A NEW hub, which has transformed the entrance of Merchant Taylors’ Girls’ School, was officially opened yesterday by the Lord-Lieutenant for Merseyside.

Dame Lorna Elizabeth Fox Muirhead said the new reception and overhead art gallery was a wonderful contribution between old and new and was a real school hub.

The £440,000 vitreum development, has created a hi-tech entrance to the school on Liverpool Road, complete with artwork and news projected onto the wall.

Dame Lorna said: “It’s a beautiful space which provides a wonderful connection between two parts of the school and combines ancient and modern and that’s how it should be.

“This is a school hub, like the kitchen is in a house and it already feels like a vibrant part of the school.”

Dame Lorna rose through the ranks of midwifery from Liverpool Women’s Hospital to the highest level, and became president of the Royal College of Midwives between 1997 and 2004.

Addressing the Crosby students at the plaque unveiling, she said: “School days are the foundation of everything, the skills you learn through learning will never be wasted.

“It can never be taken away from you, no matter what happens, like the credit crunch, what’s in your head and heart is there forever.”

The Girls’ school is the top performing school in Merseyside, but unlike the boys’ school farther down the road, has struggled to make its mark visually.

Leo Coligan, chair of governors, said: “The boys’ school is a big landmark and, despite the girls having the best results, it never had the entrance it deserved.

“We combined the new vitreum with the old stone arch which used to be the outside of the school, and the entrance is now a real feature which the girls and staff love.”

Aside from an airy glass-fronted reception area which links two sides of the school, the vitreum houses a spacious gallery which will be used for local artists and students work.

Renowned Liverpool sculptor, Tony Evans, who installed a £10,000 statue to mark 75 years of the girls’ school last year, is currently displaying his work until the end of March.

He said: “It’s a real privilege being the inaugural exhibition. This huge space could have been used for other purposes but instead they decided to keep it as a gallery space.

“I hope this space encourages the girls to strive towards having their own work displayed here.

“It’s been a pleasure to work with the school over the past few months, and I’m pleased the girls have taken to sculpture and aren’t afraid to get their hands dirty and venture away from the stereotype of women and watercolours.”

The school is hoping to open the gallery space to the general public later in the year.