High March School opens its new pool

Children from every year apart from nursery are now enjoying an hour a week in the new 20 metre pool which was completed during the summer holidays.
Head teacher Sue Clifford said: "We are truly delighted with our fabulous pool,  which the entire school community will be able to benefit from over the coming years. The children have been incredibly excited at the news that they can swim every week throughout the year. "
Previously, children had to travel to Davenies School on Station Road for their swimming lessons and only year two and up took part.
Now, the school has increased the size of its A and B squads from 40 to 80 pupils and has also formed a Fun Swim after school club for improvers.
It has hired a dedicated coach, Robert Snodgrass, in charge of teaching swimming to older girls while Jayne McKie, head of PE, is responsible for swimming for the younger girls.
Plans for the pool go back to 2001 when the school bought a plot of land from neighbours who were also parents of former pupils.
The school received planning permission in 2002 but spent five years negotiating hours of use with SBDC before receiving permission to open it outside of school hours.
Th £1.1 million pool - complete with acoustic panels to absorb sound and ultra modern filtration and air handing equipment - was funded through a combination of a bank loan, fund raising including a sponsor-a-brick scheme for the pathway leading up to the pool, and donations by current and former parents.