Visitors to the South of England Show will be able to learn more about a nationwide project started after a visit to Sussex by the Prince of Wales.

Oathall Community College Farm had been on the verge of closure but, after a student wrote to say funding was to be stopped, the Prince stepped in and helped save it.

He then arranged to visit the students in 2000 and was so impressed by the scheme, he invited teacher Howard Wood, who runs the farm, to a meeting in St James' Palace with David Blunkett, then education minister.

This meeting led to further consultations and resulted in Growing Schools, launched by Baroness Ashton in 2001, an initiative which aims to link schools with farming and the countryside and enhance teaching and learning through farming and growing.

Now Oathall Farm, Appledore Gardens, Haywards Heath, is thriving thanks to the Prince's intervention and Growing Schools is helping teachers around the country transform barren playgrounds into welcoming and exciting green spaces for their pupils.

Oathall Community College and Turner's Hill Primary School are involved in the scheme and will have displays at the South of England Show, Ardingly, on Thursday and Friday.

Howard Wood said: "In 1999 we were threatened with closure as West Sussex County Council was about to stop our funding. One of our students wrote to the Prince of Wales about it and he got involved behind the scenes. After that, it only took the council a few days to reconsider and continue our funding."

The farm now has additional funding from the Federation of City Farms and Community Gardens, one of six organisations involved in the scheme.

All ages, from local nurseries to adult art classes visit the farm, which has breeding pigs, hens and cattle.

It has a web cam pointed at piglets, which transmits pictures to inner city schools. Mr Wood hopes to get another five cameras.

He said: "Touching the animals helps in the learning process."

Ann Mudd, head of Turner's Hill primary school, became involved in Growing Schools last year.

She said: "For the past 13 years we had been adopted by a farm next door so we knew the value of the outdoor classroom.

"However, when the farmer moved away, we decided to do something ourselves. The local estate gave us some land and we have planted a small wood and vegetable plot, and have hens and a bug hotel."

The Prince, who is to visit the South of England Show this Friday, is a passionate supporter of school farms.

He has commended Oathall Community College in speeches and magazine articles and believes such schemes are the best way to teach children about nature, the cycle of the seasons and how things grow.