PUPILS at Neroche School in Ilminster will now be fighting fit as they benefit from a state-of-the-art outdoor gym in their playground.

The new outdoor gym, which cost around £10,000, was officially opened last week by Ilminster town mayor Cllr Val Keitch and Broadway parish councillor Linda Jones.

The scheme was funded from an £8,000 grant from Tesco’s “Bags of Help Scheme” and a £2,000 contribution from Neroche Community Primary School’s Governing Body.

The new outdoor gym was installed a few weeks ago and pupils have been busy trying out the new equipment, which is user-friendly and is also accessible for disabled students.

The new gym includes a rowing machine, cross trainer, exercise bike including wheelchair adaptations, double sit up bench, press up bars and a balance beam maze, providing a whole host of different exercises for the children to try out.

Speaking after she unveiled the new gym, Cllr Keitch praised the school for investing in the gym and said: “It is so wonderful to see a school with so many Ilminster children being so pro-active in promoting healthy living.”

The equipment additionally incorporates QCR Reader Codes for the children to use the school’s iPads to access demonstrations of exercise routines online for the equipment.

The technology will also help the children in designing their own individual fitness routines.

Year 6 teacher Kate Humphries said the new equipment would help transform the pupils’ break times, as well as their physical education classes.

Miss Humphries said: “This new equipment has transformed our playtimes and also gives us wonderful opportunities to develop PE even further in the school, using the most up to date technology to give our children the crucial Wow Factor in PE!”

Cllr Jones praised Tesco for donating the money to the school and added: “It’s great to see such excellent facilities at Neroche Primary School and our thanks to Tesco for its community funds.”