MOST schools would frown upon pupils going outside in winter wearing shorts and T-shirts but at St Stephen's School in Skipton it is a necessary part of the curriculum.

All the school children have to get changed for PE in one building before braving the elements and crossing a road to arrive in the school hall for their lesson.

Parents Mary Nolan and Lucy Irven said the school's accommodation was inadequate and they hoped Craven district councillors would recognise this when a planning application for a modern school on one site came before them on February 4.

Planners have twice rejected the scheme but architects, governors, teachers and parents have now addressed all the problems raised.

Both parents cannot understand why St Stephen's plans have been rejected when the three senior schools along Gargrave Road have been allowed new extensions.

Mrs Irven said the extension being built at Skipton Girls' High would be about the same size as the planned new school.

She said the extension had been built on open land which previously had been a seating area for pupils. "My view is that it is lovely for the secondary schools to get more space, but primary school education is also essential."

Dr Nolan added: "We are just asking for an appropriate 21st century building - this is a 19th century one."

She added that trees were being cut down in Ermysted's school grounds this week to make space for its new building.

Both parents were concerned about the lack of space in the current junior school building, and said the classrooms were not conducive to modern learning. Thin partition walls meant teachers wanting to run a music lesson had to clear it with the next door class so as not to disturb them.

There is no dedicated computer suite - instead computers are squeezed into classrooms. The library is in a corridor at the top of a flight of stairs and is not big enough to seat a small work group. The staff room doubles up as a storage and music room.

Dr Nolan said it was Government policy to run inclusive schools but there was no way St Stephen's could educate a child in a wheelchair as there were steps up or down to every classroom and "even the flat bits of floor are uneven."

She added that despite the poor accommodation the atmosphere and the quality of teaching were excellent. But she added that the teachers and pupils deserved to have better working conditions.

The school has had problems with damp, condensation and poor ventilation.

The infant class adjacent to Gargrave Road cannot work with the windows open because of the noise and fumes from the road, but it is too hot with them closed. Fans are used all year round.

The application to go before the planning committee is to demolish the infant block, opposite the main building, and put a two storey block of three classrooms, a library and staff room in its place.

An undercover walkway and fourth classroom will link this building to the present main hall to create a courtyard effect. The walkway will also form the main school entrance.

Further up the avenue a single storey block of two classrooms and a nursery is planned. The pupils will be able to access all the areas of the school without going outside.

The grassy area higher than that will form playgrounds and netball courts.