Pupils at a North Yorkshire school are having to take lessons in its corridor because it is so overcrowded.
The George Pindar Community Sports College in Scarborough was built to accommodate 400 children but now has almost 900 students.

Head teacher Hugh Bellamy said: "We have become extremely cramped."

Despite giving up his own office for lessons and converting the staff room to a classroom, art students are being taught in the school corridor.

Art teacher Linda Birch said: "It is very, very difficult. It is cold, it is draughty and you cannot leave the work out because it needs to be moved at the end of the day for the school to use the corridor."

Spending priorities

Mr Bellamy said: "Another corridor has been boxed in to form offices for the PE staff because we have run out of office space.

"The school has been expanding piecemeal over the years, but over the last four years we have gained another 150 students."

He said changes in the curriculum to provide vocational training had meant a change of use for some classrooms to accommodate courses such as hairdressing and construction.

The government announced its three-year capital spending programme in October and North Yorkshire County Council is now planning its spending priorities.

George Pindar school is hoping it will benefit from those considerations currently taking place at the local education authority's headquarters in Northallerton.

"For Christmas, George Pindar would love six new classrooms," said Mr Bellamy.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/n...re/7151045.stm