TWO Hampshire schools are celebrating today after council chiefs agreed to back plans to spend almost £2m on improvements and extensions.

The cash means both Bridgemary School in Gosport and Wickham Primary School can open their doors to more pupils and look forward to state-of-the-art facilities.

About £1m has been pledged to Wickham school to accommodate a predicted rise in pupil numbers as the nearby Knowle development nears completion.

Pupils can now look forward to a new music and drama centre and information technology suite.

Now that the money has been agreed, with £300,000 coming from developers' contributions, work should start next January.

Head teacher Carol Burton said: "We are all really, really excited about the plans. The children should particularly benefit from the new music and drama classrooms.

"This is a significant investment in the school which means we can accommodate the numbers of pupils forecast to come from the Knowle development."

School officials at Bridgemary are also raising a glass to Hampshire County Council after their £700,000 grant was backed by education chiefs.

It means the school will be able to welcome another 100 pupils when term starts in September 2003 if work goes to plan, bringing the total number of students up to 1,350.

The designs for Bridgemary also include developing an IT suite and redeveloping the courtyard area for pupils and after-school organisations to use.

Head teacher Cheryl Heron said: "We have actually already started work on the courtyard so that is beginning to take shape.

"We are very pleased that the whole project has gone through. At the end of the day it is all about turning the image of the school around and this will help massively in that."