AN extra classroom is needed at a Burnley primary school to deal with a ‘bulge’ in pupil numbers.

Education chiefs have noticed a rise in the numbers of reception age children at St John the Baptist RC Primary, Thames Avenue, so 30 additional places are being provided.

This will need to be accommodated for in the next five or six years, councillors have been told, prompting plans for a new temporary classroom and the retention of two existing teaching spaces.

Architect Michael Bennett said: “It is envisaged that the three classrooms will be required until the ‘bulge’ from the increased intake has worked its way through the school.”

School leaders have decided, after studying possible configurations, that the only place to install the new classroom would be on part of a soft play area next to the two other rooms, which are connected to the main St John’s building by a link corridor.

Mr Bennett added: “This will provide an economical solution which does not affect the remainder of the school building and will not affect the other site facilities. The area is accessible for craning in the building modules.”

The original two classrooms have been in place at the school site since 2008 and have operated under temporary planning permissions.

Last April the school, whose headteacher is Kieran Heakin, was told that it had improved its teaching standards from ‘satisfactory’ to ‘good’, with particular emphasis placed on efforts to address issues with monitoring youngsters’ progress.