AFTER seven years of waiting, pupils have started lessons at the new £4m Bletchingdon Primary School.

The school, in Station Road, welcomed 77 children on the first day of term yesterday.

Plans were first considered back in 2008 to replace the previous school in Weston Road.

Bletchingdon Community Foundation’s Vikki Robins said: “The kids were so excited today and they all wanted to get into their new classrooms and see whose artwork was on the wall.

“The teachers have been amazing as well. They have all gone beyond their brief to come in over the summer to sort the rooms out and get them ready for the first day.

“Without them this whole project really wouldn’t have been possible.”

Mrs Robins, 47, also thanked the parents who had visited for open days in August, and architect Sam Cook, from Kidlington, who designed the new buildings.

Headteacher Louise Hatton said: “There was so much excitement this morning and the children were desperate for the gates to open up.”

The foundation raised a third of the cash through land sales of the previous school.

The rest came from Cherwell District Council, Oxfordshire County Council and The Duchy of Cornwall, which owns the new site.