A VILLAGE school has celebrated a special time of year together, despite the coronavirus pandemic.

Bishops Cannings School is a regular participant in the Royal Horticultural Society’s Big Soup Share community event, which was not able to go ahead this year.

Nevertheless, school staff and pupils found a way to celebrate the event, and harvest, with social distancing in place.

Year 1, Hedgehog class bubble, held a Little Soup Share with vegetables harvested from the school’s raised beds or donated by neighbours in the village. Butternut squash, potatoes, carrots, onions, marrows and tomatoes were mixed in with herbs and spices to make a Scrumptious Spicey Harvest Soup. he children then shared their soup in their class bubble with headteacher Catherine Vardy and class teache, Mrs Steggall.

Mrs Steggal said: “There is something very special about making soup together at harvest. Even though we cannot be together in large numbers to celebrate this time of the year it has been important to get the children outside foraging and harvesting wild and homegrown fruit and vegetables to cook and share together. It gives an understanding of what harvest means in our rural community.”

Pupils from Year 4 class bubble went on a blackberry walk and also collected cooking apples to make blackberry and apple crumble, which they enjoyed with their class teacher, Mrs Reed.

Instead of a Harvest festival class blessings were given by the Rev Richard Curtis and Rev Joanna Porter on the school’s field, in beautiful autumn sunshine, and the children collected dried and tinned food for Devizes Foodbank.