A HEADTEACHER has thanked the community for their generous donations following a major fire at the school nursery.

The Rift House Primary School nursery building, which incorporated a year three classroom, was completely destroyed in a fire on Sunday, May 7.

Luckily the nursery was separate to the main school building so most pupils only missed out on two days at school.

The blaze broke out on the eve of Year Six students starting their SATs exams at the Masefield Road school in Hartlepool.

However, the community has rallied around the school to get it back on track

Headteacher David Turner said: “I’ve been overwhelmed by the support from the whole Hartlepool community. Everyone has been absolutely fantastic and I’ve been inundated with offers of help town wide.

“Thanks to the resilience of our children and support from parents, families, staff, education colleagues, the local authority and the Hartlepool community, the school has bounced back following the incident and everyone is looking ahead to the future.

“The donation of toys and other items for the nursery in the aftermath of the fire have been unbelievable. However, we have received so many donations we do not need any more. Every day, dozens of people have been bringing items into school but we have run out of space to store them.

“I am very grateful to all those who have made donations and they will be invaluable to us when we are able to get our replacement nursery up and running.”

A demolition team is on site this week clearing the remains of the nursery building.

Following the fire, which broke out at around 6pm, a joint investigation was launched by Cleveland Police and Cleveland Fire Brigade.

Speaking at the time of the incident, Cleveland Fire Brigade group manager Dave Turton said: “A single storey annexe to the school was well alight resulting in thick palls of black smoke. Six fire engines responded from Hartlepool, Middlesbrough and Thornaby.

“The annexe has been destroyed by fire and an investigation into the cause is under way.”

A 14-year-old boy was arrested on the morning of Wednesday, May 10, and has since been released from custody with no bail conditions.

A 13-year-old boy who was arrested on Tuesday, May 9, he was also released from custody with no bail conditions.

Cleveland Police are appealing for anyone with any further information to contact them on non-emergency number 101 or pass information anonymously to the independent charity Crimestoppers via their website www.crimestoppers-uk.org or by phoning 0800 555 111.