A HASLEMERE school is set to become a state-of-the-art centre for learning after successfully bidding for an award of almost £1 million.
St Bartholomew's Primary School is celebrating the Department for Education and Skills, (DfES), funding which will also mean it can scrap its 10-year-old temporary school buildings.
Included in the building project, which is due to start at the end of the year, is a new library, media, and ICT centre, a performing arts studio and multi-purpose classroom.
"It means that all pupils from the very youngest to the oldest will experience superb facilities to motivate and enjoy learning," said headteacher Christine McCracken.
"This is an exciting development for our school and for Haslemere, in which a shared local educational vision can be enhanced by working in partnership with the community to provide excellent teaching and learning opportunities and facilities," a thrilled Mrs McCracken continued.
Plans also include removing shared facilities by providing infant children with their own toilets and cloakroom, a covered area for outdoor learning, and a separate infants' play area.
The award of £895,792 comes after many years of bidding for improvements. It will bring an end to the temporary buildings which were erected during the transition period when the first school closed and merged to become an all-through primary school.
"Teachers and support staff will be able to work with pupils in a stimulating environment which is modern and well designed for learning in the 21st century.
"ICT is for children and families; this could be a really dynamic community centre which the whole of Haslemere could benefit from. It hinges on the community getting behind the project and the beauty of it is the school's excellent location for the town and main facilities."
And she went further and said: "Why build another library which the town desperately needs; when we have got all the facilities, and where better to build it than in a school which serves the community?
"This is not just a St Bartholomew's scheme but a Haslemere project with community use after school hours."
She would like to see a school similar to one she visited in the USA "with all-year-round learning resources".
Mrs McCracken said that fundraising for 10 per cent of the cost of the work, for which the governors at St Bartholomew's are responsible, would now begin in earnest, with church charities and parents already pledging their support.
The chairman of the governors, Anthony Day, is due to host the launch of the fundraising campaign before the end of term.
There will also be an open morning for all new and current parents to view the school and the proposed plans on Tuesday, July 15 between 10 am and 11-30 am.