AS schoolchildren in Cradley return to packed classrooms next week, the building of the village's new primary school is under way.

Construction work at the site near the Bury Fields estate, to the east of Cradley, started on July 7 and building is due for completion in July 2004.

Pupils arriving for the autumn term next year will be able to use the new building and facilities, which include five classrooms and a school hall.

Kidderminster firm Howl Associates designed the new Church of England voluntary aided school and director Phillip Howl said it was a very contemporary structure.

"The building is on a green field site, will be gently curving and have form zinc roofing," he said.

Galvanised steel pergolas at the back of the building will act as sun blocks and the school has an environmentally-friendly natural ventilation system.

The lane to the school, including a lay-by for parents dropping off children, will be by the line of trees on the graphic.

There will also be a small car park, a playground and playing field on the site.

Meanwhile, the future of the old school buildings is still undecided.

Rev Michael Smith, schools' officer for the Hereford Diocese, said it would be sold as part of the deal between the Department for Education and Science and the governors to provide the new school.

"Before they gave us the grant they took into account the value of the old site," he said.

The DfES has provided 90 per cent of the funding for the new building, with the governors and diocese providing 10 per cent.

Pamela Hurle, chair of governors for Cradley CE School, said there was no doubt the new school would benefit the pupils and staff, who were currently working in substandard conditions.

"The actual buildings are not suited to a modern method of education and the individual rooms are bursting at the seams," she said.

The old school consists of two classrooms and a hall in a Victorian building dating from 1856, along with three 'temporary' classrooms that have been in use for around 30 years.