MORE than £4 million of council funding is to be spent expanding two North Baddesley schools, in the biggest splash of cash the area has seen for years.

Both North Baddesley Junior and Infant schools will use the £4,160,000 funding to build a combined seven new classrooms and accommodate an extra 180 pupils between them.

The schools, which are linked, will be turned into three-form entry schools with three classes per year and developed into a combined primary campus.

They will also get new reception areas and border protection – which includes additional landscaping and fences for screening.

This, junior school headteacher Neil Hardy says, will future-proof the schools and allow more local children to be educated closer to home.

“The benefit of (the county council) doing this is it protects us against future housing estates being built,” he added.

“It means we will be able to accommodate extra pupils that may come from those developments.

“The idea is that children can be educated in their local community, which is particularly important.

“Also, a lot of work is being done to improve the safeguarding of the pupils, with extra landscaping and fencing being installed.”

But, the school extension doesn’t just benefit the pupils, but also jobseekers.

“We are probably the biggest employer in North Baddesley,” Mr Hardy said.

“We have 38 members of staff and that will grow even further.”

The work, which has already started, is due to be completed by April 2018.

Infant school headteacher Carla Lashmar added: “For Neil and I, the opportunity to have a primary ethos across the two schools is essential for the pupils’ development.

“The opportunity to work together even more is amazing. 

“The expansion means we can offer places to all our in-catchment children and also some out-catchment that have been involved with the school before.

“For our pupils, the new (infant school) building really reflects the transition to the junior school; it is placed in between the two schools so the transition is not just mental but they are also physically getting closer to the next stage.”

The funding comes as part of a Hampshire-wide school investment programme by the county council, totalling around £300million. 

The programme will deliver 18,275 new primary and secondary school places by 2020, with 7,360 places delivered to date – from 2013 to 2016. 

County councillor for Baddesley, Alan Dowden, who has campaigned for the expansion for several years, said he was delighted the decision had been made.

He said: “It is something I have wanted for years but speaking at the decision meeting on Wednesday, I did emphasise there had been a need for additional school places in North Baddesley for some time; this has been a concern for me.

“I have been very impressed with the designs and I know the people of North Baddesley will really like them as well.

“All in all I am really pleased.”

He added: “It has been a lot of hard work to get this and as the local county councillor I am happy the county decided to spend money here.”

Cllr Peter Edgar, county council cabinet member for education who made the decision, added: “Thanks to our strong track record in planning for the future, our provision of additional school places is keeping pace with continued rising demand in Hampshire. 

“We pride ourselves on investing in quality school buildings that are built to be sustainable and provide a good environment for learning. Having a significant in-house team of property designers, who specialise in school buildings, results in excellent spaces for learning.”