A GRAMMAR school in Bournemouth is planning to build a new extension for PE and technology facilities so it can expand its admission numbers.

Bournemouth School for Girls, which currently has around 1,130 pupils, has received funding from both the government and local council to build a new fitness suite, dance studio and changing rooms, as well as a workshop, classroom and storage space.

The extension would enable the school to increase its capacity by 80 pupils by 2024/25 – an increase of 7.1 per cent.

The school off Castle Lane West is the only school in the conurbation which does not currently have a dedicated sports hall to teach PE. Its design and technology facilities are also “not reflective of those required to deliver the current curriculum”, according to its planning application.

The buildings where both subjects are taught “are largely unchanged” since the school was built in 1960.

The proposed extension would involve the removal of a temporary classroom building. Existing buildings would then be extended to enclose a three-sided courtyard. The current technology workshop would be refurbished and a new workshop created within an existing classroom.

The new PE facilities would be situated over two storeys.

An accessible lift would serve the new facilities and current first floor technology and textiles areas that are currently unavailable to pupils with mobility problems.

The council has given the school a grant towards the costs of the extension after asking if admission numbers could be increased to meet the growing number of children reaching secondary age in the Bournemouth area.

The school also successfully applied for further funding from the government’s selective schools expansion fund, and was one of only 14 schools nationally to be granted funding.

In the school’s planning application, Sheerin Bettle Architecture says the improved standard of facilities would “bring improvements to both the learning environment and the physical health of the pupils”.

“In addition to the improved environment and facilities the scheme will allow both the local authority and the government to fulfil their plans to increase school places and open opportunities for more pupils to attend one of the area’s leading schools.”

A decision on the plans will be made in the coming weeks by Bournemouth council’s planning department.