A £23million Catholic school site was opened up to guests to launch a national construction campaign.

As part of the Open Doors campaign, an initiative led by Build UK, in partnership with the Construction Industry Training Board (CITB), guests had the chance to see how the new build was progressing at Christ the Word 3-16 Catholic School in Rhyl.

The school, which will cater for 420 full time pupils aged 3-11 and 500 pupils aged 11-16, is funded in partnership by Denbighshire County Council and the Welsh Government through its 21st Century Schools Programme.

The school, which will replace Ysgol Mair and Blessed Edward Jones Catholic High School, will be part of the Diocese of Wrexham and Kier Construction is the main contractor.

Cllr Huw Hilditch-Roberts, lead member for Education, Children and Young People, said: “It is fantastic to see work progressing so well on site and we have been working collaboratively with Kier Construction and the Diocese of Wrexham on this project.

“This new school will provide modern facilities for children in Denbighshire to give them the best possible learning environment.

“Both Denbighshire and the Welsh Government are continuing to invest in delivering first-class learning environments for the children and young people of Denbighshire. The capital programme has seen huge investment which will enable a better education environment for our children, a priority for us under our Corporate Plan.”

Amanda Preston has been confirmed as the new Headteacher of Christ the Word 3-16 Catholic School, which will open in September.

So far more than £90 million has been invested in Denbighshire’s schools which has seen more than 3,500 pupils benefit from improved facilities including a new £24million replacement school of 1200 places for Rhyl High School and Ysgol Tir Morfa, a £16.5m extension and refurbishment for Ysgol Glan Clwyd in St Asaph and a new £10.5 million joint site for Rhos Street School and Ysgol Pen Barras in Ruthin.

The Open Doors campaign offers the public the opportunity to discover how the buildings and structures in their community are constructed.

It also offers students the chance to find out about the diverse range of skills and professions needed on site – latest CITB statistics estimate that 168,500 construction jobs will be created across the UK between 2019 – 23.

Martin Walsh, project manager for Kier Construction, said: “Open Doors Week is an ideal opportunity to showcase a live construction site to local communities. The event demonstrates modern construction techniques being implemented on projects and provides valuable insight into the vast amount of career opportunities in construction.”

The public can book to visit the school site as part of this campaign on March 21 at the following link https://opendoors.construction/site/31