THE £15.5million revamp of a secondary school has begun.

Half of the buildings at the Greensward Academy in Greensward Lane, Hockley will be demolished under the plans to make way for new modernised facilities.

The cash, given to the school by the Department for Education, will include creating a new lifelong learning centre, two new IT rooms and extra parking facilities for staff and visitors.

One block at the academy, which housed the science department and general teaching classrooms, has already been torn down and work has started on laying the foundation for a new block for science, maths and English. It is hoped that block will be completed by July next year.

Principal Debbie Stokes, who has been at the school for 26 years, said: “It is really quite exciting to see things starting to grow.

“The students have been brilliant and adapted very well to the building work and temporary arrangements while work takes place.”

Ian Foster, chairman of the Academies Enterprise Trust, which looks after Greensward, added: “Greensward Academy and its predecessor college have been rated outstanding by Ofsted for the last 12 years because of great staff and students and supportive parents.

“They have achieved all of this despite some pretty poor buildings on much of the campus.

“I am delighted, therefore, at last we have got the money to go ahead and provide the buildings everybody involved in the academy deserves.”

The refurbishment is expected to be finished in its entirety by September 2015.