A multi-ethnic Oxford school is about to be transformed in a £700,000 make-over brought about by the change in the city's education system.

Work is due to start at St Barnabas First School, Hart Street, to prepare the school for its new role as a primary school.

To accommodate 50 more pupils, an expansion scheme on the site will create more classrooms.

The scheme also includes developing a computer room, a larger staff room, and altering the school hall to create a storage area.

The classrooms will be built on the former playground, which is being replaced by a new play area, on the community recreation ground at the junction of Jericho Street and King Street.

Residents will also benefit from a new community play area which is to be completed, at the corner of the school field, between Great Clarendon Street and Hart Street.

The school's catchment area takes in much of the city centre, and its pupils include children from Australia, Bangladesh, China, Germany, Japan and India.

Headteacher Hilary Hiorns said: "At a recent international evening, the children said 'hello' in all the languages they knew. This came to 29 -- from Arabic to Zulu."

St Barnabas school is Church of England aided, but it includes children from other faiths, including Islam, Judaism and Hinduism.

The new redevelopment is the most extensive work involving the school since it was built in 1977, to replace the original Victorian school, which dated from 1854. Most of the original buildings survive today as School Court in Great Clarendon Street.