Pupils in new home after Wolverhampton school blaze
Pupils and staff at a primary school that was destroyed by arsonists have finally been able to settle into their new building.
Children at Wilkinson Primary School in Bilston have had to make do with mobile cabins on their playing fields ever since the attack which happened in 2010 leaving the buildings wrecked.
They now have 16 new classrooms, six half-sized support rooms and three communal areas used for cooking, art and IT classes – making the premises twice its original size.
As part of the rebuild, there is also a school community room, used for after school and holiday clubs.
Headteacher Tina Gibbon said: "The children were so excited when we re-opened.
"They were just thrilled to be in the building.
"It's just complete happiness. It was amazing to watch."
Teachers worked with the architects to design the school rebuild, which cost £8.2 million.
A new teacher and a new teaching assistant have been hired to cover the extra classrooms and the school's pupil numbers have shot up to around 420.
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Ms Gibbon said the development had given the children more room for a better learning environment, allowing them to do activities they previously could not.
She said: "We were grateful for the cabins but they were so restrictive in terms of space.
"This has changed the way they learn really.
"Before there was no room for withdrawing children who needed help and it was very restricting for creativity.
"Things like dance and music were very limited. previously
"It's great to have the additional space and the design has worked really well."
She added: "Our old building kept extending and extending and now we are full and twice the size."
The school on Walter Road, in Bradley, was completely destroyed in the arson attack in October 2010.
It wrecked recently transformed classrooms, a new library and an extension to the hall.
The culprits were never caught.
As well as normal lessons, the school's sports clubs were also affected in the aftermath. Although all of them carried on running, teams were left with only a small strip of field to use as the rest was filled by the temporary classrooms.
But they did not let that stop them from achieving during that period, as they went on to win competitions involving schools across the city.
In November the cross country team celebrated winning a Mixed Relay Competition for Wolverhampton, which was held at Aldersley Stadium. Ms Gibbon said: "The cross country team have worked wonders.
"For the sports teams it was very difficult because our outside space was also very limited. Lots of areas were fenced off .
"We had to rely on other schools to facilitate our training and all of our matches have had to be away."
The field still has to be seeded – the last part of the development still to be carried out.
Builders are due to leave in April and the school has been told the field will be fit for use around 18 months after that.
Over the recent Christmas holiday, the school was shut for an extra two weeks while the mobile classrooms were removed by cranes.
Teachers moved into the new building shortly before Christmas followed by the children on January 6.
Ms Gibbon said: "Now it's just like they have never been anywhere else."
