A NEW cricket pavilion has been officially opened at a school.

On Tuesday Gosfield School held an event to open the Forest School and cricket pavilion.

The whole school attended as well as Chris Silverwood, Essex 1st Team cricket coach and Sara Knight from the Forest School Association.

Sarah Nicholls, marketing manager at the school, said: "The new building will be used as a classroom for our Forest School provision which we run for children in our nursery, all the way up to pupils in Year 9, before they are given the opportunity to get involved with the Duke of Edinburgh Award.

"The cricket pavilion will be used by existing pupils at the school, with fantastic, brand-new facilities for our forthcoming cricket fixtures.

"We have excellent links with the women and girls cricket team at Essex County Cricket Club, they use our existing facilities for training purposes and this new pavilion will greatly enhance their visits."

Forest school is an opportunity for students to learn about nature in an outdoor environment.

Gosfield School PTA made a donation of £10,000 towards the building of the cricket pavilion.