Thousands of secondary students in Bristol are to benefit from a massive development programme that will see five secondary schools rebuilt and a new special school constructed.

Bristol Local Education Partnership (LEP) has signed contracts with Bristol City Council for the £100 million programme that will complete the transformation of the city's schools for students aged 11 to 18.

A new building will be provided for Florence Brown Special School in Knowle while the secondary schools will be extensively rebuilt and extended. They are Ashton Park, Cotham, St Bede's, St Bernadette, St Mary Redcliffe and Temple School.

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A special ceremony is to be held at St. Mary Redcliffe and Temple School on 1 May to mark the launch of development at all six sites.

Construction is now under way on the sites and will be completed during 2010-2011. The LEP, City Council and Skanska are working closely together to ensure that the work has minimal impact on students, staff and surrounding communities.

It's the second big wave of school development for the LEP, which has already completed four new secondary schools under the Government's Building Schools for the Future (BSF) programme - Bristol Brunel Academy, Bristol Metropolitan College, Brislington Enterprise College and The Bridge Learning Campus.

Paul Shadbolt, General Manager of the LEP, said: "This is a great day for Bristol - we're delighted to be launching the next wave of new schools. We are developing schools that will help to radically transform teaching and learning for students, staff and local communities."

(CD/JM)