THE LONG-AWAITED £48million Penarth Learning Community development was branded “the best school in the whole of the UK” when it was officially opened earlier this morning.

The development will now be the base of St Cyres Comprehensive School and the Ysgol y Deri special school, which has been formed from the amalgamation of Ysgol Erw’r Delyn, Ashgrove School and Ysgol Maes Dyfan.

A team of school ambassadors, made up of pupils from all the four schools that have followed the development every step of the way, officially cut the ribbons to open both of the new schools.

Representatives from the Welsh Government and Vale of Glamorgan Council, who split the funding for the project, the building contractors behind the project Bouygues UK and Leadbitter Construction , and the future pupils of the schools were all present at the handover ceremony on Thursday morning.

The St Cyres Wood Band and the Ysgol Y Deri Choir also performed at the handover ceremony.

The project has been built as part of the 21st Century schools investment programme, with £33million of funding coming from the Welsh Government and £15million from the Vale of Glamorgan Council.

The ceremony brought an end to years of planning, two years of construction and months of preparation.

The facility will also be open to the community on evenings and weekends, with several clubs and organisations already booking times to use the likes of the main hall and sports hall.

The school building boasts flat screen televisions in every classroom, an iPad for every pupil, wireless internet throughout the school, and a host of other top of the range technology and facilities.

Once pupils move into the PLC the sites of the former St Cyres, Ashgrove and Erw’r Delyn schools will all be demolished and replaced with sports facilities.

Dr Jonathan Hicks, the head teacher of St Cyres School, thanked the Welsh Government and Vale Council for “stumping up the cash” that allowed the project to go ahead.

He said it was an “absolutely superb” building and thanked everyone that had worked on the development over the last few years.

He said the school can look forward to a “fantastic future” and build on the momentum of its record breaking exam results earlier this year.

He said “the sky’s the limit” and added that pupils would benefit immensely from the facilities now available compared to their old school.

“Now we have a building that is absolutely superb and we are so proud of it and we can’t wait to move into here,” he said.

Chris Britten, the new head teacher of Ysgol y Deri, the special education needs (SEN) school, cut the ribbon before being handed a ceremonial key to the building.

“This building will change the lives of the children in it,” he said.

“Nothing compares to it in the UK. I have never seen anything like this. It’s state of the art in a sense.

“It will change the way we work with these youngsters and the prospects for their futures as well.”

Addressing the pupils present, he added: “This is your school, not our school.”

Jane Hutt, the Assembly Member for the Vale of Glamorgan and finance minister, praised the “wonderful new building” that many people had been waiting years for.

“£33million of Welsh Government money came here to make this wonderful new Penarth Learning Community. The Vale of Glamorgan also stumped up funding, so nearly £50million of public money has gone into this.”

She added: “We have got not just the best school in Wales, but the best school in the whole of the UK and maybe the world.”

Councillor Chris Elmore, the Vale council cabinet member for children’s services, said that the school was built not for teachers and support staff, but for future pupils and students to use.

“I believe that children fundamentally have the right to the best education and the best facilities possible,” he said.

He added that with the likes of the technology and facilities in St Cyres , and with the hydrotherapy pool and trampoline room in Ysgol y Deri, this had now been achieved.

He added that it was hard to believe that when he was appointed as a cabinet member for children services in 2012 the project didn’t have planning permission, but four months and two years later work had all been completed.

Targeted recruitment and training has been a key driver in the contract and has seen many local people employed during the building phase, delivering 6402 person weeks of employment enabling 184 new entrants to construction, and 83 apprentices and trainees employed on the project.

Leadbitter, a Bouygues UK company, was the main contractor on the scheme. Bouygues UK’s Rob Bradley, said: “Penarth Learning Community will provide a range of facilities for the schools, and with the inclusion of the respite centre, much-needed resources for parents, carers and pupils alike.

“We’ve reinvested around 90% of the construction costs back into the local economy, with £22m going to companies with a 25 mile radius of the site. We delivered over 6,000 weeks’ worth of training and employment for local residents and workers and our colleague Mike Little was recognised for his efforts in working with schools and employers in the area too.”

HLM was appointed in 2009 to provide architecture, landscaping and interior design services, in the largest education project the practice has delivered in its 50-year history.

Gareth Woodfin, HLM associate and project architect, said: “We have worked hard to embed the new design into the community and reduce the visual impact of this large building by carefully landscaping the building to follow the contours of the ground.

“We were also conscious with the design of the residential building to create something that was distinctive in character from the other educational facilities, so that pupils really felt like they were ‘going home’ rather than staying at school for the night.

“But more importantly the new school will foster learning and inclusivity, benefitting generations of children to come.”

Pupils will start their first lessons in the school buildings on November 10.