A SCHOOL is celebrating the announcement yesterday that it is to move from its crumbling Victorian premises into a new building.

St Cuthbert's RC Voluntary Aided Primary School, in Crook, will get its new home next year, 150 years after it was founded on a hillside above the town.

Parents of the 240 pupils have already started an ambitious fundraising programme.

The parish has to contribute £150,000 towards the £1.3m cost, which is largely met by the Department for Education and Skills.

The school submitted a bid last year after governors ruled that it was uneconomic to spend more money on patching up the present outdated premises. St Cuthbert's is one of the oldest school buildings in the Hexham and Newcastle diocese.

It was designed by Pugin, the architect who created the House of Commons.

Land between St Cuthbert's Church and George Terrace was first earmarked for development 30 years ago.

Headteacher Barbara Simpson said: "We are very excited. We celebrate our 150th anniversary next year and the new building should be ready by the autumn.

"It will mean having a school that is fit for education in the 21st Century, instead of a building that is crumbling around us.

"It is gradually falling apart. The heating system does not work, the wooden floors are rotting because of damp and the classrooms are too small.

"The doors and corridors are too narrow to allow disabled access and there is no way they can be altered.

"The governors decided last year not to put any more money into the building and we started work on our bid," she said.

North-West Durham MP Hilary Armstrong, who is also the Government's Chief Whip, backed the bid after visiting the school.

She said: "The old building has served generations of Crook children well, but it is showing its age.

"This decision will benefit the children of St Cuthbert's enormously and will enhance further the excellent education they receive from the school."