A POPULAR Oxford school hopes to be able to take every local child if it expands its intake by a third.

Consultation started this week on increasing the Year One intake at St Nicholas Primary School, in Marston, from 45-a-year to 60.

For several years, children in the catchment area – including some with siblings at the school – were refused a place because of lack of space.

Headteacher Rachel Crouch said: “It has been a real struggle turning down children who live in the catchment area, because they are having to travel quite a lot of distance to other schools, whereas they could have walked here.”

This year, school leaders agreed to take 60 Year One children as a temporary measure to meet demand.

There are currently 385 pupils at the school, which has seen a large demand due to population growth in the area and its good Ofsted rating.

Oxfordshire County Council’s schools improv-ement cabinet member Michael Waine will make the decision if there are no representations by the end of November.

If there are submissions it will go to the council’s cabinet.

Two more classrooms would be needed by 2010, when the temporary scheme would become permanent, and Mrs Crouch said eventually two more teachers would be required.

She said the bigger intake would mean smaller class sizes, as each year would be split into two classes of 30.

She added she was confident the expansion would enable the school to take all local children who wanted to be taught there.

Mrs Crouch said: “The brilliant thing about our families and our children is they helped develop the plans themselves by working with the architects to come up with designs for the new classrooms.

“They have been fully involved in the process, and I believe everybody backs it.”

In June and July, an informal consultation was held, which included a meeting for parents to discuss the proposals with the headteacher, governors, and representatives from the county council.

A separate meeting was held with residents and a consultation document distributed to parents, councillors, other primary schools and nurseries.

The main concerns raised were over parking and more traffic.

Information on the formal consultation is at oxfordshire.gov.uk