THE FUTURE of community learning looks bright thanks to a pioneering teaching approach at Delaware Community Primary School.

Last year the school was involved in piloting a government initiative intended to develop an ?extended school?.

This employed a multi-faceted approach linking education with childcare, family matters and adult education.

The pilot scheme was completed last August and everyone involved felt the holistic learning strategy was so successful they were determined to continue developing stronger community links and improve educational opportunities.

A number of local organisations, including Delaware Pre-school and Toddler Group, Delaware Kids? Club, Caradon Adult Education Service, Caradon District Council, Calstock Parish Council and Calstock Development Trust, have worked with the school to create a vision for the future.

The aim of this steering group is to build an education centre on the school site which will facilitate learning for the whole community from teenagers to parents to grandparents and beyond.

The centre will provide childcare facilities, pre-school education and specialist advice to

learners across the community.

Delaware Primary has also worked alongside the Eden Project and Creative Partnerships to create an outdoor ?classroom? designed to provide an alfresco learning environment for young children.

Headteacher Jo Grail said: ?These are exciting times for us. We really want to develop a strong culture of learning across the whole community, not just for today but for the future.

?A purpose-built learning centre is the way forward for us.?

The local community is invited to find out all about the project at Delaware School open day on Saturday 13 March between 10am and 4pm.

The day will include a consultation forum on education.