PUPILS at St George's Catholic School for Boys in Southampton are enjoying the facilities at their new state-of-the art £1.8m sports and arts block.

The government funded building was opened with an arts festival with professional musicians and artists working alongside pupils.

The new block at the Leaside Way site gives the school a much-needed sports hall and fitness suite. Even without a sports hall the school managed to win a sought after Sports Mark award from the government for the quality of physical education.

In time, the hall will also be opened up for the community to use after school hours.

Youngsters also now have purpose-built classrooms for music and art, including facilities for making ceramics, the first time it's been possible on site.

Information technology has also been boosted with a new suite of computers being installed in another specially designed room.

But all the improvements are just the start of changes planned for the school, which is currently bidding for specialist status in engineering and humanities.

It all adds up to an exciting future for St George's pupils says deputy head teacher Martin Hall.

"It is wonderful, it really is. It puts us on a par and beyond other schools in the area.

"This new sports hall is the icing on the cake. It means a lot more opportunities to do sports and gives boys great scope to improve their skills.

"It's very exciting."