STAFF and parents at a North Dorset village primary school are celebrating after hearing that plans to give it a facelift and replace a temporary classroom were given the thumbs-up on Friday by county planners.

Dunbury School at Winterborne Stickland, near Blandford, is to see its prefabricated Horsa classroom ripped down and a permanent one erected, as well as revamp works which include restoring the building's original front faade and landscaping in the grounds.

The Victorian-built federated school, which has some 200 pupils, is split into three sites and is within a conservation area and an area of outstanding natural beauty.

Massive building works at the nearby Winterborne Whitechurch site of the school were approved last year and are due to be finished in the spring, creating two additional classrooms, a library and information techno-logy room, together with improve-ments to offices and toilets.

Governor at the school, Cllr Della Jones MBE, said: "The Horsa used to be the school's old canteen when we had school dinners but then it became a classroom some 20 years ago.

"This latest planning permission is extremely good news for the local children, their families and the community as a whole.

"It is something that we have all been working towards for a long time."

Head teacher, Simon France, said: "We have now become a primary school with children up to the age of 11 and in the last two years have seen our numbers jump from 138 pupils to 206.

"It's been an exciting time for us. We've won awards and now everything is coming together.

"What we have now is a 21st- century school in a beautiful rural landscape."

The school has been a pioneer in the county using video conferencing and the latest in ICT to link the three sites together.