EDUCATION minister Kirsty Williams was “delighted” to attend a ceremony marking a significant milestone in the construction of a state-of-the-art secondary school in Cwmbran.

The new £30 million Croesyceiliog School campus is being funded jointly by the Welsh Government and Torfaen Council through the 21st Century Schools Programme. Its construction is being managed by Kier.

“I have high ambitions for the education of children in this area, and it’s only right that we have schools and colleges that match those ambitions”, Ms Williams said.

“The investment sends a powerful message to children that we really value them.”

The 21st Century Schools Programme, Ms Williams said, is the largest investment in schools and colleges in Wales for half a century, and will have spent £1.4 billion on transforming schools and colleges by the time the programme comes to an end in 2019.

The programme will be followed by a second, much larger, wave of investment, Ms Williams said.

Joining Ms Williams at the event was the headteacher of Croesyceiliog School, David Taylor, the leader of Torfaen CBC, Councillor Anthony Hunt, Torfaen CBC’s executive member for education, Councillor David Yeowell, chief executive of Torfaen CBC, Alison Ward, and Kier project manager Simon Cook.

Praising the “unique spirit of collaboration”, Cllr Hunt said Torfaen Council and the Welsh Government were “working together to give pupils and the staff that work in our schools the best possible chance for the future.”

After speeches, Ms Williams visited the construction site of the new school building, where she was presented with a golden spanner and invited to tighten the last nut on the structure’s steel frame.

The school is expected to open for the start of the 2019 academic year, with staff and pupils already looking forward to taking advantage of the modern facilities.

Assistant head of Croesyceiliog, Rachel Spencer, said: “It’s really exciting to see the steel frame going up. We’re all looking forward to the new facilities and the new opportunities they will give the children.

“We’re all so proud of the school and it’s reputation, and now we’ll have a school [building] to match.”

The new campus will boast up-to-date science labs, a new theatre and modern IT and design technology facilities.

Amid the excitement, however, there is disappointment that the new school will not be welcoming sixth form pupils.

Alison Cullen, a parent governor at the school, is “really excited” for the younger children, who will move into the new school in 2019, but says it is “sad” that a new sixth form college for Croesyceiliog’s older pupils is not expected to be ready by the same date.

The proposed ‘super college’ moved a step closer to development this week when Torfaen councillors approved plans to acquire the site.

“It’s sad the two schools won’t go up together”, Mrs Cullen said. “But now’s the time to welcome the new [school] building and the opportunities it will bring.”