SCHOOLGIRL Jodi Sheard fulfilled many children's dreams by digging up the ground at her school - but it was all above board.
She joined the Rt Rev John Crowley, RC Bishop of Middlesbrough, at the controls of a mechanical digger to begin a new era for Catholic education in Redcar. The 11-year-old's suggestion of St Benedict, patron saint of schoolchildren, for the new primary school amalgamation of St Dominic's and St Albans won a naming competition among pupils, parents and staff. The bishop lent a hand to mark the symbolic start of work on the schools, along with the creation of a new Sacred Heart secondary school to replace the old building on the Mersey Road site.
Other VIPs were four pupils from St Dominic's - Kevin Lee, Abbie Smith, Ellen Haramalis and Bethany McQuade - whose designs have been incorporated into new uniforms and logos.
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