A YORK secondary school is in line for a major expansion and a new purpose built sports hall, under new plans revealed by the city council.

Fulford School, one of the most popular and consistently high performing city state schools, could be expanded to cope with growing demand with new classrooms; drama, food technology and design and technology spaces; science labs; and a long-hoped for indoor sports hall.

The £7 million plans were unveiled when a report, due to go before the city council's cabinet on Tuesday, October 7, was published last night.

The school has consistently got more requests for places than it can cope with every year since 2007. With major housing developments like Hungate, Germany Beck and the Barbican site set to bring more families into Fulford's catchment area, this pressure is expected to increase by 150 student per year once those sites are occupied.

The school, whose head teacher is Lorna Savage, has a total roll that is expected to increase from 1,048 this year, to 1,252 in 2020, the cabinet report shows.

The proposal for a new sports hall will fulfill a long-held hope for the school, which has always previously had to send students to the university to use indoor sports facilities there, something that will not be possible with increased student numbers in the coming years.

Cllr Janet Looker, who has cabinet responsibility for education in York council, said she can remember discussions with the Germany Beck developer over a new sports hall for Fulford as long ago as the mid 90s.

She said: "For some bizarre reason, Fulford is the only secondary school in York which doesn't have a sports hall, and it's been desperate for one for a long time."

If approved, the scheme will mean the school to increase its capacity by 160 places - enough to meet the anticipated extra demand until 2020, and the improvements have been planned to make more expansions easier and more cost effective after 2020.

The cash for the expansion will come from £2 million in contributions from developers at the nearby housing sites - £592,000 the council already has and £1,542,000 it is expecting from sites including Germany Beck, along with 350,000 from the school itself, and £4.5 million from the council’s Basic Need funding allocation from the Department for Education, which is provided to help schools deal with capacity issues.

The scheme could still take some time to come to fruition, Cllr Looker added, as the council needs to find a builder, submit a planning application, and arrange construction around the school year.

The same cabinet meeting next week will also see plans for a new marketing, culture and tourism body debated, along with plans to boast recycling rates, and a new Green Deal provider appointed to cut fuel bills and carbon emissions in the city.