Building work is underway on a state-of-the-art school which is part of a £750 million transformation of secondary education in Derbyshire.

Councillor Mike Longden, Derbyshire County Council Cabinet Member for Education, cut a sod of earth to mark the start of work at The Heritage School, Clowne.

The new school, which will be completed by January 2011, is part of the Building Schools for the Future (BSF) project. Work is also underway at The Bolsover School and Springwell Community School, Staveley.

Councillor Longden said: "These are exciting times for the future of education in Derbyshire and it was an honour to cut the first sod on the impressive work which is underway at The Heritage School.

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"The ideas of young people were taken into account in the design of the new schools and it is great that they can now see them being built and will enjoy the fantastic new accommodation when it is completed.

"I'm really impressed with the work which is underway and the amount of open spaces which are part of the plans to enable pupils to enjoy outdoor learning."

The Equitix consortium - which includes local design and construction partners Bowmer and Kirkland and GF Tomlinson - is carrying out the work.

The new accommodation at Heritage will form five 'hubs' - for technology and art, science and maths, media, drama, and a social area.

There will also be five football pitches, a 400m athletics track, six tennis and netball courts, and a multi-use games area.

The school will be opened up to the community at evenings and weekends so groups can enjoy the new facilities.

Equitix will also carry out work to rebuild or refurbish three other schools - Stubbin Wood, Shirebrook and Netherthorpe - in the first phase of the BSF project.

(CD/JM)