AMBITIOUS plans to rebuild a 100-year-old primary school and bring it into the 21st century could be one step closer to fruition.

Governors at Hadleigh Junior School, in Church Road, want to rebuild their school on playing fields as they are spending tens of thousands of pounds maintaining their old site, which reduces funding available to provide teaching resources for its pupils.

Now, 6.8 acres of the school’s land has been put up for sale in the hope that redeveloping the area could fund the rebuild.

Almost three acres of neighbouring land in Scrub Lane, owned by Essex County Council, is also being put up for sale.

A statement released by the school’s governing body said: “The school has the opportunity to consider a new school build through capitalising on the sale by Essex County Council of its land which is adjacent to Hadleigh Junior School land.

“We are looking to secure a contractor who will deliver a new junior school as part of a housing project.

“There are still many stages to go through, but we should know within a few months whether this is a viable project.”

The rundown school, which became an academy last year, was built over a century ago and can no longer contend with modern-day class sizes.

Architects have been in consultation with parents, teachers and governors to get feedback on what they would like to see from a new building.

Pupils have also been designing their ideal school of the future, presenting pictures and ideas to planners.

The site has now been earmarked for 36 homes as Castle Point Council prepares a new development strategy setting out where hundreds of homes will be built in the borough over the next 15 years.

The authority is in the process of creating a draft development brief for the land at Scrub Lane, the new junior school and the redevelopment of the existing junior school.

An Essex County Council spokesperson said: “Essex County Council has declared the land as surplus, so we are now in the process of working with Castle Point Borough Council and other local groups to look into the disposal of the land.”