A school in a historic Shropshire town is now at the forefront of 21st century education, its headteacher said today.

William Brookes School in Much Wenlock has seen a complete transformation and is now spearheading a unique way of teaching its children. The school opened its doors to the public on December 1, with the Duke of Gloucester, MP Philip Dunne and councillors all paying a visit.

It was the first in Shropshire to be rebuilt under the Government’s Building Schools for the Future programme.

Headteacher Geoff Renwick said the building was at the forefront of 21st century schooling after the multi-million pound development was able to go ahead, despite huge Government cutbacks to many other national schemes.

“The first year was all about the vision, coming up with an idea or principle behind what we want the school to be like and how we were going to set about producing a brand new school to achieve that,” he said.

“Year two was the start of the building programme and we began working on the inside to deliver the vision we had.

“By the third year we started to implement some of those changes and when it opened we had a new building for the students.”

Mr Renwick said a system was now in place that saw Year 7 to 9 students learning in the same classes, so they could support one another.

“The purpose of mentoring is really important for the school’s overall development,” he said.

“The changes were timetabled for Key Stage 3 pupils, Years 7 to 9.

“We wanted them to be creative, offering new opportunities when working on projects, with a clear crossover through different subjects.”

The school was built with learning zones, colour coded and named ‘people zones’, and catering for a subject.

Mr Renwick said: “For two years we lost a considerable part of the school but it made it all the more worthwhile when it was opened.

“It’s so much nicer for everyone – it’s a completely new building with a new leisure centre and swimming pool, with solar panels.

“We were really lucky because we got in just before the cuts were made.”