St Nich's pupils are the pick of the bunch

Youngsters at St Nicholas CE Primary School have been growing, making, and selling their own market produce - including soup and jam - landing it the Blackpool Civic Trust Environmental Award for Primary Schools 2015.

Headteacher Andy Mellor, who launched the after-school gardening club so pupils could learn about how food ends up on their plate, said: “There’s more to education than maths and English.

“As far as I’m concerned this is part of a good all round education. This is learning for life.”

The historic school, which dates back to the early 1800s and was once known as the Moss school, traditionally taught pupils core subjects in the morning before teaching them practical gardening skills in the afternoon.

That tradition has now been revived, with youngsters tending to six chickens before selling their eggs, and growing a wide range of fruit, vegetables and herbs in raised beds at the front of the school, in School Road, Marton.

Mr Mellor said: “I have a garden at home and I wanted the kids at this school to experience the same pleasure from growing things from seed and seeing them grow.

“At the end of the year we had eggs, potatoes, and peas that were either grown or came from within 100 yards of the school.”

Some of the children are now growing their own produce at home, Mr Mellor said, while they have also been in the school kitchen helping to turn their raw ingredients into jams and soups.

Profits from their sale to parents will go towards buying more seed.

“They have been brilliant and have learned so much,” Mr Mellor added.

The children are set to attend the Civic Trust’s awards ceremony, due to be held in the Paradise Room at Blackpool Pleasure Beach, on Friday, February 26, and were described as ‘over the moon’.

The trust was set up in February 1975 to ‘encourage and support’ the town and its people.