NEARLY a million pounds will be spent on new classrooms and science labs at an Atherton high school.

The 1,000 pupils who attend Hesketh Fletcher High, in Hamilton Street, will soon be able to benefit from six state-of-the-art refurbished science labs and a brand new building containing four new classrooms and a further two labs.

Once improvements are complete the school will no longer need to use mobile classrooms.

Headteacher Dr Ted Walker said: "We have got the best part of a million pounds investment coming into the school which will be spent over the next nine months."

A quarter of a million pounds is being used to gut current science labs and completely refurbish them. Work is already underway on the project which will provide the school with six modern laboratries - and it should be completed by November.

Basic needs

It is being funded by the government as a basic needs project.

Dr Walker said as soon as this work is done construction will start on a new building.

He said: "In the new build there will be two new labs and four classrooms. It's going to be close to the six labs that are being re-done. So instead of the science labs being all over the school as they are now they will be together."

The Department of Education and skills is footing the bill for the second project, which is due for completion in May or June next year, under the new deal for schools initiative.

Another bonus for the school is that mobile buildings that have been used as temporary classrooms for the past 10 years will be demolished.

Dr Walker said: "We are pleased that they are going. They have exceeded their useful life. It's only because staff took care of them, that they are functioning."

Already the school is looking brighter and better as during the summer the front exterior was re-painted blue.