TELEVISION personality Esther Rantzen returned to Burgate School last Friday as guest of honour at the opening of their new sixth form building.

Esther opened the original building with her late husband, Desmond Wilcox, in 1995.

Deputy head, Ian Kirby, said: "Esther feels a strong connection with our sixth form and we are thrilled she has been able to find time in her busy schedule to be with us again on this special occasion."

The Sixth Form Centre was opened, in response to popular demand, in 1995 and the number of students has grown every year since then.

In a speech to guests at the official opening of the new building, chairman of governors John Galliford said: "I'm proud to say we have been listed among the 50 most successful comprehensive schools with sixth forms in the country on four separate occasions since 2000.

"Our student retention rate is excellent and the vast majority of our students are accepted onto their first choice university courses."

The Sixth Form Centre has been praised in all of the school's Ofsted inspections since it opened and in the most recent report in September 2007, it was judged to be "outstanding".

The school successfully submitted a bid to the Learning and Skills Council in 2006 for new buildings and additional facilities to allow them to expand and meet the increasing demand.

The state-of-the-art buildings were handed over at Easter.