The main building at a South London junior school that has been described as "falling apart" will be rebuilt as part of a £23.5million project, which will also see the school expanded. 

The chair of governors at Burlington Junior School, in New Malden, said they "live in fear that any day something's going to happen" when describing the state of the school to local councillors.

Kingston Council's corporate and resources committee agreed to award the contract for main construction works at the school, along with works to Burlington Infant School, to company Morgan Sindall on June 29. The anticipated value of the contract is £23.5m.

A council report said the CLASP building at the junior school, its main building, will be replaced as part of the expansion project – "effectively building a new five-form entry junior school".

Stephen Arbuthnot, chair of governors at Burlington Junior School, asked the committee to award the contract to "make our school safe, to improve it, to expand it" on June 29. He described the school as "fantastic" and a "magnet for families in the area". 

But he said: "The school is falling apart. In 2017… [we] discovered that the CLASP building, as we call it, was falling apart and we live in fear that any day something's going to happen, someone's going to inspect it and it's going to get condemned and we're not going to have the school that we want."

During a tour of the school in 2019, he said "there was a bucket, or a big plastic bin" in every room and hallway "because the roof was leaking".

Mr Arbuthnot continued: "It's not leaking as much anymore because the council spent a lot of money repairing it, but the school is still falling down."

He added: "Let's get this done, this has been going for a long time. Our teachers are demoralised, they've been worried about this for a long time. Our parents are frustrated.

"We're worried that the school's going to not be available for us and frankly every day, every week, every month, every year that we delay this, the costs go up."

The council's former children, adults and education committee approved the expansion of the junior school from four to five forms of entry in 2019 to accommodate an anticipated need for an extra 120 school places, according to the report.

The school currently has around 480 pupils from year 3 to year 6, the report added, and will have space for 600 pupils through the project.

Lib Dem councillor Andreas Kirsch, council leader, said: "It has taken far too long. Let's get it done now and look ahead at the positives here. We are not just addressing the issues you highlighted, the safety issues, we're also transforming the school."

The new building will include classrooms, group rooms and teaching spaces. A sports hall will also be built at the school, available to locals outside of school hours, along with an artificial grass pitch and games areas.

The existing Victorian building will be revamped, while new games areas will be built at the infant school. Works will also be carried out on catering equipment and facilities shared by both schools.

A pre-construction services agreement concluded the full project would cost £26.6m, the report added, £13.5m over the budget agreed at an earlier point in the project. The submitted cost from Morgan Sindall was £23.5m, the report continued.

The report said the extra costs will be met through the DFE Basic Need Grant so the project will be completed "at no additional direct cost to the council".

The committee agreed to award the contract to Morgan Sindall at the meeting. The contract is for up to 22 months, from July 24, 2023, to May 31, 2025, plus a latent defect period of 12 months.