Students are delighted with their new state-of-the-art school building which will provide extra places for 11 to 16 year olds and offer new courses.

The Bow School, on Bow Lock, cost £30 million to rebuild and is now an environmentally-friendly building which includes a rooftop area for sports.

It will help tackle the growing population by providing 725 extra places and increase choice for girls in the area having turned into a mixed school.

Headteacher Cath Smith said: “We are all thrilled that Bow School has had this unique opportunity to expand the provision for Tower Hamlets and we are busy developing new learning experiences that make full use of the superb facilities that we now have.”

She added: “Although we have only been in the new school for a few weeks, we are already seeing very positive attitudes to learning from all of our students as they recognise the really impressive opportunities that they now have.”

Students criticised the old school for being “cramped and outdated” and explained the lack of space meant they had to use sports facilities elsewhere.

Hassan Ahmed, 15, said: “The facilities are much better now. The classrooms are huge and there’s more space to learn. Everyone loves it.”

The new school, which will also create a sixth form for the first time in September, has a dining pavilion and an assembly hall block which doubles as a 350-seat theatre fitted with lighting and audio facilities.

Tower Hamlets Mayor Lutfur Rahman said: “It is a wonderful achievement and a shining beacon of the investment we have made in our young people.

“Last year, Bow students produced some fantastic results in their GCSEs and I know that with the kind of improvements their new school offers, they will be able to reach even greater heights.”