Grow for it! Lunchtime ambition behind Bristol school's vegetable patch

Pupils at Christ Church C of E Primary School in Hanham could soon be growing their own vegetables for lunch after the school entered the Evening Post's Grow For It! competition.

Sponsored by local construction firm Leadbitter, the competition gives schools in the Bristol area the chance to win a share of £10,000 to have an allotment built for them in the school grounds.

Christ Church school is running a community allotment project, and already has four small raised beds built by a member of staff.

Pupils used them to grow their own vegetables last summer and sold carrots, lettuces and onions to parents after school, and used the potatoes they grew in school dinners.

Head teacher Simon Botten said: "Pupils all across the school use the raised beds at the moment.

"We have them as part of our science lessons, an after-school gardening club and also at lunch times.

"It gives children a chance to see where their good comes from and encourages them to eat healthily.

"They have got lots from growing their own vegetables, and it got us thinking that we would like to do something a bit more community minded."

The school, which already has an eco-schools silver award, now wants to enlarge its allotment area.

Mr Botten said: "We have a large amount of space here, and a lot of the parents love the little beds we have.

"They have said they would like to get more involved, but don't have the time to run their own.

"We thought that if we could fence off some of the grounds perhaps we could lease a part of it over the summer and weekends and parents could come in with their children.

"They wouldn't have to look after a whole large allotment, it would bring a community atmosphere into the school beyond class hours and people could grow their own food."

Curtis Ticktum, five, a pupil in the reception class at the school, has already come up with a design for the allotment, involving a water butt, a shed, an apple tree, bird feeder and a compost bin, as well as areas for growing vegetables.

Curtis said: "My school would use all the vegetables for school dinners, and the water butt will recycle water to feed them.

"Any leftovers would go in the compost bin, the apple tree will give us fruit and the shed will keep our digging things safe."

The Grow For It! competition is being run in two parts.

First, the Evening Post is inviting schools to come up with designs for a 60sqm (180sq ft) allotment, with entries in by March 31.

Then the designs will be judged – taking into account how imaginative the design is, the benefits to the school and the practical aspects – and a shortlist of the top 10 will be announced on April 19.

These 10 will qualify for a token selection scheme – with tokens in the Evening Post from April 26 – and the three top schools, which will be announced on May 17, will have their allotment built, with work to a value of approximately £3,500 for each.

Richard Coulter, assistant editor of the Evening Post, said: "We congratulate Christ Church C of E School for their entry which sounds exciting and exactly the kind of project which would bring benefits to the school.

"Now we urge other schools to follow their lead and submit their designs."

Rob Bradley, regional director of Leadbitter, said: "It's great to hear that the youngsters at Christ Church are thinking about how they can get more out of their allotments.

"Growing your own vegetables is a great way to keep healthy and learn about the natural world, and we look forward to hearing about more exciting entries to the competition."