TAVISTOCK College looks set to land a huge £2-million grant to fund a major development at the school, provided the project gets the thumbs up from high-level county councillors this month.

A brand new, state-of-the-art teaching block with 16 classrooms will be built if the Devon County Council grant gets the green light.

Councillors are expected to approve the money ? which will come from the capital building programme ? at an executive committee meeting on March 25.

The new two-storey, pavilion-style building will be called the International Centre and will house the college?s modern languages team.

It is hoped the development will eventually provide an extra 240 places for students.

Principal John Simes said staff and pupils were very excited about the project.

?The whole college community is incredibly grateful to all our friends, both locally and county-wide who have supported this project over the years,? he said.

?We?re tremendously excited about it.?

The International Centre will have a sixth form study centre, a staff professional centre and three classrooms of the future fitted with the latest, specialised IT equipment including an interactive white board.

The white board will enable websites to be called up simply by touching the screen.

Mr Simes said: ?Technology like the white board is going to make the learning experience very different. In the centre of the block, there will be an area for displays and special presentations, so several classes can be taught at once.?

The 16 new classrooms will replace the eight temporary classrooms currently in use at the school.

Mr Simes said some of the money would be used for improving the school?s environment in terms of landscaping and use of space.

He said: ?We?ve got one or two environmental projects lined up, including the creation of a wetland pond area in front of the existing sixth form block.

?The earth from the excavation of the pond will be used to create a small amphitheatre.?

Assistant principal Graham Stoate said the creation of extra places at the school would help solve the problem of over-subscription.

?We are a very popular school and that means we are heavily over-subscribed,? he said.

?This project will help alleviate the pressure on places caused by our being such a popular choice.?

West Devon and Torridge MP John Burnett said:?It?s fantastic news. We?ve all been working on this for a considerable period of time and this investment vindicates the success and high standards of the staff and students of Tavistock College.

?I?ve been working on this project for years, so I?m absolutely delighted.?

He added students from the college had recently travelled to Westminster to observe parliamentary proceedings (see picture, page 16).

Cllr Roy Connelly, county member for Tavistock rural, said the funding would be ?tremendous news for the school?.

?This would be by far the biggest project going around at the moment,? he said.

?And following on from the underpass, it?s great to see this kind of investment in the college.

?The new teaching block would be of tremendous benefit to the school and would provide marvellous opportunities for the pupils.?

It is hoped work on the development will start in the summer.

Tavistock College is one of the biggest winners in Devon County Council?s capital building fund programme, which this year will provide almost £45-million for improvements to be carried out at more than 100 schools across the county.