SOME of the borough's junior schools are bursting at the seams, and others are being forced take on extra children to cope with the immediate demand.

Pinkwell and Heathrow primary schools have each admitted more pupils than their usual capacity in the opening term of the school year, and others could be asked to do the same in January as the reality of the rising number of children in the borough becomes apparent.

Pinkwell is one of several schools that is to have a temporary classroom installed to take on children who have struggled to find a place near to where they live.

The creation of additional reception classes in schools with extra rooms has been put forward as an alternative solution, but this will only be considered if the class size would be sufficient.

The demand is concentrated largely in the south of the borough.

Twelve of the 52 primary schools in Hillingdon have places, and of the 76 spaces available across the borough, 29 are in the south.

Between 2010 and 2014 it is estimated there will be a deficit of 31 forms of entry, and an additional 16 forms of entry - to accommodate about 480 pupils - will be needed by next September.

A phased expansion programme, involving the construction of extra buildings at six schools in Uxbridge and Hayes, has already been planned in response to this, and Rosedale College is to become an 'all-through' school, teaching children from the age of three to 19 by the end of this school year.

It will not be until September 2019 that the effects of these population changes are felt in the borough's secondary schools.

Work on phase one of the building programme went out to tender earlier this month and is due to start next year, subject to the plans being signed off.

Parents and governors at Whitehall Junior and Infant School are furiously opposing plans for expansion, fearing that further growth will compromise teaching standards. They will be putting their case before the council today, with backing from more than 600 people who have signed three petitions.

The latest report on school places, published last week, states that Hillingdon has gone from being a net exporter to a net importer of children aged up to four.

It is also predicted that changes in housing benefit will result in yet more families moving from inner to outer London boroughs.