AN INDEPENDENT day school is returning to its roots this September when it moves back to Dunham Hill.

The Sarah Bartholomew School is leaving its premises at Cotebrook Village Hall, Stable Lane, and moving to Dunham Hill School, which was closed this summer.

Founder and headteacher Catherine O’Donovan said: “I founded the school 20 years ago this year in Dunham Hill Village Hall with just four pupils. It seems like I was never meant to leave.

“Now we will be able to have classrooms and things on in the evening without having to book the hall. All the parents are pleased about it. We will have more space and much better facilities.

“We will be taking more children too – now we can go up to about 15 more pupils. We want to be part of the village so everyone can come and see what the children are doing.”

The school, named after Catherine’s parents, is an independent school for primary aged boys and girls and has just 30 pupils.

She founded the school after becoming unhappy with the amount of paper work and excessive class sizes in the state system.

“I think we are unique to the whole country not just Chester and Cheshire,” she said.

“We have a sports teacher, a music teacher, a history teacher and a science teacher and we do French. All sorts of things are going on and that’s what the parents want from us. “It is about preparing the child for the next level. I want them to be able to read fluently, write well, have a high level of numerical skill. I want them to be able to do art and have ideas and I want them to be happy to come to school.”

Sarah Bartholomew School reopens in September – for details visit www.sabarschool.co.uk.