WORK has now started on impressive new facilities at an Islington secondary school.

Elizabeth Garrett Anderson Language College in Risinghill Street, Islington, held an official ground breaking ceremony this week to celebrate the start of construction work which is expected to last two years.

The school is going to build a new lecture theatre, performance and music spaces, ICT studios, a sports hall, art and design facilities, multi-purpose classrooms and a central piazza offering views down to St Pancras.

Councillor Richard Watts, Islington Council’s executive member for children and young people, said: “The ground breaking at the school is an important step towards providing the outstanding facilities that this school deserves.”

Elizabeth Garrett Anderson Language School headteacher Jo Dibb said: “Ground breaking is a critical point as it signifies the moment when the new school we have all been dreaming about is brought to fruition.”

The project is being funded through the Building Schools for the Future Fund, which has also supported the rebuilding of four other Islington schools - Highbury Grove, Samuel Rhodes Secondary, Holloway and St Aloysius’ College.

Islington Arts and Media School in Turle Road, Finsbury Park, has also received cash from the Building Schools for Future Fund for an extension and construction work has begun.