THE rebuilding of St Wilfrid's High School, Blackburn, has been worth every brick -- and penny, as Clare Cook found out...

FROM the roadside it has looked like any other building site.

But the £13million work going on behind the rubble will thrust St Wilfrid's -- a twin-site school on an old mill development -- into the 21st century.

And while the work has been going on around them the 100 teachers and 1,500 pupils appear to be handling the transition with remarkable serenity.

Headteacher David Whyte has been driving the redevelopment forward for five years, but still finds time to chat to the children wherever he goes.

His office has shifted several times and he has not seen his secretary more than twice a day for months.

The administrative team are being housed in an old classroom surrounded by boxes with the deafening sound of children on every side.

But it is worth every minute and every penny according to the school team and the enthusiastic buzz in the school's corridors. And after a quick tour of the new complex you know why.

"It has been like a complicated game of chess," said Mr Whyte.

"The architects sat down with us and worked out who we would have to move first, where to, and what would be built where and when."

The opportunity to build a new secondary school for East Lancashire came through the formation of the Local Education Authority when St Wilfrid's opted to become a Voluntary Aided school. That means that the governors have had to stump up ten per cent of the cost.

Council leader Bill Taylor said: "The Government, the council and our schools are working in partnership to provide the best possible learning environment and we hope that students will respond to this opportunity and make the most of it."

Finding a site to build a new school was ruled out, so for more than a year, and for several more months to come, work has been going on around the existing buildings.

Exams were forced to be relocated to King George's Hall and assemblies to St Luke's Church.

Mr Whyte, the 'strategic leader', added: "At the moment we are running three schools in effect between the existing two buildings and the new one.

"We have been very fortunate that the staff have been so professional and the students are so motivated and enthusiastic.

"Pupils can have changes to their timetables on a weekly basis and same departments have had to relocate three times now.

"The worst was for science when the department was packed away for nine weeks which meant no practicals.

"But when you see the new facilities, you know it is worth it."

In effect Mr Whyte is in charge of one of the biggest capital investments in education this borough has seen.

And Peter Morgan, director of education and lifelong learning at Blackburn with Darwen Council has supported the school by accessing grants and finance.

There are state-of-the-art facilities in terms of ICT provision, a new sixth form complex and gym, dance and theatre provision that are nothing short of inspiring.

"The money was the most stressful part," said Mr Whyte.

"When there were so many financial pressures and we had to take a leap of faith in terms of commitment it was stressful. And we have struggled in terms of sponsorship.

"But it was a real vision of what this school deserved and what we had to do to survive. A seven-minute walk between sites and a building that was costing so much to repair was not feasible any longer."

And even when you try and plan everything -- there is always something unexpected.

"The contractors, Manchester-based Kier, have been tremendous, right down to overseeing the flow of lorries.

"We have had to put special protecting covers on the paintwork which we did not anticipate and we have had to build anti-pigeon grids on the windows, they were making such a mess!

"But faith has kept me going as well as the tremendous ethos of the school."

The building work is expected to go on for a further ten months.