STAFF, governors and pupils donned high vis jackets and hard hats for the ground breaking ceremony to celebrate the start of the building work for the new extension for the joint Fairford Primary School and Pre-School, Chris Roberts writes.

The two schools amalgamated under the same roof on the Leafield Road site at the start of the academic year in September.

The old Pre-School building has been demolished to make way for a brand new extension to the existing Primary School with four extra classrooms, two for reception aged children, one for the Pre-School children and the other for a new intake of two year olds in September 2019.

There will also be additional on-site parking spaces.

The building work will continue until next August, but the orchard has already been cleared in preparation for the new staff car park and a picket fence put up in the remaining part of the orchard for a new play area for Pre-School pupils.

Local authority representatives and builders were also on hand for the ground breaking ceremony.

Head Boy, Michael Pattison and Head Girl, Heidi Hooper held the spade to cut the first clod of earth watched by deputy Head Boy, Oliver Cook and deputy Head Girl, Heather Kent.

Julie Fellows, headteacher at Fairford Primary School, said: "This is a really good opportunity for us to share resources, ideas, a wealth of space and our wonderful out-door learning facilities in Watkins Woods and the GeoDome.

"Beards (the builders) and the Local Authority have been very supportive with the project in achieving something really quite special for the community."

Fairford Pre-School moved to its Leafield Road home in 1993.

It has joined Fairford Primary School under the umbrella of the Local Education Authority and the existing School Governing Body, but with the addition of one associate Governor from the Pre-School.