A £1.6million cash injection will bring Holy Family School, Keighley, into the 21st century, says its head.

Conor Davis this week announced plans for a large extension to the front of the school building, which would include a new library, art, music and food technology rooms.

The cash, part of a £154 million Government windfall for voluntary aided (mainly religious) schools was applied for by the catholic Diocese of Leeds, which controls admissions and funding of all local catholic schools.

Mr Davis says the extra space is urgently needed for the school, which accommodates 950 pupils.

On the day the Department for Education and Skills (DfES) visited the school to look at existing space, the hall was used for a physical education lesson, dinners and exams within just three hours.

Mr Davis adds: "This burns up a lot of energy and staff goodwill to get a quart into a pint pot consistently and still maintain the quality of teaching and learning."

The new library is also badly needed as the current one, the size of two classrooms, is often used for lessons and has lost space through an area being dedicated to careers advice.

The vacant space left by the existing library will be converted to a business studies area.

The plans, which also include new classrooms, will link up the three buildings that now form the school with internal corridors.

The sixth form block, now used for other lessons after the sixth form outgrew it, will be altered so it can be an exclusive area for those youngsters.

Pupils at Greenhead High School will also benefit as they share sixth form teaching facilities with the school.

Mr Davis said the extension would have a huge impact on a school designed to accommodate only half the number of students there are today.

He added: "This is a vindication of all the hard work that had gone on with poor resources and even worse facilities for years in this school.

"Exam results are improving markedly year on year and our last Ofsted inspection actually commented on the strength of the results compared with the conditions staff and students have to work in."

The £1.6million payout will be split over two years. Of an initial £52,000 handout, £20,000 is being spent on new windows for the sixth form block and £32,000 on architects' preparation work.

The school envisages the work starting in April 2003 and being completed by May 2005.