CHILDREN at a village primary school were aiming high when they launched a helium balloon with a letter attached in the hope it would reach the moon.

The launch by youngsters at Holy Trinity in Great Cheverell had echoes of the John Lewis Christmas television advertisement where a young girl sent a present attached to balloons to a man on the moon. The school balloon did not quite reach space but the letter did get to France.

Headteacher Mercedes Henning said: "The letter did not get to the moon - but it did, in just 24 hours, get to France, east of Paris, where it was picked up by a little French family living on a farm.

"This family wrote a lovely letter back to us, in French, so our children used their French knowledge to translate the letter and will now respond – also in French.

"We used our geography knowledge to find their village and, on Google maps, even saw their farm. It was a delightful end to what had already been a great topic on space, inspired by Tim Peake’s trip to the international space station."

The children were also inspired by the story Q Pootle 5 by author Nick Butterworth. It revolves around the title character Q Pootle 5 and his friends, and is set on and around the fictional planet Oki Doki.

The success of the Holy Trinity balloon follows on from a similar long distance success by one launched by Chirton Primary before Christmas to mark the opening of a new classroom.

One of 50 balloons released by the school was found by teenager in Germany.