A PRIMARY school has opened its new nursery with a £6,000 funding boost to help meet high demand for childcare places in the area.

Sedgefield Primary School filled all 28 places in its nursery on Rectory Row with young starters this week who made the most of new play equipment.

Head teacher Andrea Cox said the school has wanted to open a nursery for many years and has received strong support from parents.

“Being able to offer quality nursery provision and a seamless transition into reception will be of huge benefit to the school,” she said. “We are also pleased to be able to support working families, as we are aware that nursery places in the area have been hard to secure.”

Demand for a new nursery in the town has been high following the closure of Cherry Tree Nursery last year, causing over-subscription at the only remaining nursery and forcing parents to find pre-school places in surrounding villages of Stillington, Fishburn and Trimdon.

To support the opening of the nursery, the school’s Parents, Teachers and Friends Association (PTFA) secured a £5,000 grant from the E.ON Butterwick Moor Wind Farm Community Benefit Fund, managed by the County Durham Community Foundation, and handed over £1,000 from its own funds.

Nursery teacher Kim Leck, who welcomed three-year-olds into the classroom from Tuesday, said: “The funding has given us the ability to buy lots of wonderful and exciting new resources for both the nursery and reception children to enjoy. We really appreciate the hard work of our PTFA in securing this money.”

Since its conception 14 years ago, Sedgefield Primary’s PTFA has raised around £100,000 through more than 130 events and activities.

This has helped contribute towards computing equipment, learning resources, theatre performances and school trips.

PTFA chair Aileen Darnton, who has two children in the school and a third starting at the nursery, said: “The new nursery was an essential provision to accommodate the expanding preschool population in the village and has allowed parents to have a greater choice. The PTFA is over the moon to have been able to support this venture.”