EXCITED children in Winchcombe have been welcomed to their new school this week.

Winchcombe Abbey Church of England Primary School opened its doors for a new term on Monday, bringing together the town's infant and junior pupils on one site.

The school was formed by the merger of the infant and junior schools in Back Lane onto the infants' school site. Over the last few months a massive £660,000 building programme, funded by the county council and the Diocese of Gloucester, has expanded the existing facilities and given the school some of the most up-to-date accommodation in the county.

New headteacher Gill Croft has been looking forward to the new term with anticipation.

"It is going to be super," she said. "There's a beautiful new hall and drama room."

Town residents had the chance to look round the school for themselves last Friday, while staff and builders Moss Construction put the finishing touches to the new school. "It is nice for me to be able to meet them all," said Mrs Croft.

Parents and friends helped to raise extra cash to kit the school out and a new information technology suite will soon be created.

Mrs Croft's last job was as the headteacher of a first school in Redditch, but she has been in Winchcombe since May shadowing the work of the two schools before taking charge herself.

The new school is on the site of Winchcombe's Benedictine abbey, which was destroyed in the 16th century. It has a total of about 220 pupils, although it can take up to 259, and they were the envy of their friends at other schools as they had an extra week's holiday to allow the builders to finish work on site.

The former junior school site is likely to be sold off by Gloucestershire County Council and among the potential buyers is Winchcombe Town Council, which wants to turn it into a community centre.