Children from two Outwood primary academies have triumphed at The Great Yorkshire Show by winning first and second place in the School Vegetable Box Presentation.

The young green-fingered children from Outwood Primary Academy Darfield and Outwood Primary Academy Lofthouse Gate wowed the judges, and the crowds, at the The Great Yorkshire with their show planters, which was based around the theme ‘Field to Fork’.

After presenting their show planters to the judges and wider audience, the judges decided that Outwood Primary Academy Darfield were worthy winners of the presentation with Outwood Primary Academy Lofthouse Gate placed second.

Amanda Schofield, a teacher at Outwood Primary Academy Darfield and the school’s Gardening Club lead, said: “We are thrilled to have been selected by the judges as the winners of the School Veg Box competition at The Great Yorkshire Show. I still can’t quite believe that it actually happened, everyone at the school is so proud of the children.

“We started the Gardening Club around Easter, and we only entered the School Veg Box competition as a way to focus the children’s attention as the school grounds underwent developments. But ever since we started, their enthusiasm for the task has been inspirational and they’ve worked really hard and I am so happy for them.”

To qualify for The Great Yorkshire Show, the children were visited by members of the Yorkshire Agricultural Society Council who would inspect the school’s ‘show’ planter and meet with the children.

In their discussions with the members of the Yorkshire Agricultural Society Council the children had to explain their planning, growing and planting process, outlining how they’d approached the project.

In return the children had the judging process explained to them, with each school being scored on a variety of different elements from across the process and each planter was photographed to aid the judging. 

Amanda added: “The children are always a delight to work with, they really want to learn about gardening and growing and all the different techniques that can be used, and have met every challenge they’ve faced head on. I am excited to see where their imaginations and creativity take them next.”

Janet Bennett, Learning Outside the Classroom Lead for all ten Outwood Primary Academies and based at Outwood Primary Academy Lofthouse Gate, said: “This is a remarkable and fantastic achievement and everyone across the entire Trust is so proud of the children for all their hard work and success.”

In addition to Outwood Primary Darfield and Outwood Primary Lofthouse Gate, Outwood Primary Academy Park Hill, Outwood Primary Academy Bell Lane and Outwood Primary Academy Ledger Lane also were visited by the judges after growing planter’s but despite good efforts they were not selected to present at The Great Yorkshire Show.