Building work on Castle Community College’s new school is finally set to begin on Monday.

The multimillion pound project will replace the 1940s building when it opens at the Mill Road site in autumn 2017.

It has been in the planning since funding was announced under the previous Labour government in 2009.

The need for a new school was endorsed by the Con-Dems coalition government in 2010 and with its 1,100 pupil capacity, it will be big enough to house all youngsters and sixth form students from across the existing two sites.

The news comes at the same time as the announcement that Castle will be sponsored by SchoolsCompany, pending imminent approval by the education minister Nicky Morgan.

Castle Community, which took its name in the 1990s, will be renamed The Goodwin Academy once the sponsorship deal has been completed, expected to be by April at the latest.

Interim Principal, Jane Hadlow said: “This fabulous new school building has been a long time coming for Deal and all our young people. It is now here and going to start.

“It will provide so many great opportunities for all our students and the community as we not only get a new school, we will also get a new sports centre and arts facilities.

“It will be a school which everyone can be proud of.”

The plans, drawn up by Kier Construction, were rolled out to parents and local residents in two public meetings last week. They had been shown at a consultation in July where views on the design were invited.

They were told about the building programme, how it will affect visitors to the site and how aspects like parking will be affected over the next two years.

Pupils in Years 7, 8 and 9 who attend the Mill Road site, have learned about the scheme during assemblies. They were told there will be opportunities for supervised visits to the site.

Safety and security arrangements for the building process have been discussed too.

Archaeologists will ensure full records are made of historical art-facts and locations on the building site which are of interest to the town and local community.

The school will set up a time lapse camera to record the whole process from beginning to end, which will also contribute to the historical records for the school and town.

It will be a chance to continue learning and pupils will work with the team at Kier on subject related projects, including science, maths, engineering, history and geography.