EXPLORER David Hempleman-Adams found plenty of like minds among adventurous children at a village school near Devizes when he opened an outdoor classroom on Tuesday.

Sir David, who has flown hot air balloons on dangerous journeys and was the first person in history to reach the geographic and magnetic North and South Poles as well as climb the highest peaks in all seven continents.

Children from Chirton Primary were so impressed with his exploits that some of them wrote to him last year after reading The Fantastic Flying Journey by Gerald Durrell.

Associate head Amy Bekker-Wrench said: "They couldn’t believe that someone in real-life could actually travel for days in a wicker basket therefore they wrote to Mr Hempleman-Adams posing some questions as well as inviting him to come and find out about the many adventures we have ourselves at Chirton School.

"Kindly, Sir David accepted the invitation of which we were incredibly honoured as he is very rarely able to make public appearances. As his visit coincided with the opening of our new outdoor Classroom of Wonder, he officially opened it, unveiling a plaque with the whole school present. "

He took along a variety of clothing that protects him on his adventures in the most extreme conditions. Ms Bekker-Wrench said: "The children were invited to try these on and also taste some porridge in a bag which gained mixed reviews."

She said that Chirton Primary has status as a Forest School and everyone was passionate about extending learning in the outdoors. She said: "Having our very own piece of forest space as well as our new on-site provision, we are able to present exciting learning opportunities to the children. This approach also encourages them to lead their own learning through child-initiated exploration. Whilst we recognise that having a good grounding in academic subjects is important, we believe that learning in this way also allows talents to be showcased and children have the opportunity to thrive in their own special and unique way.

"Sir David explained that it was exposure to outdoor learning at school from a young age that inspired him to become an adventurer, so who knows, we may have the next explorer to the South Pole in our midst."