Welton Primary School's young enthusiastic organic gardeners have won a Wessex Watermark Award of £200 to put towards buying a polytunnel, enabling them to grow produce all the year round. Wessex Water's Marilyn Barnett presented the school with their Watermark Award last Friday, 30th November.
Welton Primary School has a gardening area looked after by pupils in the gardening club. All kinds of vegetables are grown organically by the children, aged four to eleven, and in 2011, the school received a Bronze Award in the Bath in Bloom competition. The school is involved in the 'Healthy School Plus' and any produce grown in the polytunnel could find its way into their healthy tuck shop, or be cooked at school by the children.
"Growing produce that will match the school calendar is the biggest challenge for the school gardening club," said their teachers, Amanda Audritt and Jo O'Dare. "The children have asked if they could have a large 'tent' to grow vegetables during early spring and winter. We are planning a mini enterprise group which will involve the wider school community taking orders for plants which will help pay for seeds and compost."
The Watermark Award provides funds for environmental projects in the Wessex Water area. Now in its nineteenth year, it has supported over 800 environmental initiatives.
All projects are judged by a panel chaired by David Bellamy.