Pupils at the Wellington Eagles Primary Academy in Ludgershall have made a return to school after half-term – but to a different one than the one they left.

The school has moved into its new, purpose-built facility on Wellesley Road, which used to be the site of the former Salisbury Plain Barracks and vehicle depot.

The school says it now has “state of the art learning facilities as well as bright and airy classrooms to inspire young minds.”

It also will offer classes in cooking and food preparation skills from Year One using a dedicated food technology room, making it one of very few primary schools in the country which is able to do so.

Having been based in the Wellington Academy for the past year, Wellington Eagles will continue to share many of its facilities, including the climbing wall, specialist teachers from their Modern Foreign Languages department to teach the primary children French, and sports coaches.

Executive headteacher of the Wellington Eagles Primary Academy, Claire Addis, said: “It’s wonderful to be in our new school and to be right in the heart of our community. The vast majority of our families can now walk to school and everyone was very excited to come in for their first day.

“We’ve all watched the school being built and over the half term holiday all children were given photos of the new building, and the first morning all the children were given a tour as due to Covid we were not able to visit earlier as we would have liked.

“Our pupils are now busy working on a time capsule to commemorate the move, which will be buried in the forest school area when we are able to all get together for a celebratory event. All 180 pupils, plus the staff and the whole community, have waited in great anticipation for the opening and we’re very proud of our new school.”

For more information on the Wellington Eagles Primary Academy, visit: www.wellingtoneagles.org.uk.