A £2m INVESTMENT to expand two Hampshire schools has been given the green light.

Fair Oak Infant School and  Fair Oak Junior School in Fair Oak will have their buildings upgraded with a new Year R classroom and new toilets set to be built at the infant school and a new reception set to be created at the junior school.

The existing hall at the junior school will also be expanded and the classroom by the hall will be refurbished.

There will also be a new entrance forecourt to the junior school and a new play area.

The news comes as Cllr Roz Chadd,  executive member for education and skills at Hampshire County Council, granted spend approval to the project at the total cost of £2,000,000.

She said: “I am very pleased with the plans for both schools, which will see a new accessible classroom added to the infants’ school, along with much needed extra toilets and more play space for pupils. I can see, from the report, that the junior school has clearly outgrown its current assembly hall and I am sure that parents and staff alike will appreciate the changes to the internal layout of the buildings, particularly the upgraded entrance and reception area which will help to strengthen security and safeguarding.”

Both schools together with the adjacent Wyvern College will remain in use during the construction period and local management arrangements will be put in place to manage the health and safety impact for all school users, the county council said.

In a document it also added: "It is proposed that the contractor will access the school site via the existing shared access road. The contractor's working areas will be segregated from the school users. No deliveries or construction vehicle movements will take place at the start or end of the school day, in order to avoid traffic conflict when pupils are arriving at or departing from the site."

The works are expected to start in summer 2020 and to be completed in early 2021.

A number of measures such as energy efficient lighting are also part of the scheme in a  bid to reduce  energy consumption.

The county council said the planning application is expected to be discussed early this year.

Fair Oak Infant School provides education to 409 pupils aged between four and six years old.

Meanwhile, Fair Oak Junior School provides education for children aged between seven and 10 and it currently has 562 pupils.