AN £800,000 refurbishment and development of Abbotsfield School has been approved.

The proposals to provide the school in Clifton Gardens, Hillingdon, with a newly refurbished sixth form block – which it is hoped will open in September – were agreed by the Hillingdon Council’s cabinet on Tuesday of last week.

In addition to providing immediate support to the school, the council and the school are also looking at the options for building a new six or even eight form of entry school on the site, which would include 250 sixth form places.

The news comes just a week after Guru Nanak School in Hayes set out ambitious plans to build the borough’s first free school.

Headteacher of Abbotsfield, Mark Bland, said in a statement: “We are delighted to be working with the council on these exciting plans for our school which in the short term will provide much needed improvements to our sixth form facilities but in the longer term could offer Hillingdon’s students with a brand new secondary school which would offer high quality education facilities for local children.”

At the meeting, the council agreed to a fund a £194,000 feasibility study for the proposed secondary school. Leader of the council, Ray Puddifoot added: “Making sure we have enough school places for local children is one of our priorities and we have already committed nearly £130 million to making sure we achieve this.

“We have already done a lot of work to ensure Hillingdon’s younger children have a primary school place in the borough and these exciting plans would help to ensure we also have enough secondary school places.”

Cabinet members also agreed to fund a feasibility study into work at Meadow High School in Hillingdon, and approved £20,000 worth of traffic calming measures close to Colham Manor Primary School in Hillingdon.