Investment in educational excellence

Millions of pounds have, and are being, ploughed into new education facilities in the Tees Valley.

The new £68m Middlesbrough College has now welcomed its first students.

And the site is providing the "best facilities in the world" for students, staff and the community says college principal John Hogg.

The college has brought its four campuses together on one site at Middlehaven.

"We've now created a 21st century institution delivering a 21st century curriculum for the students andemployers of Middlesbrough and the Tees Valley," added Mr Hogg.

The site is providing education for 16-18 year-olds, adults and those looking to access higher education.

It is also one of a number of Tees Valley colleges offering the new sector-focused Engineering Diploma.

Occupying an area of 32,000m2— almost the size of five football pitches — it has approximately 10,000 students and 1,000 members of staff: At 240m long it is almost as long as the

Transporter Bridge and at 26m high - the same as six double-decker buses stood on top of each other.

And the college's iconic structure aims to set the standard for modern, forwardthinking design at regeneration site.

Students have also started the new term in a new buildings in Redcar and Cleveland.

The new facilities include the £26m building for Redcar and Cleveland College, and a £14.7m integrated school site in Saltburn.

Classroom Link

Redcar and Cleveland College has about 3,750 full and part-time students.

In an innovative move, engineering students will have a classroom link to the college's heat and power system, so they can analyse it as part of their learning.

Some of the other up-to-date features include a graphics and digital photography studio with industry-standard software and a built-in stable for horse management studies.

A shake-up in education in two of the region's boroughs is set to pump millions of pounds into local schools.

The plans are part of the Building Schools for the Future scheme which begins in 2010.

In Stockton £150m of investment will see five schools across the borough completely rebuilt while nine other school sites will be re-modelled or refurbished.

Primary Strategy for Change

And across in Redcar and Cleveland a huge £90m secondary school shake-up is on the way.

The investment is to spread across the borough's 11secondary and special schools.

Ambitious plans have also been unveiled to modernise primary schools in Middlesbrough in a strategy costing £50m.

At least half of the 43 primary schools will be replaced or refurbished over the next 14 years under the Government-backed Primary Strategy for Change (PSfC) programme.