Breakwater Academy pupils start at a new site at High Cliff, Southdown Road, on 2 November after leaving Valley Road on 16 October. What the school has told parents.

Breakwater Academy in Newhaven is leaving its Valley Road building. From Monday 2 November its pupils will be taught on a new site at High Cliff, in Southdown Road.

The school’s headteacher, Mrs Franceschi, told parents in the newsletter of Friday 2 October that there were “just 10 school days remaining in our current Breakwater building”. Display boards and artwork are already coming down from the corridors.

Breakwater is a primary school for children aged 4 to 11. The Department for Education’s register lists 144 pupils on roll, with places for 210. It is run by STEP Academy Trust, which also runs High Cliff Academy.

The dates parents need

The school’s diary sets out the move:

  • Tuesday 13 and Thursday 15 October: parent consultations, still at Valley Road
  • Friday 16 October: the last day of the half term, and the last day in the Valley Road building
  • Monday 19 to Friday 30 October: a two-week half term
  • Monday 2 November: term starts at the new site

The two sites are about half a mile apart in a straight line. Breakwater’s postcode is BN9 9UT; High Cliff Academy’s is BN9 9FD, according to the register.

What the school has told parents

The newsletter of 25 September covers the practical arrangements:

  • Tours. Parents have been shown round the new building. Families who missed a tour can arrange one through the school office.
  • Meetings. Meetings for parents and carers were held at both Breakwater and High Cliff.
  • Lunches. An operational kitchen on the High Cliff site will cook meals for children on both sites from the start of the new term.
  • Reception. Parents of Reception children, the Jellyfish class, asked for tours after 4pm. The school said it would send them a choice of dates.
  • Year 6. Parents were due a new consent form in the week of 5 October for children allowed to walk home alone. The school says this lets those children walk home from the first day in the new building.

The school is also photographing pupils in their classrooms and outside the Valley Road building before it leaves. Mrs Franceschi says the pictures will go into a school archive that goes back to its years as Meeching Valley School. She hopes to show them to parents at the consultation evenings.

What the school has not said

Neither the newsletters nor the school’s website say why Breakwater is leaving its building. They do not say whether the move is permanent, or when, if ever, pupils will go back to Valley Road. STEP Academy Trust’s news page carries no statement about it either.

The newsletters call the destination “our new building, on our new site”. They do not say which building on the High Cliff site it is.

High Cliff has building work of its own. In September 2025 the school moved its own classes into temporary modular buildings on its school field, which it calls “The Village at High Cliff”, so that major works could be done on its main building.

What it means for you

If your child is at Breakwater: the school run changes from 2 November. Plan the route to Southdown Road over half term, and book a tour through the school office if you have not seen the new building.

If you live near Southdown Road: two primary schools will share the High Cliff site from November, so expect more traffic at drop-off and pick-up.

If you have questions: they should go to the school office or STEP Academy Trust. We will update this story when the school or the trust says why the building is being vacated and what happens to the Valley Road site.

Sources