£8m school project is under way

The first sod has been cut to mark the start of work on a new £8 million building to unite a village school in Staffordshire which is currently spread across three sites.

Huntington Primary School, in Stafford Road, Cannock, has its reception, key stage one and key stage two groups housed in their own buildings with one on a different side of road. But by next autumn, staff and pupils will settle into their new accommodation. The project has been two years in the planning with the school council heavily involved.

Architects have been working on the design for 12 months.

Headteacher Lynn Small was at the sod cutting ceremony on Friday and said it was a wonderful opportunity for those involved with the school.

She said: "Everyone with an interest was invited to a design workshop and from that we produced a booklet of what we wanted to keep and what new things we required and the architects worked from that.

"There is also a community section built into the new school for facilities such as the Parent Partnership and the Learning Partnership co-ordinator to be based on-site.

"How many pupils get the chance to be educated in a brand new facility? It is a real boost to them and all the staff."

It was revealed at the weekend that £16million is to be ploughed into primary schools across Staffordshire to fund major building and refurbishing work.

It has not yet been decided exactly which schools will benefit but part of the cash will go towards the work in Huntington.

The money, from the Government's national Primary School Capital Programme, will see Staffordshire receive £6.8million in 2009-10 and £9.1million in 2010-11 to pay for various projects to improve buildings.

It was today welcomed by Cannock Chase Council leader Councillor Neil Stanley who said the cash for structural improvements would help pave the way towards higher standards all round.

"The biggest challenge we face in Cannock Chase is that, compared to the rest of the county or the rest of the country, while we are making progress – we are still a little bit below average in terms of our achievements."