St Nicholas School in Chippenham has released a single to raise funds for a new playground.

Composer Jules Addison, of 4Part Music mobile recording services, spent time in the specialist school recording children during playtime, assembly, wake-up club and music therapy sessions and composed some original music to surround the sounds.

The single, a six-minute track called Sounds of St Nics, can be bought for £3 from the school website.

The Malmesbury Road school, which educates pupils with severe, complex or profound and multiple learning difficulties, wants to raise £170,000 to put up permanent canopies so the outdoors can be used for classrooms whatever the weather. Each canopy costs £8,000.

Fundraising manager Beverley Crone said: “It is really important to be able to offer our pupils access to the outdoors all day and every day. This would give pupils a firsthand experience of the seasons, weather and the natural world. We want to give them the freedom to explore, use their senses and be physically active and exuberant.

“At present, our outside areas have very few resources or equipment for pupils to play in. They are empty spaces that provide little stimulation or learning experiences.”

Patron Paralympic GB swimmer Stephanie Millward will officially open the new playground facilities when they are ready.

These will include a sensory garden, a brightly coloured rubber safety surfacing in the early years area, a new climbing apparatus and sunken trampoline in the activity area, a field area developed for team games and sport, and a new wheelchair swing and roundabout accessible to all.

The school hopes to carry out work on a rolling basis so funds can make an impact straight away. It is already buying its first lot of equipment thanks to a donation from Chippenham Lions.

A sponsored race day with picnic lunch in John Coles Park is being held on Thursday, May 16, for St Nicholas by charity Kids Run Free from 10am to 2.30pm.

The single is available from http://tinyurl.com/cg7yrvy