After the controversy and legal argument, the borough's new secondary school opens for business next week. RICHARD SIMCOX spoke to the headteacher about her vision for Bishop Justus Church of England School ...

IN TWO days' time more than 200 children will get their first taste of life as pupils of Bromley's new secondary school.

Bishop Justus School headteacher Kathy Griffiths has a few treats in store for them but does not want to spoil the surprise.

After an "unforgettable" day on Friday, the 15 teaching staff will begin giving lessons next Monday in amazingly well-equipped temporary classrooms on the site off Magpie Hall Lane, Bromley.

Interactive white-boards linked to the internet and laptops, which every pupil will have access to, are in all classes in the deceptively spacious block on what will eventually be a sports field, which also houses specialist art, music, drama, science and design technology facilities.

Quite what Justus, the first Bishop of Rochester, would have made of it all is anyone's guess.

But it is important for Mrs Griffiths, who wants pupils to feel they are part of a functioning school from day one, even though the actual school is not yet built.

"There's no sense of making do here," she says. "Kids will not be coming into a ramshackle temporary provision, we've got first-class facilities and state-of-the-art technology.

"I'm like a kid waiting for Christmas, I can't wait to see the children's faces when they come in."

A joint venture by the local education authority and the Diocese of Rochester, the £26 million school is being built, safely behind fencing, alongside the temporary block, and pupils and teachers will watch it grow between now and next July.

A former Hayes School deputy head who started her teaching career in Brixton, south London, in 1987, the 39-year-old Mrs Griffiths was appointed in January and is hugely excited about starting her new school from scratch.

FIRST-CLASS FACILITIES

Building the new school will provide an ideal opportunity for projects from maths to architecture and pupils will be encouraged to take an active interest in the site.

An agreement has been reached with nearby Princes Plain school to use gym and sports facilities.

But, by the time Bishop Justus is up to its 1,200 pupil capacity, land currently occupied by the temporary block will have been turned into sports pitches.

The three-storey block, designed by architects Barron and Smith, will contain 85 classrooms and a chapel, funded by the diocese, available for community use.

"I've got a clear vision. We will have a distinctive Christian ethos of respect, tolerance and valuing the individual, though this is not a faith school.

"I don't want to create a school which would be simply good enough for my own children but somewhere I would feel proud if they were pupils", the mum-of-two adds.

Showing a News Shopper reporter round the empty classrooms which next week will buzz with activity, she added: "I feel very privileged. It's such a rare opportunity for everyone."

Mrs Griffiths wants Bishop Justus to be a part of church and community life, and sports facilities will be available for use by the public.

The protracted legal fight over recreation land in the area, was not the major concern it might have been because she says she concentrated on starting the school she knew she was getting "somewhere".

The building, due for completion by the end of 2005, will be energy efficient and will have a "living roof" of plants, as well as greenhouses to be used by biology students, and art terraces which look out over Bromley Golf Club.

It might be named after a seventh-century clergyman, but Bishop Justus is as modern as education gets.