WANTAGE C of E Primary School celebrated its 10th anniversary by going back to nature.

A new £8,500 nature path links a grass amphitheatre for outside lessons, living willow structures and fruit trees.

The school is hoping to help children reconnect with nature.

School governor Lesley Ford, whose six-year-old son Harry goes to the school, said: “We want real, raw nature where the kids learn the difference between a nettle and a dock leaf.

“Wantage has had a lot of social housing built recently, some of it has very little green space so now children have to learn more about nature, hanging from trees and searching for mini beasts.

“It is unsterilised play.”

The path also takes in the school’s existing nature patch where children grow potatoes and hedgerows for spotting wildlife.

Harry Ford said: “It’s basically cool that you can go in the trees and swing in the branches.

“We have seen white butterflies and some wood lice, caterpillars, blue tits, and even a blackbird.”

Before the path was built, children had to play on concrete for six months of the year when the school field became boggy.

The grand opening of the path at an anniversary party last month came after years of fundraising from discos, Christmas cards and textile collections.

The school, which has 463 children, is about to become an academy.