WORK on a £450,000 scheme to build new classrooms at a Ryedale primary school will start later this month.

When St Mary’s Catholic School in Malton was built 40 years ago, it had 65 pupils on its books – now this number has nearly doubled.

And to cope with increasing classes, the school will build two new teaching rooms for its youngest pupils, enlarge existing areas and a new library. But this work will spark a major fundraising effort for the tiny primary, which, because of its special status as a voluntary aided school, means it will have to pay £41,000 towards the costs of the massive development.

Already they have received generous donations from the family of Malton woman Joanna Rookes who was killed in a road accident four years ago, leaving them with the task of finding £25,000 to plug the gap.

Speaking at a talk to parishioners at St Leonard & St Mary’s Church, Malton, headteacher David Harrison said: “For a small school like St Mary’s this is quite a daunting task.

“We are extremely grateful to the Rookes family for their efforts in raising money to support the school. There is a significant amount of money which the family has allowed us to use but that still leaves us with a deficit of around £25,000.

“It is quite a challenge for the school.

“A few years ago when we added another classroom we extended the scope of activities to the whole of the parish. This has been a great success and we hope to build on this in the future.

“The connection between the school and the parish is long-standing and if there is anything that parishioners and the parish can do then we would appreciate that.”