IT was a school built at a time of great uncertainty and more than 70 years later its future remains unclear.

When the school in Sholing opened its doors in the summer of 1939, Britain was about to go to war with Germany and the first intake consisted of billeted soldiers.

Local youngsters were being evacuated and, the following year, Southampton was devastated by the Blitz.

Hitler’s bombers did not spare the new school in Middle Road, Sholing, and the gymnasium was completely destroyed.

When peace came, two Nissen huts, used as temporary classrooms, were a constant reminder of the war years.

They were still there 30 years later at Sholing Comprehensive Girls’ School.

Apart from the occasional structural improvements – including the addition of a new science block in the 1970s – the fabric of the school has remained fundamentally unchanged.

Fast forward to 2010 and the old school – now The Sholing Technology College – requires both repair and additional space.

The original school taught just a few hundred pupils but today 1,000 are accommodated within the same premises where paint is peeling and brickwork crumbling.

However, earlier this year a new future for the school seemed within their grasp.

The Sholing Technology College was due to be rebuilt under the last government’s Building Schools for the Future (BSF) programme which would have seen seven more city schools benefit from the £200m scheme.

Then the axe fell and the programme was scrapped.

Like the other Southampton schools facing funding cuts, staff and pupils at The Sholing Technology College have been left “completely devastated”

by the news that they will no longer be getting their new school.

Head teacher Karen Dagwell said it was a terrible disappointment not just for her own school but for all the schools in Southampton affected by the decision.

“This school is more than 70 years old and we are on such a small site,” said Karen. “We were all so looking forward to having our new building but we’ve been let down again.

“This is something the staff and students have been working towards and a lot of them are very upset.

“The students have been very involved with the process, carrying out surveys and working on the designs.

They recently went to the O2 Arena in London with the BSF team to present the plans.

“Schools that have gone down this path before describe coming into the new building and feeling a sense of worth and importance.

It was going to be a flagship for the whole community and we are all completely devastated that it has been scrapped.”

Now Southampton’s schools face an anxious wait to find out if they will be receiving any funding at all.

“In terms of BSF our funding has been axed,” said Karen. “I’ve heard there’s still some capital but I don’t know whether we’ll see any of it.

“I didn’t realise it would be this stark. The axe suddenly fell and it fell quickly. We didn’t see it coming because it happened at a time when we were buoyant and hopeful that Southampton would be OK.

“I hope the Government will rethink what has happened so that if there is any money left at all it will still be put into our schools.

“These youngsters are our future and if we look after their education everyone will benefit.

“I’m hopeful that if there is any money out there, the Government will still look on Southampton favourably.”