Children at a Calne school are reaching new heights thanks to a climbing wall which has just been installed.
St Margaret’s Preparatory School. Calne, spent a year fundraising to help pay for the indoor wall which is available not only to the school’s pupils and girls at St Mary’s, Calne, but also the wider community through the St Mary’s Sports Club.
St Margaret’s head of sport Daniel Dury said: “It is a fantastic addition to the school’s PE department and is proving to be very popular with all age groups.
“The climbing wall provides 110sq metres of high-quality climbing. A combination of vertical walls, overhanging faces, grooves and ribs provide a challenging and varied three-dimensional climbing surface, designed to appeal to climbers across a breadth of abilities.
“The wall has been designed to suit children from four years and includes a wide variety of routes to explore, ranging from beginner to advanced climbers. When it is possible, we plan to participate in and host local and regional competitions and we are also hoping to offer the facility to the wider community.”
He said fundraising was boosted by the Calne Foundation Trust as part of a fundraising initiative last November, when a climbing wall was hired from Wiltshire Outdoor Learning and children and families paid to climb. He said: “Climbing has now been implemented into our PE curriculum for all children at the school. It brings with it not only a vibrant new challenge but also a vast array of cross curricular learning opportunities such as phonics lessons for our younger children.”