As a result the new dining hall, school hall and science technology building are ready for use.

Work is proceeding on refurbishing the existing school facilities. The handover for that is planned for November this year.

Balfour Beatty is the developer of the £18m project, whilst the project architects are Aedas. 

The roof of the new covered courtyard at the school uses the same material as that used for the domes at the iconic Eden Project in Cornwall and also in the revamped Piccadilly Railway Station in Manchester.

Other unusual features at the new school are a learning resource centre on stilts with an open amphitheatre below it, and coloured cladding on the frontage of the school hall to show the different seasons, developed from ideas in art workshops for students working with an artist.

The project is part of Manchester's combined Building Schools for the Future (BSF) and Academies programme, with a £500m capital investment to rebuild or refurbish 32 schools. Seven of these will be specialist academies. The building programme began in 2006, with an expected completion date of September 2012.

The executive member for Children's Services, Councillor Sheila Newman, who attended the handover, said: "This has been a challenge for everyone - the developers, contractors, students, teachers and support staff. But it will all be well worth waiting for, as the newly-built and refurbished school is a key part of the regeneration of Wythenshawe."

She added: "As well as providing state-of-the-art facilities for the school, the local community will also benefit because there will be additional facilities available to them, including the main hall, the dining hall, the learning resource centre and the covered courtyard space. Local people already enjoy the use of the school's sports pitches, sports hall, gym and dance and drama studios."