IT wasn’t your average school swimming session.

But youngsters from Wigton have been learning about what life is like for sea creatures in a world drowning in plastic by literally filling their local pool with discarded bottles.

Year 5 and 6 pupils from St Cuthbert’s Primary School took to Wigton Baths last Friday for a lesson in a pool full of household plastic.

But, instead of being the work of a messy lifeguard, it was all part of their term topic on the impact of plastics on the environment.

Their teacher Ann-Marie Handford explained how enthusiastically the children have taken to the message.

“Children the other day in the lunch hall were saying ‘this is plastic, and this is plastic’ - they are becoming more aware,” said Mrs Handford, who is also deputy headteacher.

“We based it on trying to eliminate one-use plastic bottles, and encouraging them to use refillable plastic bottles.

“The children did a lot of their own research, and they found some really quite terrifying facts.

“By 2050 there will be more plastic in the ocean than fish.

“They also found out that every minute, one truckload of plastic is emptied into the ocean.”

Pippa Speakman, 11, who is now a firm believer in using less plastic, said: “Before we put all the plastic in the water, swimming through the water was nice and easy.

“But it was very hard to swim through all the plastic. I think we should all team up together and try and get as much plastic out of the ocean as possible.”

Pippa and the rest of her classmates will now be writing letters to their parents, encouraging them to scale down their plastic use.

“If we tell them the alternatives, I think our parents will listen,” Pippa added.

Brandon Horsley, 10 is another new recycling fan.

He said: “I don’t want to use as much plastic now, because it could end up killing animals.”

Mrs Handford believes young people have a particularly persuasive power.

She added: “I think the message is quite powerful coming from children. It shocks the adults and the parents.”