Cundall Manor School near Dishforth has officially opened its first ever artificial turf pitch.
The event, taking place two months after construction work began, was marked with an official handing over ceremony in which the main contractors handed over keys to the perimeter fence.
Receiving the keys were head of girls’ games Lynne Walkland and director of sports John Liley watched by children from the main and upper school helped the school raise the funds for the development of the site.
The pitch has been entirely financed by fund raising events and donations from within the school community to the tune of £250,000.
The ceremony was overseen by joint heads Amanda Kirby and John Sample.
Mr Sample said: “We are delighted to have this amazing facility on site. Team sports is part of our daily curriculum and we had been losing valuable coaching time transporting pupils to neighbouring training pitches. Now we can focus our time and efforts on honing their skills on site,” commented John Sample.
Mrs Kirby added: “Hockey is a particular area of excellence within Cundall – so many of our female, and increasingly male, players are selected for regional and county squads, so to have an all-weather training ground at school can only further improve our wonderful hockey pedigree.”
The pitch will see daily use, both during the pupils’ daily games lessons and out of school training hours by local sports clubs.