A handful of students and budding engineers were invited along for a tour and sneak peek inside a new £32m secondary school building.

Stone Lodge School is set to move into its new premises in Dartford after the Easter break in April next year.

Facilities will include specialist science and engineering classrooms and a separate sports block and outside pitches.

The project was signed off by Dartford council in 2018 which made the land available for use by the school.

Students were recently invited along to visit the new site and see for themselves the facilities on offer and the opportunities to be provide for their school community.

Pupils David, Lilah, Archie, Anna and Saffy received a grand tour from head teacher Gavin Barnett, and Mr Martin, senior site manager at building firm BAM which is responsible for the design and build.

Head girl Lilah, 14, said: “It was brilliant being able to see the different departments take shape and get a sense of the new equipment that will be included in the new classrooms."

Archie, 13, an engineering subject ambassador, said it was useful to learn about the construction and design and relate it to "what we’ve been learning in our engineering lessons".

Anna, also 13, added: “I can’t wait till we move in and we can show all the students round!”

The school launched in September 2019 and is part of the Endeavour MAT group of schools, which includes both Wilmington Grammar School for Girls and Wilmington Grammar School for Boys.

Its popularity has seen it become heavily oversubscribed and it is currently operating from temporary premises.

Only Years 7 and 8 are currently housed at the school.

But once the new build is complete it will host around 1,200 students and an additional 250 or so sixth form students.

The school hopes to move into its new premises after the Easter break and will launch its sixth form in September 2022.

The sixth form will initially offer two bespoke courses and is keen to attract students with an interest in pursuing a career in the engineering sector or the sports sector.

A Level 3 Extended Diploma in Engineering will be on offer and is the equivalent of three A-levels, leading to a multitude of engineering-related careers, either immediately after leaving sixth form on apprenticeship programmes or after university.

The BTEC Diploma has the backing of industry partners such as BAM, Laing O’ Rourke and Coca Cola.

Another programme on offer, BTEC Level 3 Diploma in Sport, is targeted at students looking at university courses in sports science and careers in physiotherapy, occupational therapy, sports nutrition and leisure management.

For more information on either of these sixth programmes, or admissions visit the school website here.