Haberdashers’ Aske’s School for Girls has invested £11 million into a STEM building to boost its IT and science provision.

Having seen a steady increase in the number of pupils choosing science A-levels, the school celebrated the opening of its new purpose-built facility this week with a special virtual event attended by the whole school, alongside headline speaker, Dr Maggie Aderin-Pocock, presenter of BBC4’s The Sky at Night.

The new building contains 15 laboratories and a large multi-purpose space for housing lectures and experimental demonstrations.

The enhanced facilities have also increased the school’s capacity to host longer-term STEM projects in Artificial Intelligence (AI), such as the creation and development of robots.

Nicola Percy, director of STEM at the school, said: "We have invested in additional robotics kits to increase the number of students that are able to participate in these projects. We have also purchased extra science equipment so that one of our labs can now be used for community outreach work with our partnership primary schools, which is something we are very passionate about."

Headmistress Rose Hardy added, "This is an exciting and historic moment for our school and none of it would have been possible without the generosity of (former pupil) Dr Luena Hatcher, to whom we are eternally grateful. Our thanks also go to Dr Pocock for delivering a motivational and truly thought-provoking speech. It is fantastic to see more girls choosing to study sciences at a higher level and our new STEM building will give them and future generations the scope and the facilities they need to excel in their endeavours."