A primary school’s secret garden has been given a £1,000 makeover to provide a space for children to relax and play, to coincide with the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee.

The unused and overgrown patch of land at Orford Primary School, in School Lane, has been repurposed to provide a reflection shed and a seating area with tables where the pupils can work.

The school’s council proposed the idea after deciding that the site at the side of the school needed to be developed, while Archdeacon Sally Gaze, who serves the diocese of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich, suggested creating an area for prayer.

East Anglian Daily Times: Children dressed as royalty for the jubilee themed eventChildren dressed as royalty for the jubilee themed event (Image: Charlotte Bond)

She was present to cut the ribbon to open the garden on Wednesday, along with Rev Giles Tulk, team rector of Orford, who said a prayer and local volunteer Nicola Atchley, who created a mural at the garden.

There were also representatives of Christian group Just 42 and parents.

East Anglian Daily Times: The new garden will provide a space for children to reflect and prayThe new garden will provide a space for children to reflect and pray (Image: Charlotte Bond)

Funding for the project came from local brewer Adnams.

Katie Butler, executive head for Orford and Bawdsey Primary Schools, said: “We are very grateful to everybody who contributed and enabled this project to happen.”

East Anglian Daily Times: Children took part in games from the 1950s during the jubilee themed eventChildren took part in games from the 1950s during the jubilee themed event (Image: Charlotte Bond)

Prior to the garden launch, the school also held a jubilee picnic on the front playground where children could dress up in red, white and blue and as royalty.

They could also participate in games from the 1950s, including wellie wanging.

East Anglian Daily Times: The mural created at the Orford Primary School prayer gardenThe mural created at the Orford Primary School prayer garden (Image: Charlotte Bond)