YOUNGSTERS at a Newport secondary school have been shortchanged in favour of others in better condition, it has been claimed.

The governors of Bassaleg School in Forge Lane have raised concerns around the condition of the buildings, which includes a number of long-standing temporary portable classrooms, as well as the amount of money which has been invested into the school by Newport City Council.

Chairman David Williams, who also sits on the council, said he was concerned other schools which were in a better physical condition such as the John Frost School in Lighthouse Lane, were being given investment while children and teachers at Bassaleg were being forced to cope with ageing buildings.

“There has been a huge investment being put into the new Welsh School and Duffryn and we feel we have been left behind and not treated fairly,” he said.

A new classroom block is currently being built at the John Frost School, along with the city’s new Welsh-language secondary school.

Councillor Williams said, while Bassaleg achieves good results and achieved the second highest rating in the most recent bandings released by the Welsh Government - yellow, or ‘effective’ - he felt the state of the buildings was holding it back.

“We could be a lot better if we had better facilities,” he said.

The Conservative ward member for Graig added he was concerned because the school, which has about 1,700 pupils, appears to be in a good condition when looked at from the road, meant it was not considered a priority for investment.

“Duffryn was not in a significantly worse state than us,” he added..

“If we didn’t have the demountables we would be in the same position.

“But because we do have those we are actually in a worse position.

“We should have had investment first.”

A council spokesman said: “Newport City Council is working with its property partner Newport Norse examining the scope and feasibility of improvement works required at schools across the city, including Bassaleg School.

“This review will be used as part of a submission for the next phase of funding from the Welsh Government’s 21st Century Schools programme.

“This national programme has been developed to help fund school building improvements, and new schools, in recent years following approval of the schemes by the Welsh Government for all local authorities.

“However, like all councils, Newport continues to face increasing financial pressures and finding the required match funding for the 21st Century School projects remains challenging.”

The most recent school bandings were released in January 2016, with updated rankings due to be released later this month.