THE successful completion of a year-long refurbishment and redesign project at a Wareham school has been officially marked with an open day.

Civic dignitaries, teachers, pupils and school supporters attended the milestone event at Wareham St Mary Primary School.

Mid Dorset and North Poole MP Annette Brook and the town mayor were among those invited.

Headteacher Lin Goldsmith said: “We have had a unique opportunity to redesign the learning spaces for all the pupils in the school.

“We now have a range of additional areas for use both inside and out, including a covered courtyard area and fantastic new library.”

Pupils even got to chance to design and pick out the colour schemes for their toilets, which now have colourful themes ranging from the seaside to robots.

Classrooms have been completely renewed, while lighting, heating, windows, doors, ceilings and furnishings have also been replaced.

Following the closure of Wareham Middle School, a victim of the Purbeck Review education shake-up that came into force in September, St Mary Primary also inherited a large swathe of playing field.

A cycle track has been installed on part of this field for children to use during lunch breaks.

Lin Goldsmith said: “The whole project progressed over the year with very little disturbance for the children and staff.

“I am immensely proud of the fact that during this very busy period we were visited by OFSTED resulting in an excellent report.

“Also standards of attainment continue to rise with most recent data indicating our pupils achieve very favourably or better than their peers in other Dorset schools.”