School sites set for investment

Three Plymouth primary schools are set to benefit from a series of improvement works.

The biggest project will see a £2.8m expansion to Yealmpstone Farm Primary School.

When works are complete, the Plympton-based school will be able to offer 420 places for local children; exactly double the 210 it can provide today.

Meanwhile, Laira Green Primary School and Mary Dean’s CE Primary School will benefit from remedial works to existing buildings.

Councillor Terri Beer, Cabinet Member for Children and Young People said: “Investing in the future of our schools is incredibly important to the children of this city.

“We want to make sure that there are plenty of places for children of school age throughout the city and I’m really looking forward to seeing the finished product.”

The expansion of Yealmpstone Farm will provide a new two-storey, eight classroom extension to the left of the existing school. The new building will fill the space next to the hall and create a new studio to act as an overflow to the hall.

New toilets, group rooms and storage will also be created while at the same time, the current hard play and playing field will remain intact. The new space will remove the need to bring temporary accommodation onto site.

Work is likely to begin this summer and be complete in time for September 2018.

The works at Laira Green and Mary Dean’s total over £90,000 and include repairs to doors, floors and window sills. Funding will be sourced from the council’s capital programme.