A community devastated by the closure of its school is this week celebrating news of its reopening.

A new board of trustees says it has secured significant investment to reopen St Bees School and run it differently.

It is working with Shenzhen International, a South East Asian education group, to reopen the school from September 2018. It will then provide secondary education to fee-paying day and boarding students from West Cumbria and around the UK and internationally, particularly drawing on links with Asia.

The school closed in summer 2015 due to falling pupil numbers. Campaigners fought hard to save it and the new board was formed to investigate whether it could reopen.

Trustee Kate Wilson said a viable plan has been brought in to ensure

the school will be run differently.

She said previously the headteacher and marketing team spent a lot of time courting students from Asia, which took up “significant time”, but in the future Shenzhen International will be introducing Asian students to the school. “It means our marketing team will focus on the UK, and the rest of the market,” she said.

Mrs Wilson added: “The other significant difference is that with these partners we are underpinned by significant investment in the first instance to allow the school to be at a standard where we are competition for the future.”

Around 100 expressions of interest to register have already been made.

The school will focus on key entry years – Years 7, 10 and 12 – for next September, introducing around 100 boarding and day students in the first year.

The trustees have a ramp-up model to increase pupil numbers in future years to exceed the number on the school roll (about 300 when the school closed).

Since the reopening announcement, trustees have been inundated with messages of support.

Ex-England rugby coach Stuart Lancaster, a former St Bees pupil, told The Whitehaven News he is “delighted”, adding: “I went to the school for eight years, and certainly the education and lifestyle has helped advance my career. For the kids to have that opportunity, to be in that environment and the facilities, it’s fantastic.”

Also backing the re-opening is Mike Starkie, Copeland’s elected mayor, who said: “It is very important to the growth of Copeland that we can offer good educational facilities.

“As we seek to recruit staff for the West Cumberland Hospital, West Cumbria Mining and NuGen, among others, it is imperative that we have both a public and a state school offering.”

Jane Donaldson, clerk to St Bees Parish Council, said councillors welcomed the news at their meeting this week, and praised the trustees for their efforts.

She said the school brings employment and helps trade as children and their families use local businesses.