THERESA May has praised the fundraising efforts of a school after the launch of a new adventure playground.

The Prime Minister sent a special letter to the Parent-Teacher Association (PTA) of Sonning Church of England Primary School following their £45,000 campaign.

Children enjoyed the new equipment at the official launch on Friday, May 12, with the vast majority of funds coming from the school's black tie dinner attended by the Conservative leader in March 2016.

Theresa May said in her letter: “I would like to congratulate Sonning Church of England Primary School with the opening of their new playground.

“I had the pleasure of being present at the auction last year, where the astonishing amount of £21,000 was raised and I am very happy this project has now been finalised.

“The new playground will without a doubt become a hit and I hope both staff and students will enjoy it.”

An 18-month campaign from the PTA saw £45,278 collected to replace the old facilities, which had been at the school for more than a decade.

The adventure playground took only two weeks to complete from start to finish, with the rest of the funds coming from quiz nights, school discos and the Christmas fair.

Luke Henderson, head teacher at Sonning C of E School, said: “Thanks to the hard work of the PTA and the generosity of the parents and Sonning community, we have been able to provide the children with an exceptional adventure playground.

“The funds the PTA raise make an enormous difference to facilities, resources and opportunities we are able to provide the children at our school.”

Ann Daniels-Smith, chair of the PTA, added: “I am so proud of what we’ve all achieved. To help raise sufficient funds, we put aside a set amount of monies raised each month to ensure we could complete the works.”