ALBERT Primary School will have something to celebrate over the Christmas period after it was announced that improvement works are set to begin at the school.

The school was closed in October this year after heavy rain caused water to leak from damaged ceilings. The school was closed for two weeks, with several school events cancelled in the last week of term, as repairs were carried out on three halls, the dining room, two classrooms and a corridor.

It was also closed in December last year after an underfloor heating pipe burst. The leak drained the heating system, causing the school’s boilers to close down and forcing the school to be closed for four weeks.

After both of these closures the Vale Council have announce that improvement work is set to go ahead after plans were agreed at a meeting last week. The council had previously announced that the school would benefit from £135,000 of "extensive improvements" to prevent further closures in the future.

Preliminary work is already underway and the main programme, which is expected to start early in the spring, will see the former caretaker’s house brought back into use by the school. Work at the school, which is a listed building, will also see improvements to the flat roofs and high level stonework and the replacement of some windows.

A Vale Council spokeswoman said: “At the recent meeting between the school and council officers detailed plans were agreed that will ensure the school can continue to provide a great education to local children throughout the building programme which is expected to continue until the early autumn.”

Councillor Chris Elmore, cabinet member for children’s services, said: “I am pleased to see that the children and staff at Albert will very soon start to see the benefits of the investment that the Council agreed earlier in the year. I am certain that any inconvenience in the short term will be outweighed by the benefits from our investment in the school.”

After the school was closed in October this year parents and the Chair of Governors were critical of the Vale Council for allowing the school to fall into such disrepair after previously raising concerns about its condition.

Following the announcement that work would begin in the spring head teacher Huw Jones said: "I am extremely grateful to everyone for the hard work that has and will be undertaken on behalf of the whole school community."