Bracknell

The project to rebuild Garth Hill College in Bracknell took another step forward this week following confirmation of £33million funding.

Bracknell Forest Borough Council was notified by the Department for Education and Skills (DfES) that sufficient funds will be made available to pay for the whole rebuild.

The announcement means detailed project planning will now get under way. The new school is expected to open in 2010.

The multi-million pound project will involve constructing a brand new Bracknell school, demolishing the old buildings and providing top class sports facilities for use by students and the local community.

Stan Turner, Principal of Garth Hill College, said: "Everyone at Garth Hill is delighted with this news.

"The College has gone from strength to strength in recent years and is now very popular.

"The new facilities will help ensure that Garth Hill continues to improve and provide first rate educational, sporting and community facilities for people living in north Bracknell."

Tony Eccleston, Director of Bracknell Education, Children's Services and Libraries, said: "I welcome this announcement which means we can now get on with the detailed planning to make the new school a reality.

"Everyone at Garth Hill and in the local community can now look forward to a brand new school in which their children will flourish."

Cllr Alan Ward, Executive Member for Bracknell Education and Libraries, said: "The modern school our children in the north of Bracknell deserve is another step closer.

"Most of the schools being rebuilt under the Building Schools for the Future scheme are being financed by local authorities borrowing money - something the government has to sanction.

"However thanks to the pressure we put on DfES we are now one of a small number of authorities who are being fully funded for the rebuilding of one school without having to borrow the money to do it."

The project is being run under the DfES Building Schools for the Future programme. This sets out how every secondary school in the country, including Bracknell Forest's six secondaries, will be rebuilt or renewed over the next 15 years.

Bracknell Forest Borough Council