PUPILS from Stratton School in Cirencester are making waves at their new watersports club.

The youngsters are completing their latest round of sessions at Waterland Outdoor Pursuits watersports centre in the Cotswold Water Park.

In the past year the children have been learning new skills such as raft building and have took the water in a variety of crafts such as kayaks and canoes.

Shirley Bond, a spokesperson for the school said the club, which is made up of pupils in Years 4 to 6 had been a great success.

She said: “We started in September and had five sessions of raft building, windsurfing, kata-kanu, kayaking and sailing and then in May and June we went moved onto refining our skills in kayaks and canoes. Finally, we had such fun going down the ramp on open Kayaks, followed by a BBQ.

“The difference in confidence was phenomenal from the autumn to the spring and such was the enthusiasm that, from February onwards the children were asking every week when we were going to start again as they were so keen.

“It brought out the best in the children increasing their confidence and self esteem. It helped one lad and his parents who had recently joined our school, to quickly become part of our school. Team work was a very important element and I was thrilled to see how that improved and developed.”