A SCHOOL which has pledged to teach sciences as three separate subjects has backed up its promise with a £1.5m science and technology block.

Barnard Castle School will teach biology, chemistry and physics, rather than a combined science option, in its new purpose- built two-storey block.

The block features three physics rooms on the first floor, a 70-terminal IT suite at ground level and five interactive white boards. The building uses the best insulating materials available and heat from computers at ground level is used to warm the second floor.

Chairman of governors at the private school for the past 20 years, Euan Macfarlane, will officially unveil the building, named in his honour, on Friday.

The engineer and former chairman of Cummins UK said: "Barnard Castle School believes every pupil should have a first rate science education.

"My concern is that Britain could fall behind the rest of the world, leading to a skills shortage in key areas, particularly pure and applied science and engineering.

At Barnard Castle School, the demand among our 738 pupils and their parents for science education is as high as ever, prompting us to build the IT and physics suite."

A report has said the country needs to double the number of graduates taking maths and science- based subjects by 2014 to meet industry demand.

The fear is that top jobs will be lost to developing economies with more plentiful supplies of science graduates.

Governors and teachers at Barnard Castle School believe that having a deeper understanding of each subject helps students succeed at university and encourages their interest in science.

To inspire the students further still, labs have been named after eminent scientists, including Isaac Newton, Michael Faraday and Robert Hooke.

Headteacher, David Ewart, said: "Nearly a third of all the A-levels taken at the school are in maths, biology, chemistry and physics, and 78 per cent of all the grades in those subjects were at A and B grades last year. The new building has also almost doubled pupil access to ICT (information and communications technology)."