Primary school in Blackburn prepares to open new school site

Cedars Primary School, St James Road in Blackburn expanded four years ago after the merger of Hawthorn Junior School and Cedar’s Infant School.

The renovated school will relocate infant pupils into the upper school.

Plans were submitted to Blackburn with Darwen Council to relocate infant pupils into the upper school, which will receive a variety of upgrades costing between £1.6million and £1.9million.

The extension to the building has been fitted which will include a nursery, reception, year one classrooms and a multi-use hall.

Steve Bladon, headteacher of the St James Road school, said: "There have been plans in place for five years to build it.

"The bigger backdrop is that

"That was the first massive change and grew from one site to two sites. This is the full realisation of our ambition.

"Some staff, who work across the two sites, have found it physically difficult. The change is set to be more economical and efficient.

Earlier this week staff, parents, councillors along with the mayor and mayoress attended which included farewell speeches, singing and a Buffett.

Mr. Bladon said: “We celebrated the history and heritage of this building which has been here since 1969.

“We said goodbye to some of our staff who have been here for years and celebrating their service at the school.

"Each year group performed a song especially written for the occasion, which included reprisals of soundtracks from pop artists Bruno Mars and Ed Sheeran.

Some were written by the pupils and the lyrics reflected the school's change.

Mr. Bladon, who has stepped down as headteacher and will be moving to Lincolnshire, said: "One of the songs the children performed was Let it Go from the Disney film Frozen.

"The last line was changed to 'Let the school move on. The change never bothered me anyway'.

"It was a nice way to finish."

The new site will be ready to use for incoming students on September 11.

Current pupils will move into the new building next week.