New £6m school in Middleton goes back to nature for a delayed opening celebration

The new £6m Elements Primary School actually opened during the early days of the COVID pandemic and hasn't been able to mark the occasion properly until now.

So for this week the school has come up with a week of learning that has dedicated itself to being creative and environment based.

Part of the Wellspring Academy Trust, Elements has the slogan that it wants its children to be world changers and is determined to equip its young people with toolkit to do just that.

The highlight of the week will come tomorrow (Thursday) as part of Earth Day, an annual event marked across the globe to raise awareness of the planet’s environment, and this year’s event marks its 51st anniversary.

It began in the US in 1970, with around 20m people taking to the streets to protest against the negative environmental impacts of industrial development.

To play their own part, Elements Primary has been working with children’s illustrator Danny Deeptown who has illustrated two books about the character Captain Green, an environmental superhero and his work will be a centre-piece to the celebrations.

Tomorrow will see the reveal of new bespoke reading library artwork created by the professional illustrator which covers the whole library wall and represents the power of reading and the journey of Elements from its origins as a brand new school in the Middleton community.

Mr Deeptown will be leading workshops with children on how to illustrate their very own stories and on what is a postponed World Book Day celebration, children will be learning about reducing plastic waste and saving the rainforests through the books by Evelyn Bookless and Danny Deeptown.

In addition there will be environmental sessions run by the company who have installed the school's artwork and who have a focus on using sustainable products and materials, tree planting carried out by landscapers, and assisted by pupils, to offset paper use at the school and children are encouraged to come in fancy dress with the theme for costumes being dressed as a world changer for the day.

A new indoor biophilic green space to support children’s mental health and wellbeing by tapping into the human's innate attraction to nature and natural processes is also set to be unveiled.

Elements Primary is a brand new state of the art school, built by the Department for Education with its partner the Wellspring Academy Trust, Elements occupies a 3.7 acres site and cost in the region of £6m to build.