A NEW garden and play area at a college in Chippenham will allow students who suffer from learning difficulties greater access to the outdoors.

Poplar Sixth Form College was opened in 2014 for students between the ages of 16-19 who have special needs, with an outdoor area including garden, fountain and boccia court completed earlier this year for the 19 students who attend the college.

The new garden, which is located at the college on Cocklebury Road, was officially opened by Chippenham Mayor Terry Gibson last Tuesday (July 19).

Ros Way, headteacher of Poplar College, said: “This has been planned for a number of years, I joined the college as head in September and previous heads along with the local authority decided that we should have post-16 provisions and that site was identified.

“We wanted it to be somewhere where they could do sports and we also wanted a garden area so they could do more recreational skills, such as horticulture.

“We’re at the end of a journey, before the garden was opened we had a very limited outdoor space for the pupils but the difference has been fantastic.

“We want it to be part of the community.”