The head of a Stevenage school has showered praise on parents and staff who helped the school stay afloat after three of its classrooms were flooded out in a torrential downpour.

Water poured into St. Nicholas Church of England Primary School on Tuesday just three months after a brand new roof was installed after a mammoth £150,000 fundraising effort by parents.

Staff resorted to trying to collect the water in buckets and the school lost all its outbound phone lines and power supply.

Two end of term performances by Year 6 pupils – due to take place on Wednesday and Thursday – had to be postponed.

There were fears the school might have to close until August, but it re-opened on Thursday after a huge effort by its community.

Headteacher Sarah Stevens said she couldn’t believe the amount of help from parents and staff, other schools and building companies.

She said: “It’s been a massive effort from staff and friends of the school and we’ve got the buildings back into workable state within just one day.

“We’ve been overwhelmed by the support from parents and other schools, they’ve been really fantastic.”

Ms Stevens said the problem stemmed from two pipes that had not been capped properly when the new roof was installed, but she said the contractors had responded ‘excellently’ to fix it.

A Year One classroom will now have to have a complete re-fit and two other rooms need new flooring.

The school in Six Hills Way which received ‘Good’ in an Ofsted inspection earlier this year is now expected to stage the performances of Porridge – a comic adaptation of Goldilocks and the three bears – on Monday and Tuesday.