ERMYSTED'S Grammar School, Skipton, has announced ambitious plans to build a new £1 million classroom block to create invaluable learning space for its growing number of pupils.

The 495 square metre two-storey building will boast dedicated craft, design and technology facilities including workshops for electronics, woodwork and graphics, and storage facilities on the ground floor.

On the first floor there will be an information technology room and four classrooms that will be used by the English department.

If it is awarded funding from the Department for Education and Skills, the new development will be built at the top of the main drive on the right hand side.

Clerk to the governors Ken Oxley said the school was in desperate need of more classrooms as it had been criticised for its cramped accommodation.

"At the end of last year we had an Ofsted inspection and we got one of the best reports possible in terms of teaching and results, but one criticism of the school was its facilities," he said.

The report stated: "Overall the accommodation is unsatisfactory. It affects the quality of pupils' learning in a number of subjects, most particularly design and technology."

It added that more appropriate safety arrangements were needed for design, technology and science, and that facilities had to be made available for design and technology.

Headteacher Tom Ashworth said that between 1993 and 2001 the number of pupils had risen from 534 to 610.

He said: "The school is in desperate need of new buildings. IT groups are having to be split into two groups because we can't fit all the boys into one room."

Mr Oxley said the oldest part of the school on Gargrave Road had been built as a boarding house in 1875 for 250 students. The rooms, without many alterations, are still being used as classrooms.

"Now the rooms are just not big enough for a class and to convert these is not really feasible," he said.

Many other buildings and the sports facilities were added to the site in the early 20th century, and are also still being used.

Even the temporary classrooms are now 40 years old.

Mr Oxley said not only would the new development provide new classrooms but it would free up old ones which could be put to better use.

For example the old CDT workshops would be converted to science labs and the temporary classrooms would be pulled down and the site used for further development.

Craven District Council has already granted planning permission for the development.

The plans have also been approved by North Yorkshire County Council and will be included in its bid for funding from the Department for Education and Skills.

The school hopes to hear whether funding has been granted by December.

Mr Oxley said that if the bid was approved this would be the first time the county council had played a major part in capital developments at the school since the memorial hall was built in 1959.

As the school is voluntary aided (run by a foundation), the county council has only had to contribute to the maintenance and upkeep of the buildings in the past.

The Ermysted's Foundation will have to find 15 per cent of the capital cost of the new building.

If everything goes to plan and the funding is granted, work will start on the building in the New Year. It should be completed for September 2003.