Sir Peter said: 'I am sure that everybody here today who has seen this wonderful new addition to John Kyrle High School will have been hugely impressed by it. It offers facilities for Sixth Form and adult learners that have been much needed at the school and in Ross for some considerable time.

Those of us familiar with the school will know that it is one of a number of major building projects that have been undertaken over the past few years. These include the tennis courts, the Art block, the new Science labs and Technology area plus a large number of computer suites. Nigel has told me that the building and furnishing of this magnificent new centre has involved the greatest amount of partnership work and has asked me to thank all the many stakeholders who have played a part in this.

Obtaining funding for the actual building itself was the result of much work by Herefordshire Council and the Local Education Authority ably led by Cllr Don Rule, George Salmon and Colin Birks. Additional required funding came from the Learning Skills Council and our thanks go to Alan Curless and Sharon Gray, especially, who liaised with the school.

We would also like to thank the architect, Jed Bailey and C J Bayliss the building contractors for their outstanding work on the project.

In addition to the Council, LEA and Learning Skills council a number of other partners worked with the school in obtaining funding in order to provide the fantastic facilities you see this afternoon. The school was able to obtain European money through its work with the ARCH Project (Action for Regenerating Communities in Herefordshire) and the input of Jonathan Riches and Dave Tristram was absolutely paramount here. Advantage West Midlands were also key players in allowing the school to access funding via Market Towns Initiative and The Ross Area Partnership. John Passmore and Toni Fagan were particularly helpful in this regard.

A number of staff at school have worked particularly hard in both obtaining the funding and ensuring that the build went ahead smoothly and safely, not least of which were John Docherty, Business Manager and Bryan Jones, Site Manager.

Nigel has asked me to point out that this does not mean he doesn't want any more money and as one project ends, another most surely begins!

On a serious note, we hear talk from the Government and Education Department about the importance of collaboration and networking and as mentioned earlier this project is a superb example of this.'

A vote of thanks to Sir Peter was offered by Head Boy, Duncan Alston. He noted how supportive Sir Peter had been of the school. He helped launch the school's bid for Specialist status in 2001 and had opened the new Art Block, Garden Area and now the Sixth Form Centre. Duncan said how much the students were enjoying the new facilities.

The school will be hosting its Sixth Form Open Evening on Thursday, 24th November. Students from John Kyrle and other schools are very welcome to attend. Details available from the school on: 01989 764358.

Pictured below at the opening are, Harriet Smith - Head Girl, Councillor Don Rule - Cabinet Member for Children's Services, Gordon Lucas, Sir Peter de la Billiere, Nigel Griffiths - Head Teacher at JKHS and Duncan Alston - Head Boy.

For three days we all worked from about 9.30 am to 5 pm to transform the look of the school ready for the official opening on the Saturday. The local Africans were amazed at how we worked - they thought white people did not like to get their hands dirty but working together, we achieved much in understanding each other better.

The Opening Day started about 10 am with a parade led by a local brass band, all round the village of Kabowa ending up in a field where we played games with an ever-increasing number of children. We returned to the school for lunch and the official ceremony that began with traditional dances and sketches by the pupils of New Rock Foundation School. These were followed by speeches and presentations made to all of us from Herefordshire. The Government Minister for Sport and Education, who was supposed to cut the ribbon was unable to make the ceremony so our very own John & Sue Gasston had the honour. An exhausting day which finished about 5.30 pm.

In the second week we had more of a rest and visited the Queen Elizabeth Safari Park where we saw elephants, hippos, crocodiles, Ugandan cob, water buffalo and many types of birds.

Our final day was spent relaxing at a swimming pool by Lake Victoria in the glorious sunshine under a clear blue African sky - bliss!

For more information come and join us on Saturday November 19th at the Ryefield Centre, 7 pm, where you can enjoy African style food, meet the team, see the pictures and hear our first hand reports. Special guests include Pastor Margaret Musungu from the Miracle Centre Church, Kampala and Ms Liz Humphries from the Ssesse Islands in Lake Victoria.