Pupils, teachers and support staff at Narberth CP School moved into their brand new school building at Jesse Road on Monday.

The 312 pupils and 47 staff will spend the final week of term familiarising themselves with the newly-built premises, before breaking up for the summer holidays.

The school has 10 classrooms and, for the first time, an Early Years Unit, which will be welcoming local three-year-olds part-time from September.

There is also a hall, an IT resource/library room and design technology room while outdoor features include a football pitch, netball court, vegetable garden and recycling/compost area, and an educational nature area with a wildlife pond. Edna Davies, headteacher of Narberth CP School, said she was delighted that the Year 6 pupils, who will be going to secondary school in September, would be able to spend a week at the new building, as they had significant input into the plans.

"The learning environment for children in the Narberth area is going to be first class," she said. "We are very lucky indeed to have been given such a fantastic building with such modern facilities and are very grateful to everyone concerned." The school cost in excess of £4 million and was funded by Pembrokeshire Count Council and the Welsh Assembly Government.

Construction began in autumn 2006 and the main contractor was W. B. Griffiths, of Haverfordwest. Clr. Huw George, cabinet member for children, young people, learning and the Welsh language, said the school had been designed with the latest standards of environmental and energy-saving factors in mind.

"The building incorporates rainwater harvesting for grey water, and a balancing pond for collection of storm water run-off, which will be landscaped to form an enclosed nature reserve," he said.

Other environmental measures include a tree management programme, the translocation of an ecologically important hedgerow to the eastern boundary of the entrance area, careful design of the entrance and car park to preserve elements of the remaining hedge, and the formation of a wildlife corridor along the existing stream boundary. The school has also been successful in securing a prestigious design award.

Along with one other school and a day care centre in Pembrokeshire, they are the only premises in the Dyfed-Powys Police Force area to achieve Secured by Design status, a national initiative to encourage the use of crime prevention measures in the design, layout and construction of properties.

The properties were all developed in-house by Pembrokeshire County Council's architect's department. The formal opening of Narberth CP School will take place in the 2008 autumn term.