Pupils at Stanley Park High School cut the ribbon to officially open their £50m state-of-the-art new school. Students were joined by Sutton Council leader Cllr Sean Brennan to carry out the opening ceremony last Thursday 9 February, before showing parents, local residents and dignitaries around the new building. It was the community’s first chance to see for themselves some of the new facilities, which include a full-size running track, a sports hall the size of four badminton courts, extensive IT facilities, drama studios, a car workshop and a beauty salon.  The Headteacher said: “It was great to be able to welcome parents, local people and some of the people who helped to make our school a reality to have a look around the finished building. We’ve been teaching here for a few weeks now and the students absolutely love it. “A lot of the facilities, including the gym and sports pitches, are available for the use of the wider community, so today was a chance for them have a look at the first class facilities they’ve now got right on their doorstep.” Cllr Kirsty Jerome, Executive Member for Education and Schools at Sutton Council, said: “This is the first school of its kind. The new building is absolutely stunning and is going to make a real difference to students in Sutton for generations to come. “We were lucky to be one of the last boroughs to receive funding before the Government withdrew the Building Schools for the Future programme, and it came at an absolutely crucial time. “We’ve worked closely with the school and our local community and we’re all really excited about what the future holds.” Mayor of London Boris Johnson later toured the school and gave it his seal of approval. He said: “The practical work ethic espoused by Stanley Park High has already proved to be an enormous success story for the young people of Sutton, and because of these wonderful new facilities the benefits are also soon to be felt by adult learners in the borough. “The school is working to equip people with the skills they need to enter the challenging world of work, which is essential if we are to avoid letting a generation of talent go to waste in this difficult jobs market.” Under its unique “four in one” approach, students are assigned to one of the four schools when they first start at the school but can take options within the other schools, which are themed to focus on different talents and abilities. The World school specialises in the humanities and foreign languages, Performance in PE, Dance, Music, Drama and Media and Trade in a large number of vocational subjects plus Technology and Art and Design. The fourth school, Horizon, is a small school for children with Autism. This innovative way of learning, partially inspired by schools in Denmark and the US, has already produced outstanding results. By incorporating elements of it into the curriculum in preparation for moving into the purpose-built school, results shot up and Stanley Park High is one of the most improved schools in the country. This means teachers get to know their students well and students don’t get ‘lost’ in the anonymity of a big school. The school was five years in the making and boasts some of the most high-tech features of any school in the country. Its approach aims to equip students for the real world. In the first two years of school, about 50 per cent of students’ time is spent learning a skills-based curriculum in classrooms designed to resemble the workplace.