Children at Shaw Primary School gave a special assembly to parents last Thursday to mark the official opening of their new school hall.

Each class took it in turns to read aloud verses of a poem they had written about their old school hall which they said was barely big enough to move in.

Headteacher David Borrie said the new hall had been completed in November and used by pupils and staff since, but last Thursday marked the official opening ceremony.

He said: “The old hall was tiny, it was very hard to even get a group of year ones in there at the same time, we just about managed.

“We thought we would do something about it ourselves and it took about seven years to save about £30,000 a year.

“The money we saved was the money that comes from Central Government towards repairs and at the end of saving all that we had was about £200,000.

“I emailed the council and they told me that they had a programme where they could actually match our funding for the hall to help us move on with things.

“It is wonderful, it has underfloor heating and a sprung wooden floor, toilets and a kitchen partition. The old school hall has been split now as a library and a creative arts room.”

The school’s £200,000 was added to by Wiltshire Council who gave them £340,000 through a government initiative called New Deal for Schools and the total £540,000 was spent not only building the hall, but also converting the old hall into a library and arts room.

Nigel Hunt, head of school buildings for Wiltshire Council, said: “We are delighted to have helped fund the new hall at Shaw School.

“One of our main priorities is to ensure all schools in Wiltshire have a hall that is fit for purpose, and we are working hard with schools to achieve this.

“The hall should provide a great facility at the school for generations to come.”