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But one of Doncaster’s biggest academies had something to smile about this week with the opening of its new £250,000 dining room extension.

Last week, Hall Cross Academy was in the headlines after some of the pupils at the upper school had to go home and self isolate due to three cases of the coronavirus among pupils.

But this week the school was able to celebrate the opening of its extended dining room.

Pictured at the new Hall Cross school dining room extension are Noah Simpson, Josie Foxton(School Governor), Jacob Fletcher, Simon Swain(Principal), Seatara Karimi and Nida Tanweer.

The extension has been completed at the Hall Cross Academy lower school site on St Michael’s Road, Bessacarr, and is to immediately be brought into use for the pupils at the school.

Long serving school governor Josie Foxton was invited into the school to open the new facility.

Principal at the academy, Simon Swain was pleased to see the extension completed after months of work, and feels it will help the school by providing extra space at a time when schools need as much room as possible for social distancing due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Hall Cross lower school pupils in the new £250,000 dining room extension

Youngsters will also be able to do work in the new area when it is not been used for eating.

Mr Swain said: “It provides seating for an extra 150 students and will be used immediately to allow for better, more efficient facilities especially during these times.

"It has power sockets and so will be used for students to work on laptops.

"The funding was provided by Lovell builders via the Local Authority to enable us to increase our capacity.

“The school has become increasingly popular in recent years and this extension will enable us to provide students with a better dining experience.

“It was opened by a long standing school governor, Josie Foxton, who has provided over 30 years of service to the school.”

The building was completed by Armthorpe based PS construction with the fixtures and fittings provided by Reckage, a Doncaster based firm.

Hall Cross is one of Doncaster’s biggest schools, with its younger pupils based at the Bessacarr site, and its older GCSE and A Level pupils based at its building on Thorne Road, near Doncaster town centre.

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Boost for Doncaster school as £250,000 extension brought into use