AN OXFORD school was blessed by the Archbishop of Birmingham following a £25m investment.

More than 1,000 pupils at St Gregory the Great Catholic School, in Cricket Road, Cowley, have benefited from a new school building, built by the Catholic Archdiocese of Birmingham, since it opened in 2006.

The school was created from the former St Augustine of Canterbury Upper School and Cardinal Newman Middle School. And on Friday, about 100 special guests joined children and staff at the formal blessing.

Headteacher Mary Keelan said city council officials, primary school headteachers and MP Andrew Smith joined the Archbishop, the Most Rev Vincent Nichols, to mark the occasion.

She said: "All the children went home with a prayer card and chocolate and they sang beautifully in Latin and English."