STUDENTS at a New Forest school travelled around the world without leaving the classroom thanks to a visit from the Google Expeditions tour.

They were whisked away to stunning locations including Machu Picchu, New York, the Great Wall of China and even the solar system through the use of clever virtual cardboard viewers.

Google aims to take more than a million children around the world through its tour and around 400 young people at The Arnewood School in New Milton took part.

Year 7 pupils visited volcanoes from around the world, while Year 8 covered the Antarctica, the solar system and the seven new wonders of the world.

And the sixth form also took part when they were given the chance to explore the Big Apple.

Head teacher, Nigel Pressnell, said: “This was a fantastic experience for our students to see how technology can take us to places we have never been before. Although virtual reality can never replace the same real world experience, this is still an amazing tool to bring remote places to life without having to leave the classroom.”

Google Expeditions allows teachers to take their classes on virtual field trips.

A box is provided that gives schools the tools needed to travel – a tablet for the teacher and cardboard viewers and phones for every student.

The teacher selects a destination and then the entire classroom jumps there automatically just by looking through the cardboard viewers.

Year 7 student, Gabriele Jeruseviciute, said: “I really enjoyed the Google Expedition as we got to learn about volcanoes by going on a virtual trip, which was really fun.

“We looked at the different types of volcanoes, how they were formed and how they erupt. The whole class really enjoyed it and found the experience really interesting.”