A 2018 Planning Promise Comes Due: Paddock Wood's Mascalls Court Estate Is Getting Its School

Back in March 2018, when Tunbridge Wells Borough Council granted permission for 375 new homes at Mascalls Court Farm on the southern edge of Paddock Wood, the approval came with a condition: a new primary school, to meet the demand the estate itself would create. Eight years on, with most of those homes now built and occupied, Kent County Council has published the design it wants to build - and is preparing to formally ask for planning permission.

The scheme is a one-form entry primary school for 210 pupils at Phase 1, designed so it can expand to two-form entry and 420 places at Phase 2 without needing to duplicate any of the core facilities built the first time round. It would also include a 14-place Specially Resourced Provision unit for children with special educational needs, on top of ordinary SEN support built into the mainstream school, and a 26-place nursery with its own outdoor play area. Outdoor provision includes a multi-use games area, grass pitches, social and play space and a "biodiverse outdoor habitat" for outdoor learning, plus a multi-purpose hall for dining, assemblies, exercise and after-school and breakfast clubs.

The site sits on about 2.1 hectares of open grassland in the south-west corner of the Mascalls Court development, sloping roughly 11 metres from south to north. Dumbrell Drive, the estate's main link to the rest of Paddock Wood, would form the school's frontage - the consultation material describes it as effectively the entrance into the development. Green Lane and Mascalls Court Road bound the site to the west and south, with Leigh Academy Mascalls, the secondary school, sitting directly across the road; Bloxham Avenue, a pedestrian and cycle-friendly residential street, forms the eastern edge, with houses looking straight out onto the site.

Kent County Council, working with Baxall Construction and Miller Bourne Architects, held a public Community Engagement Event at Paddock Wood Community Centre on 25 September to show residents the design ahead of a formal planning application. Feedback closed on 30 September, and the team said a planning application would follow to KCC "later in October." As of 26 October, we couldn't find that application live yet on Kent's own planning register - worth checking back if you want to comment once it's submitted. KCC is aiming for the school to open in September 2028.

Mascalls Court isn't the only housebuilding pushing Paddock Wood's population up - this site has also covered a separate, still-undetermined application for 520 homes at Badsell Farm elsewhere in the town. Baxall Construction, which is part of the team bringing this scheme forward, is itself based in Paddock Wood and is currently a finalist for Construction Project of the Year at the Kent Invicta Chamber of Commerce's Business Awards 2026, for its work on a new block at Maidstone Grammar School for Girls.

Source: Kent County Council, Baxall Construction and Miller Bourne Architects, "New Primary School in Paddock Wood" public consultation boards and Companies House, Baxall Construction Limited.