A comprehensive school, closed since 2007, has welcomed back pupils after it was reopened as a Welsh-language school.
From this month, the former St Ilan School site, off Pontygwindy Road, in Caerphilly, will house Year 7 pupils from the Caerphilly basin area as a campus of Ysgol Gyfun Cwm Rhymni.
Refurbishments to the Phoenix block and the construction of a sports hall and accompanying changing rooms have been completed at Caerphilly.
The new development in Caerphilly will eventually cater to the educational needs of children aged three to 16. The development will also include a new £10.5 million leisure centre for the school and public use.
The existing Fleur-de-Lis site of Ysgol Gyfun Cwm Rhymni will become the main campus for 16 to 19-year-olds.
An extra 900 school places will eventually be created to cater for the growing demand of Welsh language education.
Cllr Rhianon Passmore, Cabinet Member for Education and Lifelong Learning, said: “By September 2021, we could expect to see the existing Ysgol Gyfun Cwm Rhymni in Fleur-de-Lis almost 1,000 places over capacity if we had not taken action.”
Phase 2 of the works will see the refurbishment of the Gwindy block with a nursery and hall extension. Work is set to begin next month.
Phase 3 will have a new classroom by September 2015.