CHILDREN have started lessons in a new £6 million school themed with the colour purple.

Millbrook School children were overwhelmed with their new building, which features flexible walls, movable furniture and light streaming in through large roof windows.

The Freshbrook building is perfectly suited to the primary school’s identity, with purple carpets and lilac chairs representing the school logo’s colour, said headteacher Clare Griffin-Felton.

Mrs Griffin-Felton said: “Seeing the children’s faces when they first came in was the highlight for me. They kept saying: ‘wow.’ It was amazing.

“Parents have also been so supportive.”

Millbrook has been built to accommodate children from the amalgamation of Freshbrook Primary School and Windmill Hill Primary School.

The school has 11 classrooms, a room for special needs provision and a den to help children who are struggling to catch up with school work.

Other features include lockers in classrooms, a rain harvesting system to flush toilets, an outdoor amphitheatre, an open space for flexible use and sensor controlled windows.

Lessons started for the first time yesterday, but children had a peek at the new school on Tuesday.

Mrs Griffin-Felton said: “I love the entrance hall and high ceilings. When you enter and look through the school, it is magical. I wanted high ceilings with lots of space and light.

“The building raises the expectations of us teachers. If it does so for adults, hopefully it will do the same for students. They will be keen to do the best when they have the best. When you have something beautiful, you want to look after it and cherish it. That is what we have.”

Razna Izdani, 10, of Freshbrook, said: “I think the new school is nice and large and always tidy. I like the slides in the playground.”

Brad Reeve, 10, of Freshbrook, said he has enjoyed sitting in a spherical hidey hole in the flexible space area.

He said: “I have been in there reading. There is lots of new stuff at school, which is really cool.”

Work started on the new building in March last year and Mrs Griffin-Felton said she is grateful to staff at Swindon Commercial Services, particularly Chris Hendy, and Brian Cleightonhills, of Swindon Council, for all the hard work they put into the project.

She said: “We worked really well together to bring this project together. Children were at the forefront of everyone’s minds during every conversation.

“I now want to make sure the new building is used as a community facility.”