A TRIP to another world, a snowy land or a leafy forrest, is only a step away for pupils at Tonge Moor Primary School.

For, in a bid to spark children’s imagination, the school has transformed a room into its own version of Star Trek’s holodeck.

Projectors display images on three walls and the even the floor to allow people in the room to imagine they are anywhere their teachers want them to be.

Children can even step right into the pages of their favourite books, such as The Gruffalo, placing themselves at the centre of the story.

The idea for the £25,000 Immersive Room, which was part funded with a grant from the Chadwick Trust, came after headteacher Joanna Riley saw the Gener8 system in action.

“It is quite unique - not many schools have them,” said assistant headteacher Les Gilman, who is in charge of the project.

“The idea is that it can immerse children by taking them to places where they wouldn’t be able to go.”

The school chose to place the new facility in a room previously used for interventions, builders were brought in to move walls and there is now a magical seven metres by five metres for pupils to explore.

“You can put on a clip of flying through space and landing on a planet,” said Mr Gilman, who added that the space has already become a favourite place to be for the children.

“They are amazed by it. It is like, ‘Woah’,” said Mr Gilman.

The hope is that the experiences the pupils have will inspire them to improve their writing and be more engaged with subjects such as history.

Walls are touch sensitive so teachers can read a story to a group and have characters appearing in the room as the tale unfolds.

“We have already had some descriptive writing from Year Twos as a result,” said Mr Gilman.

Speakers in the ceiling add to the atmosphere for projects such as learning about World War One, where children can sit in trenches listening to the sound of a battle raging.

Teachers can choose to use supplied content or create their own from resources such as Google Maps or YouTube videos.

Staff are so impressed with the new Immersive Room they are expecting other schools to follow suit and install their own versions and are allowing the company to use it for demonstrations.

“The word will start to spread. It is well worth it,” said Mr Gilman.