EXCITEMENT levels at St Mary's School are reaching fever pitch as its new state-of-the-art £7m building is now 80 per cent complete.

An appeal has now been launched for new equipment too.

This month signalled the completion of the outer structure of the school, which was funded by the Educational Funding Agency, and now work on putting together the classrooms, finishing off the interior work and also the grounds is well underway.

Although the new school, which sits behind the current site in George Lane and will bring the juniors and infants under one roof when it opens in September, is on schedule, new equipment, such as items for classrooms, is greatly needed.

"I cannot tell you how excited all the teachers and pupils are about moving to the new site. It looks absolutely stunning and brings in the light beautifully," said headteacher Anne Schwodler.

"Walking round it all really is quite amazing. You can see where all the classrooms would go, the hall, the lunch area. A representative of the EFA came to the school and said it was the best school he had worked on.

"To think that it will be completed in a couple of months is so exciting. The place will be brilliant but we would like to have equipment that fits this wonderful building and not bring some of the outdated equipment we have in the other schools.

"Kier are doing a fantastic job. We have been in a constant dialogue with them and they have been so receptive to our needs. If we did not like something they came back and made it better and so far it is so impressive."

So far the Marlborough Lions Club has donated £5,000 to provide new classroom equipment and the Friends of Savernake Hospital has contributed £4,000, much to the delight of Mark Thomas, chairman of the governors.

"We are so grateful for their kind contributions and hopefully we can get in a few more donations too as it needs to have new equipment to go with the new school," he said.

"The whole school really is coming together nicely. The outside structure is done which is great. Back in January for the topping out ceremony it was at the bare bones but now it looks incredible.

"Now if we can get some whiteboards, chairs, tables and IT equipment that would be superb."