ABOUT 350 pupils at Hatters Lane School in High Wycombe will each get a present of a sweatshirt in the new school uniform colour of black, in time for next term.

140 11-year-olds joining the school for the first time will get a free tie.

Hatters Lane becomes Highcrest Community School next term under the Government's Fresh Start scheme. Pupils helped choose the name and were allowed to choose their own new uniform and help design the new badge. The pupils plumped for the ultimate fashion colour, black, for trousers and jacket, to be worn with a white shirt, tie, and black shoes.

Parents of pupils already at the school were worried about the cost of buying new uniforms, so governors decided it would only be required wearing in September for the newcomers. Over the years the jacket and tie will work its way through the school.

The £5,000 costs for the sweatshirts and ties is being paid for with Fresh Start money. The money will also pay for a major redecorating and refurbishment programme now taking place to give the school a fresh look, as well as a fresh name by September, plus a new technology block for October and a sports hall later.

Under Fresh Start, staff have had to reapply for their jobs. Ten are staying and 18 leaving under a package. New staff have been taken on and there are just three more to be found.

Tina Barnes who took over the school a year ago says the school is now progressing.

What she wants is the children performing well and one day she hopes to see the school full it has room for 1,000 pupils but only has 480.

Hatters Lane opened in 1939 and to celebrate Fresh Start there is a fete at the school on July 14. Many former pupils will be attending the event and the school wants people with memorabilia of times past to get in touch, so the mementoes can be used in an exhibition.

In Friday's Free Press we talk to pupils at the school about the changes to Hatters Lane.