Staff, students and parents at the former Longmeadow Primary School celebrated a new beginning’ this week, as it reopened as an academy.

A ceremony at the Trowbridge school on Tuesday marked its re-launch by Oasis Community Learning, when it turned into Oasis Academy Longmeadow.

Paralympic medal winning swimmer Stephanie Millward, from Corsham, brought her relay torch to ignite the event.

Visitors and pupils also met Steve Chalke, the founder of the Oasis group of academies, which include five schools in Bristol.

Parents, carers and families were also invited to a whole-school assembly, in which members of the Mara-natha Community Church told Bible stories and gave a puppet show.

The children recited a poem written for the occasion by Year 5 pupil Abi Sylvester.

Guests of honour Miss Millward then cut the ribbon at the front of the Broadcloth Lane school, as the children released balloons to signify new beginnings.

Deputy principal Caroline Cox said: “What a great beginning to our life as an academy. It was a brilliant and inspirational day and we were delighted Steve Chalke and Stephanie Millward could join us.”

The school has 124 pupils, aged from four to 11. It was given a Grade 3 Satisfactory rating after an Ofsted visit in 2009.

The Government’s inspectors praised its levels of pastoral care and the strategies the school had in place to support pupils with learning difficulties.

However, they also found there were too few opportunities for pupils to develop speaking and listening skills, which was deemed to be holding back their achievements in the areas of reading, writing and mathematics.