Year 9 student Sam’s passion for Japan and its culture has led to him receiving an extra special gift from the editor of one of Japan’s most famous national daily newspapers. The Mainichi is the world’s first ‘fertile’ newspaper that after reading you can tear up and plant. It is printed on 100% biodegradable paper with plant-based ink, and embedded with seeds that, when planted, will grow into flowers.

SEND teaching assistant Verica Lazarevic, stumbled across an article and video about The Mainichi called ‘read and plant’ and she said ‘About a month ago, I contacted the editor of the Mainichi newspaper and explained all about Sam and his passion for the Japanese culture. I asked about the possibility of purchasing a copy here in England but as I was looking for just one they then sent a copy straight away, free of charge!’

Sam was thrilled to have received this special gift all the way from Japan, and he has already planted his first pages of the newspaper.

Nicola Talbot, SEND teaching assistant, said ‘Sam is a fantastic artist and his favourite style of drawing is Anime. He has been teaching himself Japanese, so we are going to ask him to send a letter of thanks for the wonderful gift he received.’