PUPILS at a primary school are taking their classes to the outdoors after receiving a community grant for a new learning area.

Mud kitchens, music zones and water walls are just some of the new features to have been installed in the garden area of Heighington Primary School.

The school received £3,980 through Tesco's Bags of Help scheme which allows shoppers to vote for their favourite community project.

Funded from the sales of Bag for Life carrier bags, the scheme was set up in Bishop Auckland, Newton Aycliffe and Darlington stores where shoppers were offered a blue token at the checkout to use to vote for a project they would like money to be spent on.

After three months of voting over May, June and July, Heighington Primary School was awarded the grant to refurbish their existing outdoor classroom.

Kate Timmins, class teacher at the school, said the children have been using the outdoor area every day since it was re-built.

She said: "Our reception and key stage one children enjoy learning in our garden area and it has always been extremely well used, but the areas within it needed updating so we decided to apply to Tesco ‘Bags of Help’ Scheme.

"We were very grateful for our bid to be voted in first place and discussed with the children what they would like to see in their new outdoor classroom. They decided that a mud kitchen, a small world planting zone and a water wall would be top of their list so we worked with Compact Services NE to source and install the equipment.

"The children have loved learning in their new outdoor classroom and the resources have enabled fantastic communication, problem solving and teamwork opportunities."

The scheme is ran in partnership with Groundwork, an environmental charity which aims to help people improve their local communities.

Grants of up to £4,000, £2,000 and £1,000 are awarded every two months to local projects.

Projects shoppers can vote for range from improving community buildings and outdoor spaces, to new equipment, training coaches and volunteers, and hosting community events.

Since it began in 2015, the Bags of Help scheme has provided around £63m to over 20,000 local community projects.

Alec Brown, Tesco’s Head of Community, said: “Bags of Help has been a fantastic success and we’ve been overwhelmed by the response from customers.

"It’s such a special scheme because it’s local people who decide how the money will be spent in their community. We can’t wait to see the projects come to life.”

Groundwork’s Chief Executive, Graham Duxbury, said: “Bags of Help continues to enable local communities up and down Britain to improve the local spaces and places that matter to them.

"The diversity of projects that are being funded shows that local communities have a passion to create something great in their area.

"We are pleased to be able to be a part of the journey and provide support and encouragement to help local communities thrive.”

More information about the Bags of Help scheme can be found at groundwork.org.uk/tescocommunityscheme