Work set to start on expansion of Lakelands School in Ellesmere
A Shropshire school is to undergo a major expansion after receiving a Government grant of £400,000.
Lakelands School in Ellesmere will use the money to build a two-storey extension that will see a new classroom and improved dining room for its 570 pupils.
Headteacher Ian Sanders said: "Receiving this money is brilliant news and a tremendous opportunity for the school."
The money has been awarded from a Government pot which offers grants to schools that have converted into academies.
Lakelands School achieved academy status in December last year.
This gives the governors freedom from local authority control, allows them to set their own pay and conditions and gives freedoms around the delivery of the curriculum.
Mr Sanders said: "All this has been born out of our conversion into an academy. It's funding we previously would not have had access too. It will mean a big change for the school and allow us to move forward.
"It has been recognised that the school needs to improve in terms of what it looks like and its size due to the number of pupils.
"Alongside the expansion the money will also be used to double glaze all the windows which will make the school more environmentally friendly and also a more pleasant place to be."
Work is set to begin in the summer and will take place in stages.
It is hoped that all improvements will be completed by Christmas.
Lakelands business manager Sarah Davies said the work would provide the most up to date and flexible classroom facilities on the upper floor of the extension.
Work to the dining area below would help the school to support healthy eating, she added.
