Staff and parents are helping to renovate the old school building

Almost 100 volunteers helped to upgrade a special school in South Yorkshire that could not afford improvements.

Staff, parents and members of the community around Mossbrook School, in Norton, Sheffield, helped decorate and paint the site on Wednesday.

The school caters to students with autism and communication difficulties.

Head teacher Laura Watton said the school was built in 1969 and was in “desperate need” of refurbishment.

“We’re aware of the funding costs nationally, so we’ve got a lot of volunteers together to make it look a bit better,” she said.

“When we started here 15 years ago, we had 78 children, now we have 181, so our spaces have become more condensed.

“We hope that the support in the outdoor areas will help so that our children can get outside and the classrooms become calmer.”

Improvements to the facilities include a sensory garden, a food technology kitchen and a music room.

The new spaces will also help the school reduce the number of children in each classroom, Ms Watton said.

Many of the supplies for the work were donated by local businesses, but Ms Watton said she hoped for further help to make more improvements in the future.

Rich Heggarty, interim assistant principal, said new equipment for students is at the top of the list.

“We’ve had lots of volunteers and we have some fantastic areas, but school budgets are tight, some of our playground equipment has been here as long as I have, 13 years now.

“You can maintain it to a certain extent, but you’d better get some new equipment.”

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