Head teacher of Barnwell School, Tony Fitzpatrick, together with pupils, staff and governors, welcomed Stephen McPartland, MP for Stevenage, to the opening of Barnwell Middle School. Stephen planted a tree to commemorate the day, while a school band played to entertain the assembled students and local primary school head teachers.

Stephen said, "It was an honour to be asked to plant the tree to mark the opening of the new Barnwell Middle School. It is a fantastic concept and I am delighted the facility will be used to teach future generations of our children.

"I also had the pleasure of answering questions from Year 7 pupils who are undertaking their first year at Barnwell. I was very impressed with the range of questions I was asked and thought they were very brave to stand up in front of 200 class mates, sixth formers and other guests. It was clear that the future for Barnwell is certainly bright with such a confident year group joining the school and I look forward to visiting them again shortly."

Stephen also presented certificates to several Sixth Form students who were the first in the country to complete and pass IOSH Working Safely Course (Health and Safety in the workplace).

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