Wiltshire’s newest white horse was unveiled at Nursteed Primary School yesterday to mark its 10th birthday.

The new white horse, based on the design of the horse on Roundway Hill, measures about ten metres by eight, a tenth of the size of the original, and was dug out over a period of months by volunteers drawn from parents, staff and children.

Headteacher Tim Heath said: “The children brought along their seaside buckets and helped to fill it in with chalk. “It is a wonderful addition to the school.

“Alan Truscott, who is one of our governors, is a member of the White Horse Cavaliers and he helped us with the project.”

Although the school welcomed its first 53 pupils in September 2002, it chose to celebrate the tenth anniversary this week.

Addressing the assembly in the school’s large hall yesterday at 10.10am, Mr Heath said: “We decided to choose a date somewhere between those two and thought the tenth day of the tenth month was the best date to celebrate our tenth birthday.”

The school celebrated its first decade in fine style with song, verse, comedy and drama.

The ceremony, attended by Devizes mayor Kelvin Nash, vicar the Rev Jonathan Triffitt and headteacher of Devizes School, Malcolm Irons, began with the singing of a song written for the occasion.

Sung by the entire school in samba rhythm, the song We Are Nursteed School celebrated the achievements of the primary during its first ten years.

In a series of sketches the children praised “ten terrific things about Nursteed School”.

After the assembly, the children unveiled the school’s white horse. The Devizes Millennium White Horse, dug three years before the school opened, is the school’s logo and Alan and Sarah Padwick of the Cavaliers of the Devizes Millennium White Horse were among the guests.

The staff were delighted in March to receive a letter from Schools Minister Nick Gibb congratulating them on their recent improvement.

The letter said: “The year-on-year improvement in the percentage of your pupils achieving Level 4+, places your school amongst the 50 top performing primary schools for sustained improvement.”