A PRIMARY school has welcomed pupils back with a 100 per cent outdoor curriculum.

Eleven out of 15 reception pupils at Collierley Primary School in Dipton, near Stanley, returned on Monday.

The school has hired portable toilets for the field, is cooking meals on a campfire and has a tarpaulin shelter to protect youngsters from the elements.

Nine out of 19 year six children pupils also returned and six out of 22 year one pupils are due on Monday.

Headteacher Angela McDermid said: “When we did the first survey about who would send reception children back there was only one parent who said they would so we thought we better do something to convince them that we can be safe. It is going very well. The weather has not been the greatest but that has not bothered them in any way. The amount of space they have got is bigger than a full size football pitch so they are not in each other’s space all of the time and they have got freedom to roam.

“They are exhausted because they are active all of the time.”