The latest generation of 56 English apple eaters aged between 9- 11 years old from Goudhurst and Kilndown Primary School will be visiting the National Fruit Show held at the Kent Show Ground on 17th October.

Regarded as the showcase for the English apple and pear industry there could be no better place for them to see the fruits of the industry's labours as the season gets underway.

It will increase their knowledge and benefit the project that the classes selected themselves in support of The Year of Food and Farming

Backed by Show sponsors Norman Collett Ltd, one of the largest fruit marketing groups and Tesco whom it supplies, the pupils are learning what makes our apple and pears growers - who provide top quality fruit from September through till March - so special.

Years 5 and 6 have already visited George Chambers of Northiam Farm, Horsmonden whose family have been producers for 78 years, to learn the finer points of picking and tasting Cox and Gala straight from the tree.

It was not just all play and no work; apart from learning about the history of these varieties, some of which were first discovered over 100 years ago, George  provided some mathematical challenges such as how to calculate how many trees there were on the farm. For instance there are 500 Bramley trees to the hectare and Northiam has 12 hectares.

The pupils also learnt that apples must reach the right balance of sugar/acid ratio to give them their unique flavour and texture, and as a reward were able to pick fruit to take home to their families.

To reinforce what the children discovered, there was also a more complex apple quality and tasting session covering 20 varieties provided by Norman Collett, backed by figures on UK and EU production, and information on who retails one of consumers' most popular fruits.

At the Show, class work will be exhibited on the Tesco stand and the pupils will have a guided tour by members of the Show committee.  Gill Collins, show secretary and Norman Collett, have ensured that these VIPs all get official name badges and a copy of the event's handbook packed with more information.

Later in the season, the Goudhurst and Kilndown Primary School children will be visiting a Mid Kent Growers' pack-house to see fruit inspected and graded before it is distributed.

The final part of the story will be a visit to a local Tesco store to see behind the scenes and help put fruit on the shelves.

Goudhurst & Kilndown Primary is a thriving village school in the Weald of Kent, surrounded by orchards and in the past, hop garden. Recently, the school achieved the Eco School gold award, the green flag for the pupils’ environmental work and achieved Healthy Schools’ status. This apple project is a continuation of this work, making the pupils aware of their environment and the importance of supporting local farmers and their first class produce.