PUPILS and staff at a city primary school are to move into their new buildings.

After 15 months of building, the new Red Hill CE Primary School, Worcester, is due to be handed next Thursday.

Pupils have been watching the state-of-the-art buildings under construction from their temporary buildings since September, 2005.

On Monday, April 16, staff will move in, followed by the first day for pupils on Wednesday, April 18. The formal opening of the school is set to take place on June 18.

Once finished, the Midhurst Close school, which is just visible from London Road, will include seven classrooms, a nursery, music/drama studio, ICT suite, group rooms and a hall. It will also boast a host of environmentally-friendly features including a groundsource heating system using the earth's temperature as an energy source for heating, rather than the conventional gas boilers.

There will also be a sustainable urban drainage scheme, so the landscape drains water and rainwater will be collected from the roof as part of the toilet flushing system.

Worcestershire County Council's accommodation resources officer Steve Hatch said a total of £3.5 million would be spent on the project, which will also include a new playing field.

He described the school as a "flagship in design for Worcestershire" and said: "The staff and pupils are excited at moving to their new school, and from an educational perspective, it will encourage the pupils to understand more about their environment as projects are planned in support of this key subject."

Red Hill headteacher Jane Long said pupils, staff and parents were excited about the prospect of moving into the school after Easter.

She said: "There have been many different stages from the sinking of boreholes to provide geothermal heating to building the fabric of the building and creating a swale maze as part of the Sustainable Urban Drainage System.

"The school has been designed to cope with climate change and provide a first-class environment for teaching and learning. Before the old school closed, we invited past pupils of all ages to visit and share their reminiscences, forming the basis of an oral history project.

"The pupils are very excited about welcoming the same people back to show off their exciting new school."