STUDENTS starting at a new school in Taunton next year are to get a sneak preview of the development.

A brick laying ceremony is taking place at the former St Augustine of Canterbury School, off Lyngford Road, where the £9 million Hazlebrook campus is under construction.

The new school will cater for 100 students with special educational needs/disabilities (SEND) currently at nearby Selworthy School.

The first phase of the project will see the secondary school move in September next year to the new building, which will feature 10 classrooms arranged in two wings with garden spaces in between.

There will also be external spaces with an adventure play area, bike track, hard play area, sensory garden, habitat area and quiet play space.

The bricklaying event on Thursday, October 4, will be attended by Selworthy students and representatives from Somerset County Council and the contractor Willmott Dixon.

St Augustine's closed in the summer of 2010, along with Ladymead School, on Cheddon Road, ahead of the formation of Taunton Academy on the site of the latter school.