STUDENTS at Queen’s Park Academy in Bournemouth tossed their mortar boards into the air as they celebrated the end of their primary school lives.

The year 6 pupils took part in a special graduation ceremony in front of their family and friends on their penultimate day at the school yesterday.

Executive headteacher Brian Hooper said it was an emotional day for everyone.

“It was absolutely brilliant but quite an emotional experience,” he said.

“They have been together a long time and are starting a whole new journey in their lives. They are all going to different schools and it will be a big change for them.”

The 90 youngsters, who will take up their places at secondary school in September, were dressed in graduation robes and mortar boards and called up to the stage to collect their specially made scrolls.

Mr Hooper said: “They have worked so hard and we wanted to give them something they could remember.

“We started it about two years ago when the school started to improve and we wanted to raise the self-esteem of the children and reward them for their hard work.”

Mr Hooper, who has been executive headteacher at the school for the past three years, said the ceremony marked the end of an “incredible” year for the school.

“Our mantra is high expectations lead to high achievements,” he explained.

“And we’ve had an incredible year. Their SATs results are even better than last year.

“We were inspected by Ofsted three weeks ago and were rated as outstanding in all four areas. This just tops off an outstanding year for us.”