CHILDREN in Barnoldswick starting school for the first time are to benefit from a bigger classroom and a brand new outdoor play area.

The reception class at Coates Lane Primary School has been extended and a new area for outdoor activities has been created specially for the youngest children in the school.

More than £200,000 has been spent on the work, which also includes an extension to the school's office space. It will be officially opened by Pendle MP Gordon Prentice when he visits the Kirkstall Lane school on Friday, September 3.

Headteacher Sue Holloway said the new soft surface play area is already a bit hit with the children who have just started at the school.

The reception class children, who started earlier this month, have been using it at playtime while they get used to being at school.

She said: "The national curriculum for reception children is based on learning through play and this area provides a safe outdoor space for play-based activities.

"It will be a fun area for the physical development of the children that come here. The reception children have been having great fun out there already.

"We have wanted to do this work for more than ten years and it is wonderful to see it finally come to fruition."

Mrs Holloway added: "We are delighted that our MP Gordon Prentice has agreed to come and open for us officially.

"He has given us lots of support over the years and often comes along to visit us, but this occasion will be particularly special."