A £3 MILLION state-of-the-art classroom block is due to be officially opened at a York school on Friday.

Selby MP John Grogan will open the new Archimedes building at Fulford School, in Heslington Lane, which has specialist maths and computing college status.

Named after the ancient Greek mathematician, the new block comprises 13 new classrooms and a computer suite and will house the school's maths, geography and psychology departments, which had been housed in run-down mobile classrooms. As well as the two-storey Archimedes building, the money has also gone towards new science and computer wings.

City of York Council architect, Alan Thomas, has worked with the school to create the hi-tech building.

The school's 1,325 pupils have been using it since the start of the autumn term, and head teacher Steve Smith said everyone was pleased with the end result.

He said: "The comments everyone makes are always what a fantastic building and that's not just with regard to the equipment, but the size of the classrooms, which are big, light and airy.

The project was funded with money secured by City of York Council's education department from the Government's Targeted Capital Fund.

Mr Smith said the school owed a debt of gratitude to the Selby MP for lobbying so hard on its behalf at Westminster to help secure the money.

Mr Smith said: "Fulford School has had a well-deserved reputation for some time for the high-quality teaching and learning that it has fostered.

"Now the school is starting to obtain suitable accommodation to match this, which staff and students deserve.

He said that since the school first opened in the early 1960s, buildings had been added as the school grew in size with no real overall plan.

Some of the old mobile classrooms were in such a bad state that they had to be closed during the school's last Ofsted inspection because they were leaking.

Director of Education at City of York Council, Patrick Scott, said: "The Archimedes building has significantly improved the whole site.

Mr Grogan will officially open the new building at 11.30am on Friday.

Updated: 08:20 Monday, September 13, 2004