Staff and parents help revamp old school building

The school caters to pupils who have autism and communication difficulties

Almost 100 volunteers have helped revamp a special school in South Yorkshire which was unable to afford improvements.

Staff, parents and members of the community around Mossbrook School, in Norton, Sheffield, helped to decorate and paint the site on Wednesday.

The school caters to pupils with autism and communication difficulties.

Head teacher Laura Watton said the school was built in 1969 and had "desperately needed" refurbishment.

"We're aware of the funding costs nationally, so we've got together lots of volunteers to make it look a little bit better," she said.

"When I started here 15 years ago, we had 78 children, we now have 181, so our spaces have become more condensed.

"We are hoping that support in the outside areas will help, so our children can get outside and the classrooms become calmer."

Improvements to the facilities include a sensory garden, food tech kitchen and a music room.

The new spaces will also help the school reduce the number of children in each classroom, Ms Watton said.

Head teacher Laura Watton said the school, built in 1969, had needed updating

Many of the supplies for the work have been donated by local businesses, but Ms Watton said they hope for further help to make more improvements in the future,.

Rich Heggarty, the temporary assistant head teacher, said new equipment for pupils is top of the list.

"We've had lots of volunteers down and we've got some fantastic areas but school budgets are tight, some of our play equipment has been here as long as I have, that's 13 years now.

"You can maintain it to a certain extent but it would be nice to get new equipment."

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