These are the first photos inside what is soon to become the new Ormiston Endeavour Academy in Ipswich - as a breathtaking £15million project to replace its ageing building takes place.

East Anglian Daily Times: The new Ormiston Endeavour Academy building under construction. Headteacher Jamie Daniels at the site. Picture: ORMISTON ENDEAVOUR ACADEMYThe new Ormiston Endeavour Academy building under construction. Headteacher Jamie Daniels at the site. Picture: ORMISTON ENDEAVOUR ACADEMY (Image: BAZ)

As the former Thurleston High School, the current building - which opened in 1967 - is showing its age and has become outdated for modern educational needs.

So earlier this year, Ormiston Academies Trust won planning permission to tear down the majority of the historic school and start again from scratch with a state-of-the-art, modern building next door which will educate Ipswich youngsters for generations to come.

MORE: Plans unveiled for major Ormiston Endeavour Academy revamp

Funding has come from the Department for Education's Priority Schools Building Programme, designed to renovate the schools which are in the worst condition and in need of urgent repair.

East Anglian Daily Times: The new Ormiston Endeavour Academy building under construction. Picture: ORMISTON ENDEAVOUR ACADEMYThe new Ormiston Endeavour Academy building under construction. Picture: ORMISTON ENDEAVOUR ACADEMY (Image: BAZ)

Gone will be the old-fashioned dark corridors of years past, replaced by an open-plan single building across three floors with 30 new classrooms including science laboratories, an ICT room, four rooms for music, art and drama and five design and technology rooms, as well as a large assembly hall.

Dominated by natural light and efficient heating, builders from Wates Construction say that despite the huge upfront cost the new 5,500sq m site - about five times the size of an average supermarket - site will be cheaper to run and last for at least 60 years.

They are particularly impressed by plans for a new covered outdoor seating area, which will allow pupils to enjoy break times in the fresh air, as well as a new boulevard leading to a grand new entrance.

Ormiston Endeavour headteacher Jamie Daniels said every lesson the school's 900 pupils takes part in will be held in the new building, with five new tennis courts and other facilities also being available to the wider community.

East Anglian Daily Times: CGI images of the planned new build at Ormiston Endeavour Academy in Ipswich. Picture: WATES CONSTRUCTION LTD/JESTICO + WHILESCGI images of the planned new build at Ormiston Endeavour Academy in Ipswich. Picture: WATES CONSTRUCTION LTD/JESTICO + WHILES (Image: WATES CONSTRUCTION LTD/JESTICO + WHILES)

"We've tried to create as much open space and as much visibility as possible," Mr Daniels said of the new building - which the school aims to start using in September 2020, although parts such as the tennis courts and landscaping won't be finished until later.

"At the moment the site is very spread out but this will be much better for teachers to work collaboratively and easier for students to navigate around.

"That sense of going to a big school and you're going to get lost - you're not going to get that.

"We've got a really solid building that gives us all the facilities we're going to need to help us develop that sense of community in the school. It will allow for that real sense of community to develop.

East Anglian Daily Times: CGI images of the planned new build at Ormiston Endeavour Academy in Ipswich. Picture: WATES CONSTRUCTION LTD/JESTICO + WHILESCGI images of the planned new build at Ormiston Endeavour Academy in Ipswich. Picture: WATES CONSTRUCTION LTD/JESTICO + WHILES (Image: WATES CONSTRUCTION LTD/JESTICO + WHILES)

"The external dining area is going to be fantastic. The new building will be cheaper to run and cheaper to maintain, so we can put more resources into children and young people."

The school will remain at its current site until the new building is complete.