One of an Ilford school’s oldest former pupils has helped some of its youngest to open �4million of new facilties.

Old boy John Smith, 83, joined Ilford South MP Mike Gapes on Saturday when he cut the ribbon at Cranbrook, an independent college in Mansfield Road, Ilford.

The investment in the building comes after Cranbrook College was merged with Glenarm College at Easter to create an institution catering for boys and girls aged from 3 to 16-years-old.

Ivan Mulinder, appointed head of Cranbrook in January, said: “The whole day went extremely well, with over 100 parents who showed up.

“We wanted to celebrate the new facilities but also the 100 years of history that the school has, that’s why we invited John Smith along.”

Cranbrook school was established in 1896 by W H Carter, two years after his sister co-founded Glenarm College.

Today the united Cranbrook has nearly 300 students and is planning to expand in the years to come.

Mr Mulinder added: “My goal is to make our good grades even better with new initiatives.

“It is a very bright future for the school, and our aims is to have 100 per cent of students achieving five A* to C grades at Key Stage Four.”

As part of the day-long ceremony parents were taken on a tour of the new facilities, as well as listening to MP Mike Gapes talking about his own school days. Olympic Gold Medalist Christine Ohuruogu later arrived to release ballons to mark the occasion.