IT’S the futuristic school where pupils can be transported to a virtual world.

Cornelius Vermuyden School in Dinant Avenue, Canvey, has undergone a multi-million pound transformation, which has seen 90 per cent of the school reconstructed.

The work has been carried out with £20million of Government funding as part of the now axed Building Schools for the Future programme.

The second phase of the project is now complete with classrooms created from steel girders and an “immersive” room, which can transport pupils into a different world.

The walls and floor of the room are digital and touch sensitive, which means the schoolchildren can be transported to a virtual location, and can take a tour of a First World War battlefield or another part of history.

Katy Hibben, assistant headteacher, said the whole school had an open feel which was largely influenced by the pupils’ own suggestions.

She said: “Some of the classrooms don’t have doors. It has a college-like feel as opposed to a secondary school.

“It is an open, airy space, it is what our pupils have asked for. They were quite involved in the design process. All of the teachers are absolutely blown away by this space.”

The first floor of the new block, above the sports hall, contains five state-of-the-art recording studios and music classrooms.

A school radio station has also been set up and pupils can listen at break and lunchtimes.

A science “superlab” has been created, which has brand new facilities for the students, and is open-plan to allow youngsters to move around the classroom easily. Doors can also be opened into an outdoor teaching area.

Mrs Hibben added: “Each faculty has got an external area. The idea is the classroom can go outside.”

The third and final phase, involving a school hall and arts and technology centre, is due for completion by next January, five-and-a-half years after rebuilding started in July, 2006.

Skanska, the company rebuilding the school, will then start demolishing the old school buildings, with that work set to be finished by April next year.