PUPILS and staff at a Kidderminster primary school celebrated their 130th anniversary by opening their new extension.

Blakedown CE Primary School, in Birmingham Road, had three new classrooms built over the last year, along with toilets and cloakrooms.

At their celebrations last month, the pupils sang a special birthday song, before Jan Johns, who has been connected to the school for more than 30 years, cut the ribbon to formally open the new classrooms.

A spokesman for the school said: “Mrs Johns spoke to the children about the ways in which the school had altered over the years and how she remembered the children celebrated the school’s centenary by dressing up in Victorian outfits.

“Over the last few weeks, the children have been learning about how we celebrate important occasions and prepared some work to go into two time capsules.

“The work varied from class to class, including photos, a short video about the school, a special class prayer written for the occasion and pieces of writing about life in school now, as well as aspirations for the future.”

The children have also been silk painting which has been stretched over large screens and when put together looks similar to a stained glass window. Both the Parents and Teacher Association and the Norman Dawson Trust gave £600 each to enable all the children to work with an artist for a week to produce the artwork – helping the children put their mark on the new part of the school.

The school's new extension has been part funded by Worcestershire County Council to cater for an increase in school admissions in the area