The first primary school classrooms to house years five and six in Bury St Edmunds have been completed as preparations are made for major changes to the education system.

St Edmund’s Catholic Primary School in Westgate Street is the first in the town to already have its new classrooms to accommodate these two year groups for younger children.

The new £800,000 building will house the year fives from this September, and they will become the year sixes the following year.

Yesterday, there was an official handover of the new extension, which contains four classrooms, an area for food technology, science and design technology and a small group room.

Executive headteacher Maria Kemble said: “It’s lovely and we are really proud of it. It’s a proper purpose-built brick building.”

She said some of the children had been involved in picking out finishing touches such as the colour of paint and carpets, and there were two slides incorporated into the design of the building.

She said the school was also well-prepared for the additional year groups in terms of staff.

“We are very fortunate. We are in a partnership with St Joseph’s [Catholic Primary School] in Sudbury which already has years five and six so in terms of planning the curriculum and training for staff we have already been able to do all of that.”

She added St Edmund’s had also started recruiting staff as well.