SCHOOL children are celebrating the opening of their new sports pitches, and are looking forward to playing a little croquet.

The Mill School, Potterne, refurbished its sports facilities over the summer to provide new tennis, football and netball courts for the children.

It is also aiming to start teaching croquet to the pupils.

The independent school, which caters for children aged between four and 11, had its old courts resurfaced and enlarged so it can offer a wider range of sports this year.

PE teacher John Stagles said; "Although they are called tennis courts, we will be offering hockey, soccer, volleyball and netball on the new courts.

"We are also taking the rather usual step of adding croquet to the school sports curriculum.

"We have a space for a croquet lawn, which at the moment is just a rough patch of grass, but we are hoping to get that levelled and re-seeded in time for next summer's croquet season."

Mr Stagles and fellow PE teacher Liz Bissett took the first lesson on the new courts on Wednesday afternoon and pupil Lizzie Cox was delighted to be the first to try out the new netball hoops.