ONE of Bolton's outstanding schools is ready to take in extra pupils after a £2.5 million transformation over three years.

Blackrod Primary School has been extended, with a new double storey building, but the school has taken advantage of the investment to remodel and improve the whole school to benefit all pupils, and not just those in the new build.

The school will be able to increase the pupil capacity from 210 to 315.

The number of pupils going into reception at the Manchester Road school was increased from 30 to 45 last year in 2017.

Most schools under the primary school expansion programme will be transformed in this way, with no plans for rebuilds.

Three years ago, Bolton Council invested into the early years foundation stage to meet a pressing need for places and this year, the extension was built as those children progress through the school.

Ian Dryburgh, headteacher, said: “We didn’t just want to transplant a new building on, but rather give the whole school a fresh new look. It was a big opportunity for the village to remodel the building.”

And building work too place in such a way it did not impinge on the life of the school.

To ensure children in the original building were made to feel just as special as those in the new wing, all classrooms were given a makeover and the design makes it almost impossible to know which part of the building they are in, once inside.

New facilities include a new technology suite and a bespoke before and after school club, which at one time was run in a classroom.

There is also an arts and music room for pupils

The outdoor area has also been transformed to enhance its Forest School provision, where pupils develop their skills in the great outdoors.

And never one to miss out on a learning opportunity, the construction company helped with a special whole school lesson, where workers ran in to school claiming to have discovered dinosaur bones!