TEACHING facilities at a North-East school are about to be transformed thanks to a £6m improvement programme.

The funding for St Cuthbert's Catholic High School, in Newcastle, will come from a Targeted Capital Grant, which is part of a £7.6m funding package awarded to the city council by the Department for Education and Skills (DfES).

The money going to St Cuthbert's is the result of a joint funding bid to DfES by Newcastle Local Education Authority and the Catholic Diocese of Hexham and Newcastle.

It will pay for a two-year modernisation scheme, which will include the provision of science, information and communications technology and design technology teaching facilities.

The award for St Cuthbert's follows the announcement that seven other Newcastle schools are to benefit from a £60m boost after the DfES sanctioned the city council's application for funding through the Private Finance Initiative.

Councillor Keith Taylor, cabinet member for lifelong learning and training, said: "This is wonderful news for Newcastle."