A Shropshire primary school is set to open a new £6,000 independent learning centre to give children somewhere to go to work and learn away from the classroom.

St Thomas and St Anne Primary School in Hanwood, near Shrewsbury, will open the centre on February 11. The school successfully bid for a grant last year in order to bring a vacant classroom back into use.

The school council is running a competition to give it a more catchy name, and the winning entry, voted for by children and staff, will be announced this week.

School administrator Laila O’Donohue said: “As a result of restructuring we had an under-utilised vacant classroom and were successful in bidding for Extended Schools funding for the purpose of developing an Independent Learning Centre.

“Crucial to the development is that the design should have versatility at its heart both for flexibility of use and to enable space to revert back to a classroom should the need arise in the future.

“This project links with our school development plan and addresses issues identified in our latest Ofsted report.

“It will transform a tired and lifeless ex-classroom into an exciting stimulating space equipped to encourage and facilitate personalised learning.”

Mrs O’Donohue said the library will be relocated into the new centre so that learning resources are kept in one space.

She said the centre will also house laptops with internet access, a reading corner with soft seating, beanbags, an interactive whiteboard and projector, brightly coloured tables and chairs and space for individual and group work on school projects.

Mrs O’Donohue added: “The children are very excited about the centre opening.

“The school council has been very involved and has been party to the design and development of it. They’ve canvassed the pupils on the colour scheme, what they want in there and what to name the centre.

“The laptops are arranged so the children will be all sat facing each other which encourages interactive learning. The children can use this space to gather information and research from a variety of resources all in one room. They can learn in a different environment which is not like anywhere else in the school.”