On Monday 13th July, the first stages of Raglan Primary School's demolition began.

Head teacher Jeremy Piper and three former pupils were at the old school building to see the work begin.

Previous students Sophie Beach, Maddie Osborn and Seren Strong-Wright, pictured below said that it was sad to see the building knocked down, but that "it was nice to have a chance to say goodbye" to Raglan Primary School.

On their final meeting at Raglan Primary, The Rascals After School Club gave teachers and pupils the opportunity to leave affectionate messages written on the walls and windows of the old building.

The students added they were very much looking forward to seeing the new school buildings.

Mr Piper said that the new school will be "an amazing space to teach and learn in, so this is a really exciting time for teachers and pupils.

"The new Raglan school will offer huge possibilities to teach in different ways.

"There are several very large rooms, and areas designed to move furniture and create different spaces."

The current Raglan school site suffers from poor energy and high maintenance levels with problems over access, comfort levels, light levels and ventilation, and as such is being demolished rather than repaired.

Monmouth Assembly Member Nick Ramsay said: "As a Raglan resident myself I am well aware of the excitement and anticipation in the village surrounding the opening of the new school later this year.

"There is, of course, a tinge of sadness for many local people who attended the school that the buildings which played such an important part in their formative years are now being demolished.

"This is a time of change but Raglan's school has always had a strong reputation and track record and I'm sure that that will continue and be enhanced with the transition to the new, modern building.

"First and foremost Raglan is getting a cracking new school building that pupils, parents and teachers will benefit from and of which the village can be proud. Here's to a bright future for the new school."

Cabinet will meet later today (15th July) to provide an in principle decision about moving ownership of the current Raglan Junior School site to the Raglan Village Hall Association (RVHA).

Calls have been made by the public for a new community hall to be built on the existing Raglan Junior School site.

The RVHA are in discussions with the Big Lottery and intend to submit a bid for £500,000 for the hall. They have also submitted applications to the Communities Facilities Programme, and the Ministry of Defence Community Covenant Grant Scheme (MOD) for funding.

Meanwhile, two Raglan pupils were also at the launch of the plans for the new Monmouth Comprehnsive School.

Work on the new building to replace Monmouth Comprehensive School is due to start later this year, with the main build due to be completed in late 2017. This is the latest development in the Council's 21st Century Schools programme which includes new schools for Raglan and Caldicot.

Deputy Headteacher Tim Bird said: "We have been on a learning journey at Monmouth Comprehensive School for a number of years and we have now reached a point where the learning environment is not helping the students achieve to their best ability.

"We now have an opportunity to design a bespoke learning environment, not only for this generation of students, but for those in years to come."