Children at a Wiltshire village primary will turn rice into cash as by using their entrepreneurial skills to help a school in Africa.

Youngsters at Five Lanes Primary School in Potterne and Worton are taking part in a JTS 90kg Rice Challenge to help secondary school pupils in Malawi.

Teacher Laura Hurn said: “With 90kg of rice to sell, pupils will use a range of innovative skills and entrepreneurship, linked to the curriculum, to design and create products for their Fair Trade Market at the end of the month, in order to raise enough money to send a secondary school pupil to school for one year.”

The school, which has a split site with class rooms in both villages, will come together to launch the challenge next Thursday, with art, music, dance, food and stories from Malawi.

Mrs Hurn said: “Over the following few weeks, the children will have to sell 90kg of rice in as many inventive ways as possible to raise as much money as they can.

“The pupils will use skills in English to encourage people to support the cause, whilst applying mathematical skills to converting weights and calculating prices and profits for the campaign.”

JTS, a fair trade organisation set up to help with the import and distribution of products to the UK, will provide resources, including interviews with farmers, information sheets about the rice and posters.

On March 19, the school will hold a Fairtrade market selling products it makes.

In Malawi, secondary education is not free.