STAFF and students at Sandford St Martin's Primary School were delighted to welcome a special guest to help with their new £3.5million building project.

Children's favourite Bob the Builder thrilled youngsters by arriving to dig the very first hole.

Pupils from the school and eco council, alongside school governors, headteacher Jeremy Payne and representatives of the building & design teams cheered as Bob and the youngest member of the school council sunk the spade into the ground for the first time.

Mr Payne said: “This is a very significant day for the future of our school.

“In less than one year we will be moving into our brand new, state-of-the-art two-form entry primary school with amazing playing fields and the wonderful heathland all around.

“We're all very excited that this day has finally arrived.

“The additional learning opportunities on our new site are going to be enormous.”

The new school is being built upon the foundation slab at the former Sandford Middle School site, which closed at the end of the last school year as part of the Purbeck Review education shake-up.

As a result, Sandford Primary School has expanded to take an increased number of pupils.

Building work at the new site is expected to finish before the start of the new school year in September 2014.

Visit sandfordprimary.dorset.sch.uk to follow progress on the new build.