A SCHOOL has received national recognition for its commitment to gardening over the past eight years.

Ashleigh Primary School in Darwen has become a Royal Horticultural Society Five Star Gardening school, the charity’s top award for schools.

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Staff and pupils have spent years working towards the prestigious accolade starting out by planning a garden for the children and involving the entire community of the town in its work.

Teacher and leader of the gardening group Jennifer Squelch said the children should be “extremely proud” of what they have achieved which will make them stand out in the town.

She said: “Hardly any schools in the area have received this recognition, I had to go to Yorkshire to find out about working towards it.

“I am delighted with what the school has achieved, it has been a lot of hard work for me and for the children but what a brilliant outcome it has had.

“The children at the gardening club are amazing, how they work as mentors for the rest of the school and they just go out and make Darwen proud.”

“Learning gardening will be a life skill for them and it has certainly given them pride in the community.”

This recognition comes after the school was a finalist in the RHS Garden of the Year award two years ago.

The most important aspect of achieving the award was for the school to show how the community has become involved with the garden. Students and staff at the school have created hanging baskets for its fair, done planting in Whitehall Park, run a Grown Ups gardening group where parents can work with the children on the garden and worked on flower arrangements for the East Lancashire Hospice.

The school will receive £200 in prize money, two RHS plaques to display in the grounds and a framed certificate.

Headteacher Ian Matthews said it was almost a “natural progression” for the school to receive this award after children had worked so hard to achieve gardening excellence.

He said: “The children and Jennifer are extremely dedicated and there are not many schools which have been able to achieve this,” he added.

“It has been a natural progression for us to get this award as we have had a few over the years but I am so proud that their commitment has paid off.”