A headteacher has spoken of his delight after pupils began benefitting from eight new state-of-the-art classrooms.
Coupals Primary Academy in Haverhill has undergone a massive extension after being awarded £2.1 million from Suffolk County Council’s capital programme.
The new teaching block will eventually see pupil numbers rise to 420 and headteacher David Maguire described the new building as “fantastic” after a whirlwind of activity over the summer holidays.
David said: “This is an amazing teaching space for our Key Stage 2 children - working in brand new classrooms really is a special thing.
“Pupils will be taught in inspirational surroundings while our teachers will benefit from being able to work with groups of children much easier.
“I am delighted with how the project has gone and I would like to thank everyone involved in making it happen.
“The children have been fantastic over the last nine months when they have lost a lot of their playground, so it is great to see them already benefitting from the bigger space.”
In addition to the new classroom block, a new studio and extensions to the school hall and staff room have also been completed.
In a unique twist, the building work was completed by Cocksedge Building Contractors – the company in charge of building the original school 35 years ago.
Steve Revell, contracts manager at Cocksedge, said: “We were pleased with the quick turnaround and delighted with how the work progressed.
“It was a great example of working closely with a number of partners including Coupals Primary Academy, Samuel Ward Academy Trust and the design team from Concertus.”