A Haverhill primary school has undergone a large extension after receiving a £2.1million council grant.

Coupals Primary Academy, in Chalkstone Way, received the money from the Suffolk County Council’s capital programme to build a new teaching block, which will house eight new classrooms.

The new teaching block will eventually see pupil numbers rise to 420 and headteacher David Maguire described the new building as “fantastic” after a whirlwind of activity over the summer holidays.

In addition to the new classroom block, a new studio and extensions to the school hall and staff room have also been completed.

David said: “This is an amazing teaching space for our Key Stage 2 children - working in brand new classrooms really is a special thing.

“Pupils will be taught in inspirational surroundings while our teachers will benefit from being able to work with groups of children much easier.

“I am delighted with how the project has gone and I would like to thank everyone involved in making it happen.

“The children have been fantastic over the last nine months when they have lost a lot of their playground, so it is great to see them already benefitting from the bigger space.”

The building work was completed by Cocksedge Building Contractors – who were the company in charge of building the original school 35 years ago.

Steve Revell, contracts manager at Cocksedge, said: “We were pleased with the quick turnaround and delighted with how the work progressed.

“It was a great example of working closely with a number of partners including Coupals Primary Academy, Samuel Ward Academy Trust and the design team from Concertus.”

The school originally opened in 1982 and catered for children from reception to Year 4. In 2011, it expanded to become a full primary for pupils from reception to Year 6.

In January 2015, the school converted to become an academy as part of the Haverhill-based Samuel Ward Academy Trust.