Little helper team works on nursery

Children at Yew Tree Community School in Chadderton on site of their new nursery building. PIC L-R: Martine Buckley (Executive Head), Teddy Buckley, Samuel Hopkinson, Layla Hague, Henzi Lees, Zahra Hussain, Rais Bhatti (Head of School) and Richard Eccles (RH Fullwood and Co Ltd).

BUDDING builders at Yew Tree Community School donned hard hats and high-vis vests to check out the construction of their new nursery.

Over the past four years, the Chadderton school has seen pupil numbers grow from 450 to almost 600 children, with the school population heading towards 650 pupils when expansion finishes in two years' time.

Although local authority funding saw a small expansion and some improved facilities in 2013, the school has cancelled its plans for a floodlit football pitch to make way for the nursery.

Yorkshire-based construction company RH Fullwood and Co are taking on the construction work which will see the building finished and opened for its first intake in September.

Martine Buckley, executive head, said: "People who work in education know the importance of a child's early years provision so we had to make some difficult decisions.

"We cancelled our plans for a floodlit 3g football pitch which we had been saving a number of years for and prioritised the new nursery."

Rais Bhatti, head of school, said: "It was very upsetting having to shelve the football pitch plans as it was something I was really excited about, but this nursery building will be the envy of every school in Oldham."