Plans to partially demolish Raac-hit school

St Leonard's Catholic School in Durham could be partially demolished

Part of a school could be knocked down and redeveloped after Raac was found on site.

St Leonard's Catholic School in Durham was forced to close in September because of the concrete, leading pupils to be taught in temporary classrooms.

Plans have been submitted to Durham County Council to demolish some of the site's buildings to make way for a new school.

The proposal aims to "urgently reunite the school within a permanent, high quality new facility", according to planning firm Lichfields.

Plans have already been approved for the demolition of existing disused school buildings, but a further application is now being considered.

"The development provides a new three-storey school building to the west of the school site which will replace the existing disused and Raac-affected buildings once they are demolished," Lichfields said in its application.

"The existing Springwell Hall will be reconfigured, refurbished and utilised as part of the redeveloped campus. The existing Sixth Form building will also be retained."

Car park classrooms

The new school building will include a sports hall, assembly hall, dining room and teaching space for art, technology and music on the ground floor.

There will be general teaching spaces for maths and English, while science labs will be built on the upper floors.

Demolition of the old building is set to take place this year and construction on the new building will be carried out by BAM in the autumn, according to St Leonard's website.

While construction is being carried out, the students could be taught in temporary classroom built on the nearby County Hall car park.

It is "seldom used" because the council is in the process of "decanting staff" to small buildings across the county, Lichfields said.

A separate application has been submitted for the temporary classrooms.