DELIGHTED villagers had the chance to see inside a new £500k pre-school in Ramsbury, that has been hailed as a place to provide the best education for children in the village for generations to come.

Children have been in the new purpose-built pre-school for a month and settled into their surroundings quickly. It features large French doors that open onto a year-round outside space, kitted out with a mud kitchen, covered play area and large section to see plants as they grow.

Before the new building, children used the Methodist Church hall, which had become run down and limited the space children could use outside. Now, the pre-school is at the heart of the village near the primary school and has already visited lunch clubs to sing songs to older people in the community.

Twenty-five children pass through the doors each day and head Emma Gagen said: “We are led by the children and recently set our staff a challenge to watch how they play to make sure we help children continue learning in this way.”

The pre-school is run by staff with more than 20 years’ experience and includes a qualified forest school practitioner and a pre-school worker from Uruguay who teaches Spanish songs to children throughout the day.

Bursar Rhona Edwards said: “To think that this time last year we had only raised £150k and now we have raised half a million, built and started using the school is remarkable. We want to thank everyone in the community who came forward and volunteered their time to getting the building open.”