Britain’s most decorated female Olympian is set to visit a south Bucks school to deliver a fitness session with 12 aspiring sportspeople in a bid to help the school with its fundraising efforts for a new astro turf.

Dame Katherine Grainger will run an elite fitness session at Beaconsfield High School later this year, followed by a question and answer session with lucky students.

Ten spaces will be available to bid on in the school’s Burns Night auction, which is running online until Saturday.

Another two spaces will be given to students selected by the head of PE, Kat McGonigle.

The money raised from the auction will go towards funding a new astro turf to replace the current ageing one, which is expected to cost around £100,000, with Dame Katherine donating her time for free.

The current astro turf is more than 20 years old and is used by the school’s 1,000-plus students as well as community organisations that hire it out, such as Gerrards Cross Hockey Club and Penn & Tylers Green Football Club.

Head teacher Rachel Smith said: “We’re so excited that Katherine has donated her precious time to our school to help drive our fundraising efforts.

“Encouraging women into sport is such an important agenda nationwide and, as a girls’ school, it has and remains a key objective for us.

“Our students are incredibly enthusiastic about sport and this is reflected in the remarkable results we achieve; however we must work to ensure that our aging facilities don’t start to work against our teaching efforts.

“The #SaveOurAstro campaign couldn’t be more critical to the futures of our students and local community.”

To bid for a place, visit www.32auctions.com/BurnsNight2018.