A greenhouse has been donated to a village primary school by Puxton Park, with the hope of encouraging more youngsters to explore the wonders of the environment.

St Anne’s Church Academy, in Hewish, received the gift from the tourist attraction on July 5, and children have already been busy getting their hands dirty.

The school, in Bristol Road, founded its gardening club in 2017 and is already harvesting the rewards, with dozens of youngsters taking part in the after-school sessions every week – making it the most popular extra-curricular activity.

And St Anne’s, which celebrated its 150th anniversary on Thursday, believes it will be able to take the efforts of the club to a new level with the ability to grow things in all seasons with the greenhouse.

Learning support assistant Amanda Loach told the Mercury the gardening club offers rewarding experiences for the students, which will be enhanced with the addition of its new bit of kit.

She said: “The club has been running for 18 months for key-stage-two pupils, who have told us they enjoy ‘spending time with friends and doing something good’.

“We have grown healthy food which the children loved having the opportunity to eat, especially the potatoes we roasted.

“The addition of the greenhouse this year means we are able to grow the plants from seeds. It’s amazing for the children to watch their plants grow.”

Puxton Park owner Alistair Mead is ‘proud to be supporting such a fantastic cause’.

He said: “At Puxton Park our mission is to encourage children and their families to get outside and interact with animals and the environment in a fun and engaging way.

“We felt strongly propelled to support the gardening club at St Anne’s School.

“The great thing about gardening is kids can touch and feel the dirt, seeds and flowers, see the vibrant colours and varied sizes of the plants, hear the sound of the vegetable when it is taken from the plant and smell the amazing scents of the flowers.

“Allowing all of the senses to be involved helps kids understand and grasp the concept of gardening along with all of the scientific concepts which go along with it.”