Great Whelnetham C of E Primary, near Bury St Edmunds, impresses Olympic-themed garden competition judges at Suffolk Show

A primary school is ‘delighted’ to have been commended for its Paris Olympic-themed garden at the Suffolk Show.

Great Whelnetham Church of England School, near Bury St Edmunds, participated in the Schools Show Garden Competition at the event last month.

This year's theme was to create an Olympic-themed garden and to provide the school with inspiration as it created its entry it was visited by Duncan Green, who was the Church of England's Olympic and Paralympic co-ordinator and faith adviser for the London 2012 Games.

The school said it was ‘very grateful’ to him for giving up his time to tell them about his work for the Olympics and for bringing his Olympic torch with him.

Great Whelnetham Primary is ‘delighted’ to report it went on to be commended for its entry and won some gardening prizes for the school.

“The entry will be planted in our pond area so we can continue to enjoy it,” said office manager Angela Kimber.

“A special thank you to Mrs Lloyd, our Forest School Practitioner, for all her efforts in working with pupils and accompanying them on the day and for Frontroom Creative for the graphics on our entry.”

In other school news, Great Whelnetham embraced Mental Health Week last month with a series of fun and active events which involved all children in the school.

It began with ‘a Dress up to Move Day’ raising funds for the RSPCA and was followed by a sponsored ‘skipathon', fund-raising for the PTFA (Parents, Teachers and Friends Association).

The week also included completing the daily mile, a yoga day and a visit from the Zamble African Dance Company.

“All children across the school were very active as they learned some wonderful African dance routines whilst learning about traditional West African culture,” said Mrs Kimber.

“Everyone was smiling especially during our performance to our parents when the teachers were asked to join in!”

As a school that was recently awarded 'School Games Gold Status' for the second year in a row, it is very much aware of the benefits of exercise on mental health, she added.