Pick of crop schoolkids

Posted on March 15, 2006

Pupils harvest prestige prize in vegetable patch design.

Green-fingered pupils from Eaton Bray Lower School are clebrating after being runners-up in a national vegetable challenge.

The competition, which asks primary schools around the country to design a vegetable patch for their school grounds, attracted 593 entries.

It's a joint effort between the Department for Education and Skills (DfES) and Oscar-winning Wallace and Gromit creators Aardman Productions.

The school has received £500 cash plus £500 worth of garden vouchers to use to buy tools and other equipment for their growing space.

It will also receive a one-year subscription to Learning Through Landscapes and a visit from a growing schools expert.

The short-listed designs were judged by celebrity gardener Matt James, Aardman annimations' director of photography Tristan Oliver and Learning Through Landscapes director of operations Peter Carne. Entries were judged in two categories - schools which want to start a growing space and schools wishing to improve their growing space.

Schools minister Jacqui Smith said: "The children of Eaton Bray Lower School should be very proud of themselves. Their excellent design will help their school to create a fascinating educational resource not just for themselves but for future generations of pupils.

"It is important that children learn about how food is grown and why it is important to eat healthily. Sometimes the best classroom is actually outside."

Create of Wallace and Gromit Nick Park said: "I would like to congratulate Eaton Bray Lower School on winning the Great Vegetable Challenge and I'm delighted they entered into the spirit of the competition.

"I also hope that everyone who participated in the competition had fun growing the vegetables."

Source: Laura Oakley, Dunstable Gazette, 15 March 2006