A bright new future is on the cards for a Billericay school which has drafted ambitious plans to take it into the 21st century.

The plans for Brightside Infant and Junior schools will see more than £500,000 spent on a host of projects to improve the school's environment for its pupils and staff.

The infant and junior schools, in Brightside, are to start the new school year in September as a primary school.

Also on the cards are ambitious improvements which have been revealed to governors.

These include:

A new reception area linking the two schools

An enlarged infants school hall

Substantially upgraded junior school classrooms

Newly laid play areas.

The Government has made £650,000 available for the project.

Headteacher Deborah Coles said the school's governing body had worked in consultation with architects and engineers to come up with the study.

She said: "All the governors warmly received the proposals and we really felt we had been listened to. However, it is just a study and not a final plan. We now have to appoint designers to draw up such a scheme."

Recent findings show youngsters achieve better results if they do not have to suffer the upheaval of a move from infant to junior school.

The decision to merge the Brightside schools was also down to the number of unfilled places. Money saved by merging the units will be ploughed back into the primary school.

Mrs Coles said: "Having one school should provide continuity in the curriculum and see the same management and leadership for all classes.

"There was apprehension among staff because they worried about their jobs but, in fact, no-one is going to leave and we will be taking on four new teachers in September."

An Essex education spokesman said work will be completed by June 2002.

Headteacher Deborah Coles

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