PUPILS at a primary school have provided their school kitchen with a fine crop of Brussels sprouts, harvested from their own vegetable garden.

The garden at Ravensworth Junior School, Normanby, near Middlesbrough, has always provided small amounts of vegetables for use in classrooms and for sale to parents, but a bumper crop of sprouts means the whole school can have a taste of ultra-fresh produce.

Headteacher Kevin Skelton said: We take food and enterprise very seriously at Ravensworth. Growing fruit and vegetables is central to our Healthy Schools Policy.

We want our children to know what fresh food looks like and understand the hard work that goes into putting food on the table. We are also giving them practical skills and knowledge we hope they can put to good use later in life.

And with help from the Redcar and Cleveland Local Enterprise Growth Initiative (LEGI), the school is expanding its gardening potential, with a new polytunnel and soft fruit enterprise adding to the already successful vegetable allotment and apple orchard.