March primary school opens its doors for the first time

Youngsters arrived for their first day at March’s newest primary school last week.

Staff at Westwood Primary School welcomed its new reception children when it opened its doors for the first time on Thursday.

The school is an amalgamation of the Westwood Junior and Maple Grove Infant Schools following a decision by education chiefs at Cambridgeshire County Council earlier this year.

Westwood now teaches children aged between four and 11 at the two school sites in Maple Grove.

Headteacher Gill Thomas said the team is committed for the challenges ahead in the new school year and is aiming to be at the centre of the community.

She said: “Staff and governors have worked very hard over the summer preparing the two sites for opening.

“As a junior school we relished working with parents and developing links with families, and now we will be able to do this at a much earlier stage of a child’s education.

“We are committed to achieving the best possible outcomes for all the children of Westwood Primary and strongly believe this can only be achieved if the school is at the centre of the community.

“We are committed to building upon the best of early years practice.

“We have appointed a number of experienced early years practitioners to support transition to the new school, while leadership roles have been redefined to ensure both sites are covered.”

The county council took the decision to officially close Maple Grove and amalgamate it into Westwood in a committee meeting in April this year.

The decision was taken to combine the schools after Maple Grove had received an inadequate rating during an Ofsted inspection in the autumn of last year. The Westwood team was given a good rating by inspectors during a visit last year.

Education chiefs at the county say the move was also taken to ensure continuity of children’s education by creating an all-through primary school.