Children in London’s East End can’t wait to reap the poppies they sewed in their school garden.

East London Advertiser: Poppy seed planting gets under way at St Mary & St Michael RC PrimaryPoppy seed planting gets under way at St Mary & St Michael RC Primary (Image: Archant)

They want to see them flower in the spring and sell them to raise money for the Royal British Legion.

Prefects Alfie and Sylvia were given a packet of 100 seeds donated to St Mary & St Michael’s RC Primary in Stepney, which they planted today in the garden behind the school playground.

Many of the children have joined the garden club run by the school’s business manager Richard Marshall to learn about the environment.

“They’re looking forward to next spring when the poppies appear,” he said. “The pupils have been taught about the significance of the poppies flowering on the battlefields of the First World War and they’re thrilled to be given seeds to grow their own to raise money in memory of those who died.”

But the youngsters will have to be patient and let the white and purple tulips planted in the garden bloom first.

The poppies which follow a month later, however, self pollinate and will come back year after year.

It will be a reminder for the children of the future about the sacrifice of a past generation a long time ago.