A groundbreaking ceremony has been held at Uplands Community College in Wadhurst, East Sussex, to mark the beginning of construction.

This project will see a new main block built to hold a 950-people school, providing 3843m2 of teaching space across a range of traditional class rooms and learning areas as well as specialist areas for art and technology.

After the construction of the main school building is complete, a second stage of the project will begin which will see the old 1950's building demolished and replaced with a new multi-use games area, which will provide two new basketball courts and a 5-a-side football pitch.

Representatives from Kier, guests and project partners were joined by Cllr Bob Standley, Lead Member for Education and Inclusion, Special Educational Needs and Disability at East Sussex County Council, to celebrate the milestone.

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Jonathan Payne, managing director for Kier Regional Building Southern, said: "Working collaboratively with the Department for Education, East Sussex County Council and the school, we are proud to mark the start of work on this state-of-the-art facility that has been designed to provide an environment that will allow pupils to build their futures whilst reminding them of the past. We look forward to providing the local community with a first-class facility that will benefit generations to come."

Mrs Mountford, Principal of Uplands Community College, added: "We are very excited by the prospect of the new building. Our current buildings, which date from the 1950s, are not suitable for a modern secondary school and our students will greatly benefit from the new facilities. Our drama provision will be improved, as will computing, design and technology and maths. The students have been speechless as they have looked at the plans and realised what an amazing new building and multi-games area we will have."

The block at Uplands Community College is set to open in September 2020.

(CM/MH)