Building work on a £5.25 million extension at an Almondbury school remains on target despite some poor weather in the last couple of months.

Contractors working on the extension at King James’s School are on track for the planned January opening and expect to step up a gear when the school closes for the summer holidays.

Contractors moved onto the site on March 29 and since then have been working to clear the site ready for building work to begin. Tons of soil have been excavated.

A two-storey 10-classroom block is to be built where two temporary classrooms were previously.

A huge slope is being created and landscaped as a wildlife area. Eventually the slope will consist of approximately 4,800 tons of stone and soil.

The finished slope will be stepped and then it will be planted with wildflowers to create a meadow to support wildlife.

A spokesman for Kirklees Council said: “New guidelines state that projects should not only offset their effect on biodiversity but actually aim to improve it – which is what we are aiming to do here, delivering benefits not only to the children of Kirklees but to our wildlife too.”

Work underway at King James’s School

The spokesman said work on was track and added: “Despite one of the wettest Mays on record, the contractor has done a great job of maintaining the programme for students to start using the building in January next year.

“Excitement will continue to build next month as the foundations are cast and the steel frame goes up.”

Work is also due to start soon on increasing the size of the dining area, the creation of a new science lab and the extension of PE changing rooms. There will also be changes in how students move around the school.

The spokesman added: “These works will start ASAP, working around students in the existing building before really pressing on through the summer holidays.”

READ MORE: Here’s what the new extension will look like when it’s finished

The extension at King James’s is part of a massive shake-up of education in Almondbury which meant closing the secondary phase at Almondbury Community School and funding an expansion of the King James’s campus on St Helen’s Gate.

Student numbers will rise at King James’s from 900 to an expected 1,050.

READ MORE: How Kirklees Council is investing in schools and buildings