The need for a two-form entry 420-place primary school was therefore part of the planning permission for the site regeneration.  These children will ultimately require secondary school places also. 

In addition, The Hart School recently moved all its teaching for 11-18 year olds onto a single site. As well as making improvements to their facilities it also meant there was a reduction in the number of secondary and post-16 places provided by the school..  It has been projected that, without new school places for secondary age children, an increasing number of the town’s children would have to travel further afield to go to school.  A considerable number of secondary age children do so already.  However, the areas to which they currently travel (typically, Lichfield, Hednesford, Cannock and Stafford) are also subject to population growth and will therefore see school places limited.  The town of Rugeley and the areas surrounding it needs to be self-sufficient in the education of its young people. 

Finally, currently approximately four fifths of the town’s young people are educated post-16 outside of the town.  By opening sixth form provision at Rugeley John Taylor, this again provides more options in Rugeley itself for its young people.

It has been agreed with the local authority that in order to meet local need the school will admit one nursery class (3-4 year-olds) of 26 children, one Reception class (4-5 year-olds) of 30 children, and five Year 7 classes (11 year-olds) of 30 children each i.e. 150 children.

N.B: It is planned that as the population in Rugeley grows, the primary phase will expand to two nursery classes (52 children in total) and two forms of entry (60 children per year group).

The Department for Education specify in applications for new schools that these schools should fill “from the bottom, up”.  This means that children are not having to switch schools mid-phase, causing disruption for their education and for other local schools.

Please email us at admissions@rug.jtmat.co.uk and we will include you on our mailing list.  A little closer to the time of opening, we will send you admission information about the school and how to secure a place.

The admission arrangements will give highest priority to children with an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) and to children in care/previously in care. Any parent can apply for a place but if there are more applications than places available then it is proposed that a higher priority would be given to pupils with older siblings at the school or who live closest to the new school, as measured by a straight line. For, nursery and reception admissions, we would prioritise applications from the new Power Station development.

As with all John Taylor schools, children will be taught a broad and balanced curriculum that includes high quality, specialist provision in the arts (for example music and drama), humanities (history, geography, religious studies), modern foreign languages, physical education and, of course, English alongside the STEM suite of subjects.  Children and young people at Rugeley John Taylor will, however, have access to the latest equipment, specialist visitors and experiences that will enhance their learning in areas known to enhance their employability. 

Rugeley John Taylor will require a wide range of postholders from September 2023.  Naturally, this will include primary- and secondary-trained teachers, teaching assistants, school leaders, office and site staff.  Recruitment will take place nearer to opening.  However, to express an interest and be placed on our mailing list, please email us at recruitment@rug.jtmat.co.uk.  Please do not send us your curriculum vitae (CV), as it is our practice to only assess our standard application forms.

As with any school, where it is the closest school to the pupil’s home address and over 2 miles away (for primary aged children) or over 3 miles (for secondary aged children), then there would be a statutory entitlement to free home-to-school travel.