PUPILS at a school outside Whitchurch welcomed a VIP guest to officially open purpose-built new classrooms on Tuesday.

Auctioneer and TV star Christina Trevanion was joined by two pupils – Max and Eliza – from the Marches Academy Trust-managed Tilstock Primary School to cut the ribbon on two new classrooms, with students looking on.

The classrooms, built by developers Gratton Oakes, were designed to embrace outdoor life while indoor, it provides immersive learning, and Christina admitted she was honoured to be asked to cut the ribbon.

"I'm incredibly proud to have been asked – to see this achievement from starting the funding process from a year ago is incredible," she said.

"To see what [headteacher] Rowena Kaminski and her team achieve what they have in that time is absolutely phenomenal.

"The foundation for every child is their primary school experience – I've seen that in my own daughters and it is so important they have a great experience.

"This new facility here for the children is absolutely incredible, to support their learning and engage them and allow them to bring out all that is possible for every child.

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"When I was asked to do this, I couldn't wait – it is so exciting as education is so important and it was an incredible honour to do this.

"I was worried I was going to get upstaged by Max on cutting the ribbon, but it was great to see the pupils involved in it."

Mrs Kaminski thanked the Marches Academy Trust for backing her plan for the classrooms and took great pride in the day.

"I'm just so proud of the children, seeing their excitement and their smiles," she said.

"They're proud of their school now and that's what I wanted to achieve.

"They look forward to coming to school every day and they can see that we value them, and we're invested in their futures."

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She added: "The school has continued to make positive changes since joining the Marches Academy Trust.

"From exploring the environment in our spacious grounds to enjoying our creative curriculum our pupils demonstrate an excellent attitude to learning."

Marches chief executive officer Sarah Finch added: "Achievement through care is our vision and we put the children at the centre of everything we do.

"In 2017, we came to Tilstock where there was 30 children – there's 78 now so there is a need for more classrooms and extra facilities.

"It's a school of choice now for Tilstock and Whitchurch."

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