A new £3.3m school building could replace 'dilapidated' classrooms set for demolition.
Plans for the new teaching block, to replace the buildings where maths and humanities are based at Fred Longworth High School, have been revealed.
The proposal for the Tyldesley site includes creating six new temporary classrooms, which will be used during the construction period.
If approved, work could start later this term and be fnished by the summer.
Headteacher Jan Garretts said the 'brand new' facilities which will house English and maths classrooms will be 'fantastic' for staff and students.
She said: “We’re very excited. It’s a significant investment that’s going into the school.
“We’ve got buildings that are 50 years old and very much showing their age.
“We’ve done our absolute best with them, but they’re old and they’re showing their age.
"But some of the classrooms in that block are smaller than regulation classrooms."
The secondary school in Printshop Lane put in a bid for the Department for Education's Condition Improvement Fund last year in the autumn term.
The academy anticipated an answer in early 2020 with plans for the project to progress by February – but the government's announcement of successful bids was delayed due to the coronavirus crisis, according to Mrs Garrett.
Now, a planning application for the demolition of existing classrooms to make way for a new three-storey building has been submitted to Wigan council.
Mrs Garrett said the school is seeking permission for its plans soon so that work can start by the end of 2020 with the hope of opening by the summer.
She added: “It’s great for staff morale. We’ve needed it for more than a year."
The planning application states that the new teaching block is needed to replace the existing building which is now 'dilapidated' and at the end of its viable use.
Demolition will be done in two phases. First the existing single-storey teaching block consisting of five teaching classrooms plus two admin rooms will go.
During Phase two, around 14 classrooms, toilets, and plant rooms in a two storey block with an overall footprint area of around 964 sq m will be knocked down.
Both these buildings have now been deemed to be structurally unsafe with a full structural report to be issued, according to the planning application.
Both buildings will be replaced with a new build three-storey block of teaching classrooms.
.jpg?w=600)
