THE mother of a nine year primary pupil, forced to take lessons in the school hall, fears her daughter's education will be affected by the makeshift arrangements.

A class of 20 young students at Winwick Primary School are being taught in the same place where assemblies are held and meals are served.

Debbie Hughes, of Maple Road, is convinced it is not the right environment for her daughter Sheri, or her classmates to be taught.

She said: "They don't have their own space. They have to share pegs and just do not have the benefits of their own classroom environment. It is not fair on the children to make them suffer because the school is overcrowded.

"They are surrounded by sounds from the kitchen and seem to be constantly on the move."

Children are also split up into different groups in the afternoon to free the hall up for other activities.

"The older children are put into groups above their age range and the younger children into groups a year below. It is outrageous. My daughter has to spend the afternoons without her classmate and with a younger age group, because she is one of the youngest in her year. But she is then not with children at the same level of ability," said Mrs Hughes.

Mrs Hughes believes part of the problem is the changed government guidelines which allows parents to choose which school their child attends.

"Winwick has always been a village school and has ably served the children of the village. But the moment these guidelines were introduced children came from everywhere and took away the sense of community."

Graham Martin, head teacher at the school, said: "Winwick is a popular school which attracts families from a wide area. As the population of Warrington grows, the school is responding to the increase in numbers of pupils at the school by using all the available space.

"We are not the only school faced with this challenge but the governors are delighted that Warrington Borough Council has secured Government funding to build a new classroom by next April so present arrangements are only temporaty."

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