Children and staff at St James' CoE First School in Alderholt are celebrating after receiving £17,000 worth of new facilities.

The school has not only benefitted from a new outdoor area for its reception pupils but has also been granted its wish for an improved library.

Now the school is hoping the whole community can be encouraged to get involved in their next improvement drive – a new outdoor forest school.

Head teacher Jo Hudson, said: “We are thrilled to have such fantastic new facilities for our children.

“The new outdoor play area will really enrich the learning of our Reception children as play is such an important part of introducing the curriculum to them.

“We are also very pleased that our library is much improved. We place great importance in reading and it’s essential the children have access to free books as Alderholt does not have a library.”

The new £10,000 outdoor area – complete with soft flooring, wooden play equipment, sand pit and role play house - was funded with lottery money and a Tesco Bags of Help grant.

It also includes water trays and shoots, a mud kitchen, reading chair and several other smaller toys to play with in the new area.

The library improvements, comprising new furniture, carpet and new books and laptops, were funded by £7,000 worth of community grants.

And now the school would like to see the community step in again and help with its next set of plans.

St James, which is part of the Heath Academy Trust, has been accepted on to the Co-op’s Local Community Fund to help meet its £15,000 bid to completely develop the wooded area of the school grounds into a forest school.

Every time members shop at the local Co-op, one per cent of what they spend on selected own-brand products will go towards the fund.

The money would enable outdoor learning whatever the weather with a new yurt/ outdoor classroom, fire pit, canopies to provide shade and shelter and outdoor equipment.