KEIGHLEY school children are looking forward to becoming space botanists.

St Anne's Catholic Primary will be one of 10,000 schools to receive a packet of 100 seeds which have spent time in space.

These seeds were flown to the International Space Station last September, and are spending several months in microgravity before returning to Earth in March.

This forms part of an educational project launched by the RHS Campaign for School Gardening and the UK Space Agency.

Nichola Jones, science coordinator at St Anne’s, said: “Our school has had an interest in gardening for a number of years.

"We have a Wildlife Garden, pond and bird hide which are regularly used by staff and children for teaching and learning.

"Our raised beds are full of vegetables, fruit and herbs which are planted and tended by the children and school gardener John Peet.

"When harvested, the produce is cooked in our dining hall for the staff and children to enjoy."

Pupils from years three and five will sow two batches of rocket seeds. They won’t know which seed packet contains seeds from space or normal rocket seeds until all results have been analysed by professional biostatisticians.

The project will last for seven weeks, during which time the children will measure the differences in the health and heights of the plants as they grow, discuss and present their findings, then draw conclusions from them.