ST Joseph’s School was lucky enough to be selected to take part in an ‘out of this world’ educational project.

The RHS Campaign for School Gardening partnered with the UK Space Agency to embark on the project — Rocket Science— which will give around half a million UK children the chance to learn how science in space contributes to our knowledge of life on earth, using the invaluable expertise of the European Space Agency (ESA) and RHS Science team.

In September, two kilograms of rocket seeds took off from Florida, bound for the International Space Station as part of British ESA astronaut Tim Peake’s six-month Principia mission.

After several months on board, the seeds were sent back to earth. After they return to the UK, they were packaged up with identical seeds that have stayed on earth.

Participating schools each received two packets of 100 seeds to grow and compare.

Using these resources, pupils are able to embark on a voyage of discovery to see what growing plants in space can teach us about life on earth and whether we can sustain human life in space through the production of our own food.

The project is aimed at inspiring pupils to think scientifically and helping them to see the potential of future careers in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Maths) and Horticulture.

Year 4 pupils at St Joseph’s have now planted the seeds. Year 4 teacher, Mrs Skerry said: “So far we have used our time in Outdoor School to plant the 200 rocket seeds from two packets one of which has been in space — we don’t know which! Year 4 pupils will now monitor the seeds and watch for germination and see if the seeds grow differently.”

St Joseph’s will be inputting its results into a national online database so that results can be compared across all schools in the UK.