Wokingham

On Friday (September 29) pupils and teaching staff will celebrate the opening of Wokingham District Council'sLoddon Primary School in Earley with an official ceremony.

Proposals to bring two schools in Earley together come to fruition this term when Loddon Primary School opened its doors for the very first time on September 6. And to celebrate Cllr Chris Edmunds, deputy leader at Wokingham District Council, will join pupils, parents, teachers and governors at a special ceremony and he will cut a ribbon to mark the occasion.

Wokingham Cllr Edmunds will be joined by some 350 children in the playground who will sing a song for him and other guests before having a tour of the school led by pupils from year 5 and 6. During the tour, visitors will be able to learn more about the school and see at first hand pupils in their lessons.

Wokingham District Council’s decision-making executive gave the green light to the amalgamation of Loddon Infant and Loddon Junior schools in July 2005 in order to create an all-through primary school to serve children from three to 11 years old.

The proposal to amalgamate came from the schools themselves following the headship of the infant school becoming vacant in 2005. An all-through primary school has a significant number of benefits for pupils. A comprehensive curriculum has been developed for all children aged between three and a half and 11 years to ease the transition for pupils through the three key stages of primary education, aiming to further improve standards of achievement. A ‘straight through’ school also benefits children with special educational needs whose future support could be planned more easily.

Cllr Chris Edmunds, Wokingham deputy leader, said: “Amalgamation will bring significant benefits to Loddon Primary School and I hope they will go from strength to strength in the coming years, by building on the firm foundations set down by the infant and junior school. I am delighted to officially open the school and I wish them good luck for the future.”

Heather Holt, headteacher of Loddon Primary School, said: “This is a very exciting time for Loddon Primary School. The children and staff have settled in very happily to the new primary school since the start of term, and we have great plans for the next couple of years.”

Sandra Miall, chair of governors of Loddon Primary School, said: “This is an exciting milestone for our new school, an official starting point from which to build great things. We have a splendid staff team in place, and the proposed building works will allow us to revitalise our very tired buildings to provide a stimulating learning environment for our children.”

Wokingham District Council