That's one to get to the top of the class… The terrifying climb of Chinese schoolchildren as young as five forced to scale sheer cliffs to get to school

• Mountain-top village of only 100 residents is cut off from the outside world, apart from ladders leading to valley below
• Brave schoolchildren use the wooden ladders with no safety precautions to get to school every day
• Five-year-old Liu Dan explained: 'It's quite high but I try not to look down'

Terrifying: Children clamber down these unsecured ladders to get to school in Hunan province, China

Precarious: This little girl balances her three bags leaving her only one hand to scale the mountain to get to school

Uphill struggle: Staff at the school face a difficult commute to work on the enormous wooden ladders

Steady as they go: Staff hold the narrow ladders steady for the next person to gingerly come down after them

Team work: A schoolgirl tries to help by holding it steady while she prepares to go next

At home: 5-year-old Yu Xinxin, who climbs the ladders to school every day, reading before she sets off on her long morning journey

Preparations: Yu Xinxin's morning routine is just like any other schoolgirl's until she leaves home to make the dangerous journey down the mountain

Isolated: The village in the steep mountains where the children set off from every day to go to the valley below

Daunting prospect: Yu Qiyun, who uses the ladders every day, at home with his family

By OLIVIA WILLIAMS

Full story click here - Chinese school children