Staff and students from Springfields Academy are set for the most challenging nine days of their lives, as they fly to Tanzania next week.

The trip, which sees them spend a week with the Maasai people, is part of the school’s Extreme Class-rooms series.

Last year they took a group of pupils to the Arctic circle, while further trips are planned to Mount Everest, the Nevada Desert and sailing around the British Isles.

The expedition is being filmed by a BBC film crew and will feature in a documentary later in the year.

Five pupils from Springfields will be joined by five counterparts from other special schools around the country. There will also be mentors from the business and sports worlds in the 32-strong party.

Springfields headteacher Trystan Williams said: “We are all looking forward to it.

“We have some fantastic sponsors, in particular Goughs Solicitors and Calne Lions Club.

“And we’ve been given some specialist kit by the military, through our connections at RAF Lyneham.

“The whole school is excited about the trip, it is not just about the pupils and staff who are going.

“This represents an opportunity to show the importance of helping children to prepare for leaving education. If we can affect government strategy and get people to realise that education is more than just academic, then we will save a heck of a lot of vulnerable children.”

The pupils doing the trip are Calum Cater, Callum Marshall, Matthew Crosby, Ethan Moore and Keiron Broom. Also joining the pupils is Antony Worrall Thompson, the chef who will make his first TV appearance since he was caught shoplifting in Tesco earlier this year.

He will be cooking a special meal with the village elders when the group returns from their 100-mile hike down the Rift Valley.

Mr Williams said: “This will be the first time he will have been on TV since his well documented problems.

“Just because someone does something wrong, they shouldn’t be punished for life. We welcome him being part of the trip.”