A PRIMARY school has opened a new outdoor classroom, complete with sandpit and storage facilities.

Wooton-by-Woodstock Primary School has created the facility for its Early Years classes.

A fundraising group run by parents, The Friends of Wootton-by-Woodstock School, requested a bursary from Blenheim Palace for the changes.

The subsequent £4,500 grant from the Blenheim Charitable Bursary was used to finance the outdoor classroom.

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Rebecca Elliott, project co-ordinator at The Friends of Wootton School, said: “We would like to thank Blenheim for the generous donation, it means so much to have this support.

“The children and staff at the school are delighted and it will make a real difference to the children’s educational experience, and that of future pupils too.”

The new facilities have improved the scope for more outdoor activities and learning for the school’s reception class as well as providing storage for bikes and trikes.

“We’re delighted to be able to support such a worthwhile and thoughtful project that will significantly improve the learning opportunities for children and make such clever use of the outdoor space,” said Blenheim’s Samantha Vaughan.

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The £50,000 Blenheim Bursary is available to all charities and organisations based within a 20-mile radius of the palace.

Wootton-by-Woodstock Primary School was founded in the early nineteenth century and still occupies its original location right in the centre of the village close to the village shop and St. Mary’s Church, with which it is closely affiliated.

In October 2018, the school became an academy as part of the Oxford Diocesan Schools Trust (ODST).

ODST serves 5,000 pupils and is affiliated to the Oxfordshire Diocesan Board of Education, which covers 2,200 square miles.