BUILDERS are working through the Christmas school holidays to make sure a �2.4m project is finished on time and on budget. Due to be completed in early June, the works will nearly double the capacity of Cobholm Primary School to 210 pupils.

BUILDERS are working through the Christmas school holidays to make sure a �2.4m project is finished on time and on budget.

Due to be completed in early June, the works will nearly double the capacity of Cobholm Primary School to 210 pupils.

The new building, which includes a hall, kitchen and classroom, will be linked to the current school through a corridor and it is hoped to be completed by February.

From then until June, the work will focus on converting the old kitchen and halls into a new classroom, IT zone and library.

Head teacher Julie Risby said work on the site, undertaken by builders RG Carter, had been going according to schedule.

She said: “We've got the frame of the new building up and though it's very much work in progress it's all been going very well and it's actually looking a lot bigger than I thought it would be.

“We're determined to get it done on time so there's work going ahead over the Christmas holidays to minimise disruption to lessons.

“The children can see the new hall, kitchen and classroom so they've been watching it come together and they're very excited- they keep asking questions about what's going on.”

Mrs Risby was also enthusiastic about the school being a fully-fledged primary. She said: “This change will provide better consistency and continuity for the children because it means they will be able to stay with us until they are 11. It will help with their learning and the children here deserve what other children have in other schools.”

Work started in July after a series of hold ups, including a dispute with the Environment Agency over flood protection measures. This threatened the project and the school's efforts at achieving primary status, which began with the first batch of year six pupils attending this September.