EXCITED pupils at Forest and Sandridge Primary in Melksham embarked on a new chapter in the school’s 140-history by moving into their new school.

The new 420-capacity school at Cranesbill Road opened its doors earlier this month with their former school at Sandridge Common set to be demolished.

The newly-built primary now includes 14 classrooms, a nursery, a hard sports area and two grass football pitches as well as a hall.

The school’s changing facilities will be available for public use, and the hall will be accessible for community use at evenings and weekends.

Headteacher Anna Wilcox said: “We have great children here and they have managed to create a really calm atmosphere at the school and they are really excited about the new grounds which they have settled really well into.

“We have lots of new areas at the school where children can pick and choose where they want to play and we now have a quiet reading area.

“The other thing the children love is the new hall because it beings in so much light and it must be at least three times as big as the one we previously had so lunchtimes and assemblies are so much easier.”

Staff officially moved into the new school on August 3 but back in May, while construction work was still ongoing, pupils buried a time capsule which included photos from its long-running history.

Mrs Wilcox said: “The time capsule has got lots of old photos from the old building and we have some really lovely things in there which we hope people will be able to see in 50 years time.

“We want people to see where the school came from because we don’t want them to think that Forest and Sandridge started at the new school – we want them to know about the history of our 140 year old former school.”