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School welcomes £1.2m revamp
STAFF and pupils at one of Chorley's oldest schools feel like millionaires afer a £1.2m overhaul.
The money paid for a brand new building, a kitchen and new classrooms at Duke Street Primary School.
The renovation of the school, which dates back to 1915, means pupils and staff can now use state-of-the-art facilities, with a further 1.4m to be invested in 2007.
Headteacher Andrew Kidd said: "We have spent 1.2m on finishing improvements to classrooms and building two new classrooms. A modern hall at the back of our school has just been completed and it will be used for PE and games.
"We now also have a brand-new kitchen which Jamie Oliver would be proud of.
"We used to get school meals prepared and delivered from St George's Primary School. We can now have the food prepared on site and push healthy eating in a big way.
"The refurbishment was started in September last year and we are very pleased with the result.
"Our old hall wasn't big enough for all the children to use it for school productions and other events.
"A lot of people don't see the changes because our school has a very traditional facade but at the back there is this very impressive new building.
"I think this is one of the biggest investments any school in Lancashire has had spent on it for a while and it will definitely benefit the development of our pupils."
The school is still to get a new infants department, an ICT suite and five new classrooms next year.
Duke Street Primary School recently hit the headlines when residents complained about council workers cutting trees outside the school entrance.
Mr Kidd added: "The council decided to cut the trees because they were damaging the pavement. I appreciate that residents are upset they have been cut but what I can't understand is that they were planted so close to the wall in the first place."
County Coun Alan Whittaker, Cabinet member for Schools, said: "Providing a high quality teaching and learning environment is part and parcel of providing a good education for our children.
"As an authority we spend significant sums each year on a rolling programme of improvements to school buildings.
"I'm pleased that Duke Street Primary School is currently benefiting from these improvements which will complement the good teaching already being provided and help to increase educational achievement at this excellent school."
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Weather for Chorley
Wednesday 23 May 2012
Today
Sunny spells
Temperature: 13 C to 23 C
Wind Speed: 7 mph
Wind direction: North east
Tomorrow
Cloudy
Temperature: 11 C to 22 C
Wind Speed: 9 mph
Wind direction: North east
