Lord Coe, vice chair of London 2012, this week formally opened the Cumberland School, a new specialists sports college, at Newham, London.

Newham is one of the boroughs that will be involved in London’s bid for the 2012 Olympic games.

Jane Noble, headmaster, said: “We applied to become a Specialist Sports School and received the accolade last summer. It is a significant development and has allowed us to reach out to our community and other schools in a spirit of sporting co-operation.”

The school will add to its existing facilities when building work starts on a new leisure centre in September.

Amenities in the new sports hall include a four-court badminton arena and a dance studio.

Construction work is expected to reach completion by September 2005.