YOUNGSTERS at a school outside Whitchurch got to enjoy witnessing the start of new life before Easter with the birth of chicks in the classroom.

The hatching eggs were brought into the school by Jan Hilditch, a classroom teacher, who brought equipment with her to give the chicks the support they needed to hatch at Lower Heath Primary School, in Lower Heath.

A spokesman for the Marches Academy Trust, which Lower Heath Primary School is part of, said the chicks were part of a wider threat of learning about farm life.

They said: "Before the Easter break we had the wonderful opportunity of seeing chicks hatch in the classroom.

"Mrs Hilditch brought an incubator and some eggs in and the children saw 10 beautiful chicks hatch.

"They are all doing really well and growing fast.

"Furthermore, both Robin and Hummingbird Classes visited Abbey Farm, where the children saw cows, sheep and pigs, the milking parlour and the dairy where cheese was being made.

"They even had a go at making butter before patting it into cuboids and packaging it.

"A fun-filled day, even if the weather was a bit wet and the group also made their own Easter nests to put in chocolate eggs.

"Delicious!"