A THORNBURY head teacher has lobbied a government minister over the need for investment.

Melanie Warnes, head teacher of the Castle School, recently met with Education Minister Lord Hill to discuss the school’s need for money to rebuild.

The meeting focused in particular on the need for a major upgrade of the sixth form centre at Castle School. The Castle School, which has 1,700 students, is split across two sites, the main Park Road site, and the sixth form centre is half a mile away on Gloucester Road.

The sixth form building is Thornbury’s old grammar school and was built in the 1930s. The sixth form has 400 students studying a range of more than 30 subjects and vocational courses.

According to the school the sixth form centre is becoming unfit for purpose, due to the age of the buildings. The school would also like to consolidate on to one site to help save money.

However, with the government and local councils cutting spending the school is struggling to find funding for the project.

Ms Warnes said: "As a school we are seeking to serve the whole community and to provide excellent education to young people of all ages. "Running a school on two sites presents challenges, and our ageing sixth form facilities are starting to become a barrier to developing our provision in the way we would wish. "I very much welcomed the opportunity to have a face-to-face meeting with a government minister to tell him about all we have achieved as a school and also to make the case for further investment."

Ms Warnes was accompanied on her visit to Westminster by Thornbury and Yate MP Steve Webb.

The pensions minister said: "A lot of local schools are feeling financial pressure and this is making major capital projects even more difficult to fund than normal.

"It is vital therefore that ministers in the Department for Education are aware of how much good could be done by additional investment in South Gloucestershire schools."