A multi-million pound state-of-the-art school was officially opened last week, while former pupils said goodbye to two schools in the same town due for demolition.

Novelist Ken Follett and former Stevenage MP Barbara Follett unveiled a plaque on Friday marking the opening of the �6.5m Roebuck School Primary and Nursery School in Stevenage.

The school, which looks much like a science fiction spaceship from above and is painted in shades of blue, took its first pupils in November last year. It includes purpose-built facilities for pre-school children and a before and after school club as well as an IT centre.

The previous day, staff, parents and former pupils of Heathcote School gathered at the Shephall Green site to bid farewell to the school which will close this summer after 57 years as part of a restructuring of education in the town.

On Saturday former pupils of Marriotts School toured their alma mater and took part in an assembly to mark its closure. The original buildings are due to be knocked down as part of a plan to redevelop the site to incorporate Marriotts and Lonsdale special school – due to open in September.