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Special timetables had been drawn up to cope with the disruption which would be caused while the builders were in.

After five years of planning the 42 year old school, with its overcrowded and crumbling buildings, was about to be refurbished at a cost of £23m.

But the builders haven't turned up.

Cardinal Newman is one of 84 high school refurbishments across the region which have been put on hold because the Government halted the Building Schools for the Future programme (BSF).

Ministers say the scheme was too expensive and bureaucratic and resulted in very few schools actually being refurbished. And they say, in the present climate it's unaffordable.

And that has caused real pain - particularly at

"It was a terrible shock", says headteacher Jane Crow. "You just feel so helpless when you realise that so many people have put in so much work and its all been wiped away without anyone discussing it with you or explaining the reasons behind it".

"So much money has been spent on this already it seems to be a wicked waste not to let it go ahead".

The school does look old, with peeling paint and holes in some of the walls.

The classrooms and corridors feel cramped - one room doesn't even have any outside windows while another classroom has to be converted into a dining room every day.

There is no disabled access.

"Refurbishment was desperately needed", says Jane Crow, "the accommodation should be something that facilitates the learning of students, whereas here we feel it's something we have to work against all the time".

The school already contains 1500 students - the refurbishment would have allowed it to cope with 1800.

"Pupil numbers are rising in Luton" says Mrs Crow. "These are not projected figures, these people are already in the primary schools, they will be here in High School in a few years time and I don't know where they're going to go".

"I understand that Luton will run out of High School places by 2014, it's as serious as that.

"Luton has a slightly negative image. It's hard to attract good teachers to Luton when we can't offer them the kind of accommodation to work in that they can get elsewhere."

The school, though, is not giving up. Along with the council and local MPs it is trying to lobby the Government.

"We agree that there are things in the process which could be slicker and where we could be more efficient," says Mrs Crow, "so we've e-mailed suggestions to Mr Gove but no-one has got back to us".

The Government says it will still make money available for High School refurbishments, it's just not decided yet how much to set aside or what the qualifying criteria will be.

In this school they're desperate for change and after getting so close they now feel they're back at square one. Coalition warnings that the way ahead would be painful
hits home here.

Don't miss a Look East special debate about how this region could be affected by the government's spending review. ´óÏó´«Ã½ 1 at 10.35 on Thursday 9th September.

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