Gwynedd Council has underlined its commitment to delivering the best possible services for the county's children and young people this week as building work begins on the new Ysgol Cae Top site in Bangor.

The development which is worth over £4 million will ensure the latest modern facilities for the pupils and staff of the primary school which will be located near the secondary school, Ysgol Friars in the city.

The current Ysgol Cae Top building dates back to 1871, but the new school will include a variety of state-of-the-art facilities. The new building will include seven classrooms, modern special education facilities, an IT suite, libraries, a music room, playground, a studio nursery, a community club room as well as a purpose built car park.

Some of the current school pupils, along with local Gwynedd Councillor Dai Rees Jones visited the site of the new school, which has been funded through the Welsh Assembly Government's School Building Improvement Grant.

Councillor Dai Rees Jones, Gwynedd Council member for Glyder (Bangor) said:

"I'm delighted to see work on the new Ysgol Cae Top site moving ahead, and look forward to seeing the new school becoming a focus for the community in this part of Bangor.

"Despiet the initial concerns, the whole community is looking forward to welcoming Ysgol Cae Top to the Eithinog area, and I'm looking forward to seeing the pupils working with the Friends of Brewery Fields to protect the land for future generations."

The new school will be an environmentally friendly building, which will include solar panels, geothermal heating, rain water collection so that it can be re-used. The design for the new school includes purpose built areas to accommodate the new Foundation Phase, and specific areas to fulfil the requirements of the new 2008 Curriculum for Key Stage 2 pupils.

Rhys Hughes, Ysgol Cae Top Headteacher added:

"This new environmentally friendly building gives us a fantastic opportunity to educate the children at Ysgol Cae Top in modern, state-of-the-art facilities that reflect modern educational requirements.

"We intend to take full advantage of this wonderful design to create an effective and happy modern learning community that will include the children, staff, parents and our friends in the local community."

There are over 220 pupils who currently attend the school, with a number of them with families who are from all over the world. The pupils are all really looking forward to moving to the new school, as they explained.

"It looks very big and exciting" was the opinion of Portia, a Year 3 pupil at Ysgol Cae Top.

"I'm really looking forward to moving into our new building" said Year 4 pupil, Cameron.

"The new Ysgol Cae Top is a modern and clever design" explained Martin, Year 5 pupil at Ysgol Cae Top.

"I think it is fantastic, very environmentally friendly and that is important" was the clear opinion of Year 6 pupil at Ysgol Cae Top, Masuma.