The year 3000 seems closer than ever as pupils from Fairlop Primary School found themselves underwater last Thursday, all from the comfort of the classroom.

Rather than magic, they were trialling a new technology pioneered by Google that teleported the children around the globe using virtual reality headsets.

Mr Olgun, part of the school’s computing team, said: “We travelled across the universe without leaving our classrooms. It was just magical and impressive.”

Classroom-sized groups were guided through collections of 360° 3D images by their teachers to explore the surface of the moon or the bottom of the sea.

More than 390 pupils and 13 teachers tried it out.